As Harvard, Yale plan to up graduate aid, Princeton will not follow suit

Despite Harvard's announcement last week that it will increase graduate student financial aid and Yale's announcement that it will remain competitive, Princeton graduate school dean William Russel said the University has no plans to react to Harvard University.

Russel said the stipends and fellowships given to the University's graduate school students are competitive with other institutions.

"We don't lose people because of our financial aid," he said.

Harvard's president, Lawrence Summers, announced Wednesday a $14-million increase in graduate financial aid programs, The Harvard Crimson reported.

The aid will benefit students in all of Harvard's graduate and professional schools, except for the law and business schools and students studying the natural sciences.

Harvard graduate students will also now be eligible for loans at below-market rates through a partnership with Citibank's Student Loan corporation, The Crimson reported.

Following Harvard's announcement, Yale reaffirmed its goal to remain competitive, the Yale Daily News reported. Yale graduate school dean Peter Salovey told the student paper Yale would not change its financial aid programs specifically in response to Harvard.

Princeton communications director Lauren Robinson-Brown '85 said Princeton and Harvard's graduate programs are too different in size and type to compare their financial aid packages. While Harvard graduate students borrow approximately $45 million annually from non-federal sources to pay for tuition, fees and living expenses — according to The Crimson — Princeton students' comparative total is only $1 million.

Nevertheless, she added that Princeton's graduate student financial aid is competitive with other schools. "The University has been committed to providing great financial aid programs for our graduate students," she said. "The graduate students' needs are being met."

GSG chair Scott Miller agreed that the University's aid is competitive. "The support we receive from Princeton is quite generous by comparison to most other universities," he said in an email.

Though generous, the aid is not perfect, Miller added. "It is sufficient to live on, for most people, though barely so for many. The cost of living is very high in this area."

"Housing and meal plan prices have been increasing far faster than stipend levels," Miller said.

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Russel said most graduate students receive an annual stipend of between $15,000 for the humanities and social sciences and $18,000 for the sciences and engineering, in addition to the cost of tuition.

Yale's graduate students in all disciplines receive a uniform $15,000 stipend, the Yale Daily News reported.

Russel added that additional funding is available to graduate students for summer study. Princeton also offers humanities and social science fellowships that last longer than those at many other schools, he said.

Additional funding for stipends in the humanities and social sciences — already supported by the Priorities Committee — awaits approval from the Trustees.

A new spending proposal passed by the Trustees in 2001 provides all first year Ph.D. students in science and engineering with fellowships in place of research grants or teaching assignments. Students in the humanities and social sciences receive first-year fellowships.

After their first year, science and engineering students receive support through their professors' research grants or by teaching, Miller said.

Post-enrolled students, Ph.D. candidates who have exceeded their enrollment period, do not receive a stipend.

Though other universities are "catching up" to some of Princeton's financial aid programs, Russel was far from worried about Harvard's move. Harvard's plan "encourage[s] students to pursue advanced degrees," which is beneficial for everyone, Russel said.