Journal-News.com

Miami to offer free tuition to low-income students

OXFORD — Miami University plans to offer a free education starting next year for low income students from Ohio.

Students who come from a family with less than a $35,000 income will be eligible for the free tuition beginning with the 2007 school year, school President David Hodge said Friday.

It will be limited to Ohio residents pursuing their first bachelor's degree and who are enrolled full time and eligible for federal student financial aid. It will cover tuition and fees for four years.

The average annual tuition cost for an in-state student at Miami this year was about $10,000, Miami spokesman Richard Little said.

The university, which has about 16,000 students, estimates the program will at first help about 150 new students each year.

The program does not cover housing fees and will not include current and transfer students.

A handful of schools in recent years have started waiving fees to diversify their student populations.

Harvard University in March expanded its low- and middle-income financial aid program, allowing free tuition for students from families earning less than $60,000.

Harvard two years ago started waiving tuition for families with incomes less than $40,000.

Arizona State University offers a free education to students from households in which the family income is $18,850 or less.

Miami is covering the cost of the tuition, in part, through a $10 million gift from Lois K. Klawon, a 1939 graduate from Westlake who died in 2005. She wanted half of her estate to support needy students at Miami.