One of the country's best universities will now cover in-state tuition for students from families making $100,000 or less

• The University of Virginia is expanding one of its long-standing financial aid programs.
• UVA is expanding its AccessUVA program to broaden access to the school for in-state students.
• The full cost of attendance for in-state students for the current academic year is roughly $40,000.

The University of Virginia is one of the most venerable public institutions of higher learning in the United States.

And the university, in its effort to broaden access to the institution for in-state families, announced on Friday that it would expand an existing financial aid program to cover the tuition and fees of students from families earning $100,000 or less.

The expansion of the AccessUVA aid program, which was created in 2004, was approved by the university's board of visitors last week.

For students from families earning $50,000 or less, the university will offer grants and scholarships that will cover the cost of tuition, fees, housing, and dining. Previously, students from families earning $30,000 or less qualified for this financial aid offer.

For the 2023-2024 academic year, the total cost of attendance for in-state students is roughly $40,000, while the total cost for out-of-state students ranges from about $75,000 to $80,000.

A primary long-term goal of UVA President Jim Ryan has been to boost the university's financial aid system in a way that allows students from working- and middle-class backgrounds — who have the qualifications to enroll in the university but may not be able to pay the tuition costs — to obtain an education from the university.

"Our mission is to welcome talented students from all walks of life, and these expanded grants and scholarships will help us do just that," Vice Provost for Enrollment Stephen Farmer said in a statement.

The expansion also seeks to limit further the amount of student loan debt taken on by students, an issue that the federal government — notably under President Joe Biden's administration — has sought to tackle in recent years.

The university announced that the aid expansion is being funded by philanthropic donations to the university.

According to the university, 16.4% of its current first-year class of students met the criteria for receiving Pell Grants and 17% are first-generation college students. (In comparison, 11% of first-year UVA students qualified for Pell Grants in 2021.)

In the previous academic year, the university allocated roughly $179 million in need-based aid to undergraduates as part of the AccessUVA aid program.