Yale announces 2023–24 term bill, reaffirms financial aid commitments

Yale College on Feb. 3 announced the term bill for the 2023–2024 academic year and reaffirmed its commitment to make an undergraduate education at Yale affordable to all students and their families through its need-based financial aid program.

The Yale College term bill, which includes tuition, room, and board, will increase by 3.9% from $80,700 to $83,880. Tuition will be $64,700, and housing and meals for students who live on campus will be $19,180.

“Yale’s need-based financial aid awards always increase in lockstep with any increases in the term bill,” said Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid. “I am proud that Yale is one of only a small handful of institutions that meet 100% of all families’ demonstrated financial need without requiring students or parents to take out loans.

“These policies apply to all students regardless of citizenship or immigration status.”

Quinlan reported that the undergraduate financial aid budget for the 2022–23 academic year was $224 million — more than three times the size of the $71 million budget from 15 years ago. During that same 15-year period, the percentage of Yale undergraduates receiving need-based aid increased from 42% to 53%. Because Yale College also increased enrollment during that period, there are now 54% more financial aid recipients enrolled compared with 15 years ago. In 2007, 34% of students graduated with loan debt; in 2021, only 12% of graduating seniors had opted to take out a loan.

Every family of an undergraduate student whose income and assets demonstrate that they cannot afford the full cost of attendance receives a Yale financial aid award with a Yale Scholarship grant. Nearly 3,500 undergraduates currently receive financial aid from Yale, with an average Yale grant of more than $63,000 — an amount that exceeds the current cost of tuition.

Yale College does not expect parents earning less than $75,000 annually — with typical assets — to make any contribution toward the cost of their child’s education. The financial aid awards for these families, which are known as zero parent share awards, cover the full cost of all billed expenses — tuition, housing, meal plan, and hospitalization insurance.

Many students in families with annual incomes above $200,000 qualify for need-based aid, and Yale Scholarship grants range from a few thousand dollars to more than $80,000 per academic year. All financial aid awards are based entirely on a family’s financial need.

For nearly 60 years Yale has considered applications for admission without regard for a prospective student’s ability to pay — and has met the full financial need of all students. Over the past 15 years, Yale has enhanced its financial aid policies more than a half-dozen times. Last fall the Provost’s Financial Aid Working Group approved $2.5 million in new annual investments to reduce what many middle-income families are expected to contribute from assets. Previous policy changes include:

2008: Yale reduces the average costs for families on aid by more than 50%; increases scholarships to eliminate loans from financial aid awards; and sets parent share at zero for families making less than $60,000 annually

2010: Yale raises the threshold for zero parent share awards to $65,000 in annual income

2016: Yale reduces student share levels by 15% and creates $2,000 supplemental “startup grants” for low-income students with zero parent share awards

2018: Yale further enhances zero parent share awards with hospitalization insurance coverage and a reduction in the student share

2020: Yale raises threshold for zero parent share awards to $75,000 and further reduces the student share to $3,700 for students with these awards

2021: Yale invests an additional $3 million annually to reduce student share level to $3,700 for all students receiving financial aid

Prospective students and their families can get an estimate of their Yale cost, accounting for financial aid, in just a few minutes using Yale’s Quick Cost Estimator, at the Yale Undergraduate Admissions website.