Yale: Affordable for all

Yale College has increased its financial aid budget to $120 million, underscoring its commitment to ensure that Yale is affordable for every student it admits, and without the need to borrow for one’s education.

Yale College is committed to ensuring that Yale is affordable for every student it admits, without the need to borrow for one’s education.

The College admits all students without regard to their ability to pay for their education and meets the full demonstrated financial need of all undergraduates. No parents whose child is currently receiving financial aid from Yale will have to contribute more in 2013-2014 toward the cost of the Yale education — which includes not just tuition and room and board but also books, travel, and other expenses — unless their financial circumstances have changed. Yale does not ask parents of students with annual incomes of $65,000 or less to make any financial contribution toward the students’ education.

In the current academic year, 55% of undergraduates are receiving aid from Yale, and the average grant for the year is $39,883. No portion of the Yale grant is a loan. The Yale College financial aid budget is expected to total $119 million for the upcoming academic year. The undergraduate term bill approved by the Yale Corporation for 2013-2014 sets tuition at $44,000 and room and board at $13,500, for a total of $57,500.

“The term bill and our financial aid commitment will ensure that the quality of a Yale College education will meet our highest aspirations, and that it will be affordable for all students,” said Provost Benjamin Polak. “As always, it is the great generosity of donors to the University that allows us to meet our teaching goals while we subsidize the education of all students, whether they qualify for aid or not.”

Yale’s financial aid program is structured so that no student needs to borrow to pay for his or her education. Although some students still choose to borrow, the number of undergraduates borrowing has been decreasing. Only 16% of Yale students who graduated in 2012 had borrowed, and their average debt was $12,000, which is much lower than the national average of more than $26,000.

All students receiving financial aid are expected to contribute to the cost of their education. This “self-help” expectation in 2013-2014 will increase by $100 to $2,800 for freshmen and $3,300 for upperclassmen. Students may earn the self-help contribution through campus jobs, which pay a minimum of $12 an hour.