GW University offering full tuition to students from households with annual income of $100K or less

George Washington University said Wednesday that U.S. students from households earning $100,000 or less a year will not have to pay tuition.

The school’s “Revolutionary Promise” will go into effect for the class of 2030 entering this fall. In addition to the household income threshold, eligible students must be from the U.S. and working toward their first undergraduate degree in one of the university’s five residential colleges.

Currently, about 20% of residential undergraduates at the school come from households with annual incomes of $100,000 or less, university officials said in a release.

Students can apply for approval to commute to the school while enrolled in a residential college, but if they do so, “their total grants and scholarships will be prorated to reflect the lower average cost of those housing choices,” the school says on its website.

Students who fit those requirements and whose households have an annual income of $150,000 or less will be eligible for a financial award of half tuition, the school says. If GW raises the cost of tuition during their time in school, financial aid “will increase as necessary to continue to meet full or half tuition.”

In addition to the new financial aid, George Washington University is expanding its undergraduate merit scholarships from a period of five years across fall and spring terms to six years across fall and spring semesters.

The school said the new financial aid was made possible by donors to its Open Doors initiative and by proceeds from the sale of the school’s Virginia Science and Technology Campus in Ashburn. Amazon Data Services paid over $427 million for the property.

“At a defining moment in our third century, the Revolutionary Promise reflects our dual commitment to excellence and access,” university President Ellen Granberg said in a release.