Swarthmore College to cover tuition for students from families making less than $200,000 annually

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Swarthmore College’s new program could make tuition free for students from families who earn less than $200,000 annually, school officials announced Tuesday.

“The Swarthmore Tuition Guarantee is a powerful demonstration of our belief that a student’s intellectual curiosity, creativity, and talent should decide what’s possible, not whether they can pay for tuition,” Valerie Smith, the college’s president, said in a release. “We hope it communicates to families that their financial circumstances are not a barrier to a transformational liberal arts education at Swarthmore.”

The announcement follows Swarthmore’s long-standing approach to access, according to the release, including the use of “need-blind” enrollment, which does not consider a student’s finances in the admission process. The school also offers loan-free financial aid to cover housing and tuition.

Jim Bock, vice president and dean of admissions, said the new program is just the next step in increasing access at the liberal arts university.

“One of our core beliefs is that we all benefit from living and learning in a community filled with diverse perspectives and experiences,” Bock said in the release.

The program is fully funded by Swarthmore’s endowment, which will increase to more than $71 million in the 2026-27 academic year. It will only be available to domestic students. Swarthmore considers someone a domestic student if they:

• Are a U.S. citizen, U.S. dual citizen or a U.S. permanent resident in possession of a valid green card
• They are eligible to complete and submit a valid Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.
• They are undocumented or in the asylee/refugee status application process, and reside in the U.S. and are a graduate from a U.S. high school.
• Individuals currently applying for permanent residency but who do not possess a green card at the time of application are not considered domestic students.

International students are still eligible to apply and qualify for financial aid that can meet up to the full cost of attendance. Other factors to be considered for the program include gross income and assets, including business income and assets, taxes, cost of living, family size, the number of siblings enrolled in a four-year university and other personal finances.

To qualify, families must complete the financial aid application. For U.S. students, the process consists of completing three parts: FAFSA, CSS Profile and uploading tax documents to Institutional Documentation Service, or IDOC.

In 2024, Temple University introduced a program to help make tuition free for eligible first-year, full-time students from low-income families living in Philadelphia County. In 2023, Drexel University began cutting tuition in half for community college graduates from Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

According to the College Board Trends in College Pricing report, average tuition for both public and private four-year colleges has essentially doubled after adjusting for inflation in the last 30 years.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated after initial publication to clarify the program is available to domestic students, not just Americans.