Lower income undergraduate students will be able to receive free tuition to attend the University of Connecticut starting with the fall 2020 entering class, UConn's new president announced Friday.
Families in Connecticut with a household income of $50,000 or below annually will be able to have their children attend UConn tuition-free.
The plan is part of a tuition initiative called the Connecticut Commitment.
“It is critical for U.S. higher education institutions to work to change both the perception and reality of what they deliver,” newly inaugurated school president Thomas C. Katsouleas said Friday. “This is critical for the future prosperity of Connecticut. To keep our brightest, most talented and most diverse human capital in Connecticut, we must continue to offer as many of them as possible a high quality and affordable education in their state.”
Students will qualify for up to four years of full-time undergraduate study for entering freshmen or up to two years of full-time undergraduate work for entering transfer students.
The campaign will be supported by a fundraising campaign and by allocating other school resources to the financial aid budget, UConn said in a press release.
All admitted Connecticut resident students who are enrolling as freshmen or transfer students will automatically be considered for the Connecticut Commitment institutional grant award if they fill out the FAFSA form by the Feb. 15 annual deadline.
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The award is also available to more than one sibling at a time, as long as the siblings and their family meet the qualifications, the school said.
“We are sending a loud message to Connecticut students: Not only do we want you at UConn, we want to make your degree affordable,” Fuerst said.
