STANFORD, Calif. -- With its coffers awashed in endowment cash, Stanford University was set Wednesday to unveil a financial aid plan where students whose families earn less than $100,000 a year will no longer be charged tuition

Published reports said that University President John Hennessy would formally make the announcement some time on Wednesday and also reveal that students whose families make less then $60,000 will also receive free room and board.

"Thanks to our increasingly generous financial aid program ... attending Stanford will cost less than most private and many public universities," university Provost John Etchemendy told the San Francisco Chronicle.

The decision to ease the financial pressures on students from economically challenged families came after officials reported that the university's endowments had grown 22 percent last year to $17.1 billion.

To pay for the new tuition assistance, university officials said Stanford would increase its annual endowment payout to 5.5 percent. The new plan, which begins in the 2008-09 academic year, eliminates the need for student loans for qualifying students.

"We are committed to ensuring that Stanford asks parents and students to contribute only what they can afford," Hennessy told the paper. "No high school senior should rule out applying to Stanford because of cost."

Over the last 10 years, Stanford students have seen their tuition increased from $21,300 to $34,800. Such steep costs have resulted in 3 out of every 4 students getting some from of financial aid, university officials said.