Boston University becomes the second major university in a week to offer a new free tuition plan for eligible undergraduate students.gettyBeginning in the 2026-27 academic year, Boston University will offer free tuition and a cap on other education costs to entering students from families earning less than $200,000 a year.Under what’s being dubbed the BU Promise, domestic first-year, first-time students from families earning less than $200,000 annually, with typical assets, will receive enough financial aid to cover full tuition, representing about two-thirds of BU’s total cost of attendance. In addition, they will have a portion of their housing and dining costs covered as well, with a family’s contribution for all college expenses capped at $20,000 per year. For families earning $75,000 or less with typical assets, the BU Promise will pay for tuition, standard housing, and a meal plan, resulting in families having to pay for none of those charges.Students from families with household income between $100,001 and $150,000 will receive free tuition, plus other cost of attendance charges will be capped at $15,000 per year; while those whose family income falls between $75,001 and $100,000 will have their tuition covered and be expected to pay no more than $10,000 a year for other educational costs. Students whose family income tops $200,000 annually will also be eligible for financial aid, determined on an individual basis."At Boston University, we are committed to ensuring that all qualified students have access to our singular and transformative educational experience,” said Boston University President Melissa Gilliam, in a news release. “Our community is enhanced by students from a wide range of backgrounds. We actively strive to address affordability, debt at graduation, and careers, and the BU Promise is an important component in a student’s success. It is one less barrier to making a student and family’s dream of attending this university become a reality.” Boston University’s sticker tuition price for 2026–2027 is $73,024. About 45% of BU undergraduates receive financial aid. Last year, the university awarded $473 million in undergraduate financial aid. MORE FOR YOUA Free Tuition Arms RaceBoston University’s new commitment comes on the heels of an announcement by Rice University on Monday that it was expanding its major financial aid program — the Rice Investment – and would, beginning with students entering in fall 2027, offer free tuition to those from families earning up to $200,000 annually.Free tuition deals were once mostly confined to elite private universities whose large endowments allowed them to discount their high sticker prices down to nothing for students meeting annual income eligibility criteria. But such offers are now becoming increasingly common to the point that they have turned into something of a tuition arms race between private schools and major public institutions. While their eligibility thresholds differ, most of the recent plans are structured into at least two levels. At a higher family income threshold, often pegged at $200,000, the institutions offer free tuition to students. At a lower income level, which has ranged from $60,000 to $150,000, the offer covers tuition plus at least some additional cost of attendance charges, often adding up to a four-year free ride.Between 2024 and 2025, MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Texas, Brandeis University, the University of Utah, Smith College, Bryn Mawr College, the Stevens Institute of Technology, Wake Forest University, Emory University and The Ohio State University all rolled out their versions of free college tuition.In January of this year, Yale University announced it was expanding its financial aid and would begin offering free tuition to entering undergraduates from families with annual incomes below $200,000 and cover all costs of attendance for those from families with incomes below $100,000.Two months later, the University of Notre Dame enhanced its financial aid so that undergraduates with annual household income below $150,000 would have all their tuition costs covered starting with the upcoming academic year. Families with income below $200,000 will receive enough aid to pay for half the cost of tuition. In addition, most students from families with annual income below $60,000 will receive financial aid covering tuition, fees, housing and food. In May, the University of Chicago unveiled one of the most generous aid packages so far. It guarantees free tuition starting in the fall of 2027 for undergraduates from families with annual income less than $250,000. Plus, Chicago promised it would cover tuition and the costs of housing, meals and other fees for students from families with income less than $125,000.