Harvard's Calling

Damn, where were opportunities when I was applying for college? I did think about applying to out of state schools. Harvard, MIT, maybe Yale were on my initial list. Then I received the Harvard application - it was enormous. So many papers to fill out. In the end, I decided I didn't want to go out of state for college. As a result, I didn't submit the application; why waste my time filling this "book" for Harvard if I'm not seriously considering going to the east coast.

Well, Harvard is making this offer to families earning less than $40,000 a year with a student graduating from high school. Harvard will pay the tuition. The flyer I picked up said NO tuition and NO student loans - worth investigating. People interested should go to Harvard's financial aid website. Or call the financial aid office at (617) 384-8213.

From Harvard's website:

"In addition, for those students, the University waives application fees, pays for travel so that accepted applicants can visit campus to see if they wish to enroll, and makes funds available, as needed, for books, winter clothing, medical and other extraordinary expenses. "

"Harvard's initiative comes as a number of recent studies show wide disparities in college attendance and completion based on socioeconomic factors. Family financial circumstances affect which students go to college, where they go, and how likely they are to graduate. (Sources for numbers below are attached.)

Nationwide, low-income students attend college at much lower rates than students from families with higher incomes. Nine in ten high school graduates from families earning more than $80,000 attend college by the time they are 24, compared to only six in ten from families earning less than $33,000.

A student from the highest income quartile and the lowest aptitude quartile (as measured by standardized test scores) was as likely to be enrolled in college as a student from the lowest income quartile and the highest aptitude quartile.

At the nation's most selective colleges and universities, only three percent of students come from the bottom income quartile and only 10 percent come from the bottom half of the income scale. Almost three quarters come from families in the top quartile.

Within five years of entering college nationwide, more than 40 percent of students from the top income quartile graduate with a B.A. compared to 6 percent from the lowest income quartile.

According to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics, students and families from all economic backgrounds, particularly those with lower incomes, often "substantially overestimated" how much they will be required to pay for a college education.

Harvard's own research confirms that large gaps persist in the college expectations of students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds. Last fall, Harvard admissions and financial aid staff conducted a series of interviews with students from families with incomes below $50,000. Many of these students were the first from their high schools ever to attend Harvard, and said that it never would have occurred to them to apply save some outside intervention — the encouragement of a particular teacher, becoming acquainted with a Harvard graduate in the community, or receiving a recruitment letter from Harvard. Almost all of the students interviewed confessed that they had paid the portion of expenses expected of their parents through extra work during the summer and academic year because they did not feel comfortable adding to their families' financial burdens. Most indicated a strong family aversion to debt, making it difficult to rely heavily on loans, and many discussed the difficulties of meeting routine expenses — such as course books, school supplies, and fees for a variety of student events — especially compared to more affluent peers."

Thank God, someone's noticing the problems financially disadvantaged students face when applying for college.