Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Harvard to Reduce Tuition Costs

From AOL.com


Harvard to Reduce Tuition Costs
By JUSTIN POPE,AP
Posted: 2007-12-10


Harvard University announced Monday a major expansion of financial aid that will reduce tuition bills by thousands of dollars - even for families earning six figures.

The university said it would replace all loans with grants, and spend up to $22 million more annually on aid, mostly targeting middle- and upper-middle class students. Families earning under $60,000 already pay nothing to attend the world's richest university, with an endowment of nearly $35 billion.

Now, however, there parents earning between $60,000 and $120,000 will pay a percentage of their income, rising to 10 percent. Families with incomes between $120,000 and $180,000 will have to pay 10 percent of their incomes.

Harvard also said it would take home equity out of its wealth calculation in financial aid, which should provide a greater boost for students and parents. Overall, Harvard said a typical family earning $120,000 would pay about $12,000 next year, down from $19,000 under current award policies. For a typical family earning $180,000, the bill would drop to $18,000, from more than $30,000.

About half of Harvard students receive some form of aid, including students from about 100 families who earn more than $200,000.

For those who pay full tuition, room and board, the price is $45,620.

University officials said their surveys showed even students from well-off families were feeling the pinch by having to work outside jobs and not being able to fully engage in the life of the university. Harvard officials also worried prospective applicants were scared away by the school's cost.

Dean of Admissions and Financial aid William Fitzsimmons said Harvard had grown concerned students were having an "Upstairs, Downstairs" experience. "On the one hand the more affluent students had full access to the full Harvard experience in its totality. But this chunk of people ... 53 percent of the population, we felt were having a diminished experience."

The announcement is the latest of a string by well-endowed universities who are trying to combat perceptions they are unaffordable with major initiatives to reduce the price students actually pay.

A handful of schools, starting with Princeton in 2001, had eliminated all student loans, but Harvard had declined to match that step until Monday's announcement.

Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust said the money would come from funds from a variety of sources, including the strong returns on Harvard's endowment.


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2007-12-10 16:18:33



More than a few posts have been written here about the 'affordability' of college. It's a very important subject. I have been fortunate to attend excellent schools, and I realize now, that, if my parents had to send me to school, they might not be able to afford to send me to the schools that I attended. My parents are middle-class, and back when I went to college, just a little over a decade ago, while it was uncomfortable for them to pay that parental contribution, it was never impossible. Nowadays, it has turned impossible. So, I applaud Harvard, and would hope that other wealthy colleges will follow suit.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing this story, Rikyrah. I hope more schools follow Harvard's lead and take steps to make higher ed affordable.

On a somewhat related note, last evening a friend described his nephew's recent school-sponsored college tour for high school students.

At one of the institutions, a state run HBCU, the ratio of black female to black male students is 25 to 1 . Sadly, the numbers did not fare any better at the other schools on the tour.

This broke my heart. The implications of this trend on the health of the black family (not to mention public health in our community) are frightening.

Our families have to do better by our young men. PERIOD. I know the ridiculous battles I fight routinely in my sphere of influence. And it's especially hard when the real enemy is from within, but I'm not giving up on my folks.

I just wanted to share this. I'm speechless.

rikyrah said...

At one of the institutions, a state run HBCU, the ratio of black female to black male students is 25 to 1 . Sadly, the numbers did not fare any better at the other schools on the tour.

This broke my heart. The implications of this trend on the health of the black family (not to mention public health in our community) are frightening.

Our families have to do better by our young men. PERIOD. I know the ridiculous battles I fight routinely in my sphere of influence. And it's especially hard when the real enemy is from within, but I'm not giving up on my folks.

I just wanted to share this. I'm speechless.


Denise,

I worry about this too. All the time. It's truly an issue that we need to confront. Our young women need young men, suitable young men - not being classist, but just being real - to marry.

We've got to change these numbers. Where will the next generation of Black Male Leaders come from, if they're not being nurtured somewhere?

Did you read Roland S. Martin's new commentary?

Anonymous said...

thanks, Rikyrah. I'm reading it now.