Undergraduates with family income below $200k will be tuition-free at MIT

MIT is a great financial investment. There is financing already available (federal and private) so presumably if someone wanted to go they likely could. They may leave with debt however.

The median salary of an MIT graduate is 120k and the median debt is 12k, and less for lower income families (2023-2024):

$0 - $30,000 family income: $6,866

$30,001 - $75,000 family income: $9,132

$75,000+ family income: $12,500

Bumping this up to families making $200k seems really unnecessary and helps people that don't really need to help.

https://sfs.mit.edu/undergraduate-students/the-cost-of-atten...

> Bumping this up to families making $200k seems really unnecessary and helps people that don't really need to help.

My household income is right around $200k, and my daughter (still a few years from college) would definitely consider e.g. UC Berkeley, which (including housing) is half the cost of MIT for an in-state student. Free tuition would certainly make her look at MIT more closely, so if the goal is to draw the best students (and helping poor students is a side-effect), then it's a good idea.

Also, it's headline-grabbing. There's at least one poor kid somewhere in the US who will read this headline and consider MIT, when they previously didn't (even though they probably already would have qualified for free, or nearly-free tuition).

True. Counselors at poorer school districts frequently don't recognize that these "dream schools" are often more affordable than a state school for certain populations. The students certainly don't know it unless a trusted adult shows them and really pushes them towards pursuing it. Hopefully, some students out there will see this and realize that while MIT is crazy selective, getting in is the hardest part.