Harvard - Pass it on

http://www.fao.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do

Welcome to the Harvard College Financial Aid Office

We are eager to help you and your family understand our financial aid programs and to assist you in finding ways to meet your college costs. Given the unprecedented economic downturn of the past year and a half, we understand that the thought of financing four years of college weighs heavily on families. We remain deeply committed to making a Harvard education affordable for all admitted students and invite you to learn more about our financial aid program. All of our financial aid is awarded on the basis of demonstrated financial need—there are no academic, athletic or merit-based awards, and we meet the full need of every student, including international students, for all four years.

In December of 2007, President Drew Faust announced a sweeping overhaul of financial aid policies designed to make Harvard College more affordable for families across the income spectrum. Over the past decade we have increased our scholarship aid by 163%, and this year we are awarding a record-breaking $158 million in need-based scholarship assistance to almost 60% of our students.

Our new financial aid policy has dramatically reduced the amount families with incomes below $180,000 are expected to pay, and parents of families with incomes below $60,000 are not expected to contribute at all to college costs. We no longer consider home equity as a resource in our determination of a family contribution, and students are not expected to take out loans, which have been replaced by need-based Harvard scholarship. This new program has reduced the cost to middle income families by one-third to one-half, making the price of a Harvard education for students on financial aid comparable to the cost of in-state tuition and fees at the nation’s leading public universities. For a more detailed explanation of our program, please click here.

We look forward to working with you,
The Harvard Financial Aid Office

I applaud Harvard for their efforts. It is especially comforting seeing a major US university stepping up efforts to secure quality educations for children from all walks of life.

Harvard has among the largest endowment fund in the world- at $27 BILLION dollars.

They can afford it. In years past, they gave away nearly none of their endowment. It became a large issue recently when it was revealed that they were sitting on top of that kind of cash, and were not giving away much of it to help students.

http://www.hmc.harvard.edu/index.html

So what do they actually do with this? Just keep it stuffed under the mattress?

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Originally Posted by James48843

Harvard has among the largest endowment fund in the world- at $27 BILLION dollars.

They can afford it. In years past, they gave away nearly none of their endowment. It became a large issue recently when it was revealed that they were sitting on top of that kind of cash, and were not giving away much of it to help students.

http://www.hmc.harvard.edu/index.html

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I read an article on this a couple years ago that ran the numbers & concluded that Harvard's endowment funds are so huge they could actually offer tuition, books, fees, & room & board, for their entire student body in perpetuity and never exceed 4% SWR.

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Originally Posted by Texarkandy

I read an article on this a couple years ago that ran the numbers & concluded that Harvard's endowment funds are so huge they could actually offer tuition, books, fees, & room & board, for their entire student body in perpetuity and never exceed 4% SWR.

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Correct.

Harvard could be absolutely free to those who attend.

If the Harvard board wishes it to be that way.

According to the Wiki:

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In 2007, if Harvard had allocated 6% of its $34.6 billion endowment toward tuition, all Harvard undergraduate and graduate students could attend for free and the university would still have $1.3 billion left over. It would require less than 1% of the endowments of Harvard and Yale to allow all students to attend tuition-free.

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