Harvard increases financial aid for middle class

Harvard will change its financial aid guidelines to limit the amount students' families are required to pay based on their income, the university announced yesterday. The new three-tiered policy aims to make education more affordable for middle and upper-middle income families.

The first component, known as the "Zero to 10 Percent Standard," stipulates that families with annual incomes between $120,000 and $180,000 will only have to pay 10 percent of their incomes. Families with incomes below that range will be asked to pay a lower percentage, with the expected contribution declining as income level decreases. Families with incomes below $60,000 will not be expected to pay anything.

"We want all students who might dream of a Harvard education to know that it is a realistic and affordable option," Drew Gilpin Faust, the school's president, said in a statement.

The plan also eliminates student loan requirements and replaces them with grants, though students may still take out loans in order to cover whatever tuition they have to pay. The new policy states that home equity will not be considered in determining a family's ability to pay tuition, a move that is expected to save families receiving financial aid an average of $4,000.

Princeton's Director of Undergraduate Financial Aid Robin Moscato noted that some aspects of Harvard's new policy follow in Princeton's footsteps. "These are things we did in 2001," she said of the decision to replace loans with grants and to no longer use home equity to calculate financial aid. "We are glad to see Harvard joining us on that," she added.

Referring to the first prong of Harvard's plan, Moscato said the University is also concerned about helping middle and upper-middle income families in need of financial aid. "We share their concern on trying to meet those needs as effectively as possible," she said.

Recently, the difficulties some middle-class families face in paying college tuition have sparked national concerns, and Moscato said the University is aware of their plight. "At Princeton," she said, "we have a lot of students enrolled here on aid in those income [brackets]."

Like Harvard, Princeton has discrete subdivisions for family incomes, though it sets different monetary benchmarks for each category. The University considers families with a yearly income of less than $53,000 to be low income and doesn't require any tuition payments from some of these families, though some contribute anywhere from $500 to $3,000. Families that make between $53,500 and $75,000 per year are considered to have moderate incomes and pay more than lower income families, though all of these families typically qualify for financial aid.

Middle-income families, as defined by the University, make between $75,000 to $150,000 a year, and more than 90 percent of students from these families qualify for financial aid, though they receive less than lower-income families. Princeton considers families that make above $150,000 a year to be higher-income but still grants some of them aid depending on their circumstances.

Harvard's decision comes as Congress discusses legislation that would require schools to spend more of their endowments to decrease the costs of education, a move Princeton has publicly opposed. Harvard's $35 billion endowment is the largest in higher education, while Princeton's is valued at over $14.8 billion.

"I don't think it's generally a good idea for Congress to get involved on legislation on how schools should spend their endowments," Moscato said, adding that the University "has a very expansive financial aid program" intended to help attract and support an economically diverse student body.

Princeton's and Harvard's financial aid programs are similar in other ways. Both universities are need-blind when considering applicants, and neither awards merit or athletic scholarships.