Students say GW’s newly announced Revolutionary Promise, which outlines financial aid guarantees for incoming students, represents a disconnect between promises officials are making to new enrollees and the quality of experience current students enjoy.
After officials earlier this month announced GW will cover the cost of tuition for domestic residential undergraduate students with household incomes of less than $100,000 starting with the class of 2030, a majority of more than 30 students interviewed said they feel it is unfair for officials to place disproportionate financial burdens on returning students as GW’s cost of attendance inches toward $100,000 and officials continue to make cuts student services. The students said the exclusion of currently-enrolled students from the initiative shows officials are more committed to bolstering enrollment than investing in its current students, and pressed officials to match the commitments made to incoming students with improvements to current services offered at the University.
Officials said earlier this month GW’s Revolutionary Promise initiative represents a step toward fulfilling the goal of meeting the full demonstrated need of GW’s residential undergraduate students, as outlined in the University’s strategic framework released in October. The initiative also covers half the tuition for students from households making up to $150,000 and extends merit scholarships eligibility for incoming and current undergraduate students from five to six years.
While some students applauded officials’ efforts to make the University more affordable for new students, the majority recommended officials to help current students by extending the tuition guarantee to them and further investing in student resources.
Jayden Nuamah, a first-year student majoring in entrepreneurship and innovation, said officials should be “more concerned” about caring for their current student population, given he has seen students transfer or plan to do so due to GW’s high cost of attendance. He said it is unfair to place financial burdens disproportionately on returning students, whose costs will approach $100,000 next year.
“I just feel like there are students who are not getting their needs met,” Nuamah said. “If you can’t promise them something equivalent to what they are promising incoming students, how do you expect current students to feel?”
Nuamah said providing incoming students more financial support than current students damages the sense of community among students by creating disparities regarding financial aid offered to those with similar financial situations, raising questions about equal treatment.
“Why are you putting barriers between us when we’re both attending the same institution?” Nuamah said. “I feel like there has to be equality in every sense.”
Sadee Gedse, a first-year student majoring in criminal justice, said the initiative is “amazing news,” given GW’s tuition increases yearly and the University is one of the “most expensive schools” in the country. She said the initiative will be especially helpful for incoming first-generation and low-income students who have to balance both academics and work to afford attending GW.
“There are some low income students here who work so many jobs,” Gedse said. “I know this could really help them financially, and honestly, boost their academics and well-being.”
Gedse said she understands the frustration that current students are not eligible for the opportunity, but she thinks the current initiative is “better than nothing.”
“You have to start somewhere, and you have to be grateful where you are right now,” Gedse said.
The launch of the initiative came weeks after officials announced they were increasing undergraduate tuition by 3 percent next academic year, with the cost of attendance for returning students without aid rising to $98,165. More than 50 current undergraduate students said this month the experience GW provides is not sufficient relative to its cost, urging officials to restore services they have cut this year and increase support for underfunded ones, like dining, academic advising and facilities.
Vice President and Dean of Enrollment Management and Student Success Jay Goff said the promise is part of the University’s broader affordability strategy and does not change its commitment to supporting current students, and officials will continue to review and adjust students’ financial aid based on demonstrated need.
Goff said GW has expanded its investment in financial aid by more than $80 million since 2020, increasing institutional spending on student financial support. He said this investment has made the University more accessible for students from low-income families, with the proportion of Pell Grant-eligible undergraduates growing from around 13 percent in 2013 to more than 21 percent for the 2025-26 entering class.
Goff said the University is currently navigating a “challenging financial environment,” given reductions in federal support programs and declines in graduate and international student enrollment. He said while these factors will continue to affect University’s finances next academic year, officials are committed to avoid shifting this financial burden to students and their families.
“Tuition and fee increases have been kept in line with, or below, peer institutions and are designed primarily to offset a portion of direct inflationary costs, such as utilities, food and core academic operations,” Goff said.
Over half of GW’s peer schools offer tuition guarantees similar to the Revolutionary Promise, with Boston University covering full tuition for families with income up to $75,000, University of Southern California up to $80,000, New York University up to $100,000 and Tufts University up to $150,000.
Maryam Harahsheh, a junior studying biological anthropology, said the initiative doesn’t send “a great message” to current students, as officials are only investing in students that have yet to make a commitment to GW.
“The message this is sending to freshmen and sophomores who are too late in their process to transfer out of here is that GW knows that they’re kind of stuck where they are,” Harahsheh said. “Having that financial aid won’t change whether they’re gonna give the money to GW or not.”
Harahsheh said officials’ commitment to incoming students do not match their investments into current students, as she hasn’t seen much improvements to academic programs and campus resources.
“The new advances that we see happening are specifically to get more people to come to school, like the school opening a new student store, rather than investing money into current programs that don’t have enough funding, like the anthropology and geology departments,” Harahsheh said.
Yeva Grigoryan, a first-year student studying international affairs, said she was “deeply saddened” to learn that current students were not included in the initiative, as she believes there are many students at GW who do not come from an affluent background. She said the initiative should also be extended to current students given the “time, resources and dedication” they give to the University.
“I know myself and other people would also hopefully qualify for this sort of benefit,” Grigoryan said.
Grigoryan said despite the University covering full-tuition, lower-income families still may not be able to accept the offer because it doesn’t cover the cost of living in D.C. Officials said when announcing the promise students may receive additional scholarships and grants if they show further need.
“Living in D.C. is very expensive, and it’s a very important part of making the decision to come to GW,” Grigoryan said. “So I think if they also took care of these sorts of costs for students, it would attract a lot more students to come to our University and become part of this amazing community.”
