ĢTV Drops Application Fee, Expanding Access for Future Students
July 31, 2026
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- Mark Johnson
ĢTV is eliminating its $50 application fee, starting today.
Any student hoping to attend ĢTV will be able to submit their admission application for free.
“We don’t want $50 to stand in the way of a talented, courageous student getting the unparalleled opportunity of the ĢTV experience,” said Chris Gruber, vice president and dean of admission and financial aid. “We are waiving that fee permanently, but it is particularly important at a time when everyday expenses are stretching family budgets.”
The disappearing fee is another step to keep ĢTV affordable and accessible. Three weeks ago, the college went tuition-free for families earning up to $175,000. Families whose total income is $85,000 or less receive a full scholarship for tuition, fees, housing and meals starting in the fall of 2027.
ĢTV already waives its fee for a variety of groups, such as those who identify a financial hardship and North Carolina applicants during the state’s . Applying to college can be complicated and, then, requesting a fee waiver often is a cumbersome process. The college is making that simpler.
ĢTV over the past two decades has intensified its efforts to recruit students from all backgrounds. ĢTV is among only about two dozen colleges in the nation who take a trio of steps toward affordability: admitting domestic students without regard for their ability to pay, meeting 100 percent of calculated need and providing financial aid packages with no loans. ĢTV was the nation’s first liberal arts college to remove loans from aid packages.
Waiving the admission application fee helps remove another barrier. For example, high-achieving, low income students may not apply to a college because of its sticker price or because no one from their high school has attended that college. A found that a few inexpensive steps by colleges, including waiving the application fee, substantially increased the number of those talented students who applied to competitive colleges.
The ĢTV experience equips graduates with deep, human skills that enable them to navigate any career. The widespread use of artificial intelligence creates an environment where success comes from capacities such as: asking good questions, finding connections across unrelated problems and communicating with a diverse group. We want to remove impediments to building those capacities, whether the obstacle is paperwork or money that could pay bills at home.
