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Harvard Reaches Out to Needy Students
by
findingDulcinea Staff
The latest in a number of prestigious universities to assist poorer scholars, Harvard is offering grants for middle-class students; concern is growing for twenty-something graduates sinking into the red.
30-Second Summary
Harvard University will put up $20 million in grant money for undergraduate students with family incomes as high as $180,000.
Both students and educational analysts have applauded Harvard’s plan. The Harvard Crimson, the university’s student paper, wrote in a staff editorial, “Students should not have to choose between pursuing their passions and servicing their debt.”
According to a poll conducted in 2006 by USA Today and the National Endowment for Financial Education, 60 percent of recent graduates feel at least somewhat burdened by their loan obligations, and 30 percent frequently worry about their student debt.
However, some commentators have suggested that this student aid plan could siphon off an inordinate amount of talent from well-regarded schools that do not enjoy Harvard's cachet. Ronald G. Ehrenberg, director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute, told Inside Higher Ed magazine that he feared “a greater concentration of talent” in a few institutions. He suggested that less well-endowed universities would find it harder to attract accomplished students.
Harvard is one of a number of esteemed academic institutions looking to reduce student loan debt among its graduates.
The University of Pennsylvania unveiled a similar program on Dec. 17. Penn President Amy Gutmann said, “Our aim is to send a signal out to every family who would not otherwise believe they could afford our tuition and fees that we’re affordable to students from every economic background.”
Both students and educational analysts have applauded Harvard’s plan. The Harvard Crimson, the university’s student paper, wrote in a staff editorial, “Students should not have to choose between pursuing their passions and servicing their debt.”
According to a poll conducted in 2006 by USA Today and the National Endowment for Financial Education, 60 percent of recent graduates feel at least somewhat burdened by their loan obligations, and 30 percent frequently worry about their student debt.
However, some commentators have suggested that this student aid plan could siphon off an inordinate amount of talent from well-regarded schools that do not enjoy Harvard's cachet. Ronald G. Ehrenberg, director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute, told Inside Higher Ed magazine that he feared “a greater concentration of talent” in a few institutions. He suggested that less well-endowed universities would find it harder to attract accomplished students.
Harvard is one of a number of esteemed academic institutions looking to reduce student loan debt among its graduates.
The University of Pennsylvania unveiled a similar program on Dec. 17. Penn President Amy Gutmann said, “Our aim is to send a signal out to every family who would not otherwise believe they could afford our tuition and fees that we’re affordable to students from every economic background.”
Headline Links: ‘Harvard Targets Middle Class’
On Dec. 10, Harvard University declared it will be dipping further into its multibillion-dollar endowment to offer more generous student aid packages. Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard’s president, called the new plan “a response to the enormous stress that a particular group of families feel about the cost of higher education.”
Source: Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune
Background: Easing student debt
Christopher Caldwell, columnist for The New York Times, writes that college costs have gone up over the past 25 years as the public has realized the financial advantages of higher education. Two and a half decades ago, the most respected institutions cost some $10,000 a year. The annual fees associated with attending such institutions now exceed $40,000. “In 1979, according to the economists Frank Levy and Richard Murnane, a 30-year-old college graduate earned 17 percent more than a 30-year-old high-school grad. Now the gap is over 50 percent,” he writes.
Source: The New York Times
Nearly two-thirds of recent college graduates have student loan debt. The National Endowment for Financial Education in a 2006 poll conducted in partnership with USA Today found that 60 percent of respondents aged 22–29 are feeling the pinch of their student debt, and 30 percent say they worry frequently about their loans. “I have nightmares. I dream I’m on a hot-air balloon, hanging on for dear life,” said 29-year-old Heather Schopp of Long Beach, Calif., who has some $165,000 in student-loan debt.
Source: USA Today
Reactions: The Harvard Crimson
The Harvard Crimson, the university’s student newspaper, lauds the administration’s decision, which the newspaper describes as “leveling the playing field between privileged and underprivileged students.” The newspaper identifies this move as the latest in a line of successful Harvard initiatives, including providing free tuition for students whose families’ annual income is less than $40,000.
Source: The Harvard Crimson
Related Links: Student aid at prestigious schools
A number of top-ranked universities and liberal arts colleges have been moving towards eliminating loans from their financial aid packages for undergraduates for some years now. Princeton University was among the first in 2001 to replace loans with grants for students coming from lower-income brackets. Top liberal arts colleges Davidson, Williams and Wesleyan have since followed suit, despite their smaller endowments. Tony Pals, spokesperson for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, says, “The interesting thing about Princeton back in 2001 was that the consensus was that it would have a limited effect on higher education, given that ... it has the largest endowment per student—and clearly, that hasn't been the case.”
Source: Christian Science Monitor
Thanks to a $100 million gift from an anonymous donor, students attending the University of Chicago whose parents make a combined income of less than $60,000 will have the loan portion of their financial aid packages replaced with grant money. Starting in fall 2008, students whose parents make between $60,000 and $70,000 will have their loan contribution reduced by 50 percent. Nearly half of the undergraduate student body comes from the top 20 percent of income earners.
Source: University of Chicago Press Office
On Dec. 17, the University of Pennsylvania announced that it plans to replace loans with grants for financially eligible undergraduates starting in 2009, aiding some 2,600 students. “Our aim is to send a signal out to every family who would not otherwise believe they could afford our tuition and fees that we’re affordable to students from every economic background,” University President Amy Gutmann said.
Source: The Washington Post
Opinion & Analysis: A shift in the learning curve
Education pundits are sparring to decide whether Harvard’s new plan to reduce undergraduate student debt is creating a divide between “have and have-not” institutions. Only a handful of colleges and universities have the endowments to be able to afford to compete with Harvard in offering financial aid packages. Ronald G. Ehrenberg, director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute and a well-known analyst of post-secondary tuition prices, fears that the new Harvard plan could result in talent being concentrated in a small number of universities.
Source: Inside Higher Ed
Reference Material: Information for students looking for aid
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the form used by the U.S. federal government to administer funds such as subsidized student loans and other need-based aid such as Pell Grants. The form may be filled out online or downloaded and mailed. High school juniors and their parents can check out FAFSA4caster, where they can enter information such as expected income to estimate eligibility for student aid.
Source: Free Application for Federal Student Aid
The College Board, which runs such preparatory exams as the SAT and the Advanced Placement Tests, also administers the PROFILE, a questionnaire private colleges and universities use to determine eligibility for their school-run financial aid programs. Prospective students and their families can submit their PROFILE forms online and use their online tool to compare financial aid offers from up to four institutions at once.
Source: College Board
Test preparation company The Princeton Review has a how-to guide on applying for student loans and financial aid, as well as links to its loan provider MyRichUncle.
Source: The Princeton Review
The U.S. Department of Education has compiled a guide for applying for governmental financial aid and advising on how to save for college.
Source: Department of Education
The Project on Student Debt, an advocacy group for public awareness regarding student debt, has a list of higher educational institutions that replace loans with grant money for students from certain socioeconomic backgrounds.
Source: Project on Student Debt
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