Brearley Announces Free-Tuition Plan for Families Making Less than $100K

Head of School Jane Fried and Board President Sue Meng '99 announced the launch of a Free Tuition Program for families earning up to $100,000 a year.

In keeping with Brearley’s mission to educate students of adventurous intellect and diverse backgrounds, the program is designed to increase applications from families who may not otherwise consider an independent school education. Starting in September 2025, families earning $100,000 or less a year and without significant assets will be eligible to qualify for free tuition. Students must go through the regular admission process and parents must complete the same requirements for financial assistance as all other applicant families. 

The Free Tuition Program builds upon an already generous need-based financial assistance program in place at Brearley for decades; in the 2023-2024 school year, nearly $8.2 million was awarded in financial aid grants to families representing a wide range of incomes and across all three divisions. While there has been growth among upper middle income families applying for and receiving significant financial aid awards, there hasn’t been a commensurate increase in applications from lower income students. With this new program, which has proven successful in highly selective boarding schools and in higher education, the hope is to make crystal clear the comprehensive financial support Brearley provides to families who may have thought an independent school education was out of reach.

Once a student is accepted and qualifies for the Free Tuition Program, Brearley covers their full tuition, which includes books, lunch, technology, athletics, grade-level trips and extracurricular activities; the school also covers additional expenses generally not covered by tuition, such as our afterschool and summer programs, music lessons and, for Upper School students, participation in one of Brearley's travel study programs. 
Brearley recognizes that families from across the economic spectrum are interested in accessing high quality educational opportunities for their daughters and has long had a policy of meeting the full demonstrated financial need of admitted students. The hope is this new program demystifies what can be an intimidating process and encourages applications from all students who would benefit from Brearley’s rigorous liberal arts program.

The message is clear: If you are a girl who loves to learn and wants to be challenged, Brearley is the place for you—regardless of your family’s ability to pay the tuition. 

If you know a student who could benefit from this program, please send her and her family this link to the informational website.