The move comes just as Fitch Ratings downgraded the University of Chicago's Issuer Default Rating and the ratings on its revenue bonds from 'AA+' to ‘AA.’ Fitch Ratings says the downgrade is minor and that AA ratings overall mean an entity has a “very strong capacity” to meet its financial obligations and “not significantly vulnerable to foreseeable events.”
The bigger picture:
By offering free tuition to virtually all except students from America’s most affluent families – the $250,000 cutoff still permits students from families in the top income quintile – UChicago joins a growing number of selective institutions that are expanding access by waiving the cost of what could otherwise be a barrier or dealbreaker for students to attend.
Harvard, Johns Hopkins and Yale, to name a few, have all announced similar initiatives within the past year or so.
Not everyone is convinced that the institutions are making tuition free because of altruistic motives or that tuition-free initiatives will actually help students who are most in need. Scholars have said the programs simply shift the financial burden of paying for college to taxpayers if it’s a public university or wealthier, tuition-paying families if it’s a private institution.
