Yale unveiled plans yesterday for a revised financial aid policy that reduces costs for low-income families—a program nearly identical to the plan Harvard introduced one year ago.

The revamped Bulldog benefits will waive parental contributions from families earning less than $45,000 in annual income. The plan will also reduce termbills for families earning between $45,000 and $60,000 per year.

“We want to attract the most promising students from all economic backgrounds to Yale,” Yale President Richard C. Levin said in a statement.

The announcement comes almost one year to the day after Harvard enacted changes in its own financial aid policy. Byerly Hall now guarantees a free education for students with parents earning less than $40,000 annually, and has reduced costs for families with annual incomes between $40,000 and $60,000.

Yale’s new program will cost the University about five percent of the Bulldogs’ projected financial aid budget, amounting to $3 million. Harvard’s initiative cost the College $2 million, about two percent of its total aid budget.

Families who qualify for full exemptions will save about $2,000 annually with the new program, said Yale spokesman Tom Conroy. Harvard’s system works out to about the same amount.

Conroy said the Eli plan will affect “hundreds of families,” but declined to provide exact figures. He said the number of students who will qualify for increased aid under the new policy is “in the double digits” percentage-wise.

Just under fifty percent of Harvard undergraduates receive some form of aid from the College, compared to forty percent of Elis. The schools use different formulae in determining aid packages.

Under the new plan, Yale will also fund annual trips home for international students. Last month, the school also announced a grant program to sponsor summer activities for students on financial aid.

“Any time a college makes a change of this sort it essentially makes the American dream more attainable,” said William R. Fitzsimmons ’67, dean of undergraduate admissions at the College. “It’s a very good message that goes out across the country. I think all of higher education is a winner.”

Fitzsimmons said Harvard has no plans at this time to match Yale’s $45,000 threshold. “We’ll continue to treat each family individually,” he said. “It isn’t a cut and dry thing, the way those intervals make it look.”

STUDENT VOICES

The changes come days after members of a Yale student group staged a sit-in at the school’s undergraduate admissions office. The group, the Undergraduate Organizing Committee, has been lobbying for a more expansive aid policy since last fall.

“I think that student pressure has been crucial in bringing us to this point,” said junior Josh R. Eidelson, a member of the group.

But Conroy said student feedback at an open forum held on campus last week held greater sway in shaping the policy shift.