Harvard to boost aid, even to those of higher incomes
http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/12/11/harvard_to_boost_aid_even_to_those_of_higher_incomes/
Aims to simplify process
By Linda K. Wertheimer
Globe Staff / December 11, 2007
Harvard University announced yesterday it would sharply increase assistance for middle- and higher-income families, using an uncommonly simple formula designed to strip away confusion about financial aid and reduce the sticker shock over tuition.
Beginning next fall, families earning $120,000 to $180,000 a year will be required to pay, on average, no more than 10 percent of their income. Harvard will also eliminate loans in financial aid packages, replace them with grants, and remove home equity in determining a family's assets.The changes propel a trend among some elite colleges, including Princeton University, Williams, and Amherst, to make college less expensive for middle- and higher-income families. Princeton, which does not have a set formula like Harvard's, said families who make $120,000 to $180,000 contribute 16 percent of their income, on average, toward the university's cost.
Three years ago, Harvard became one of the first major universities to waive all costs for families earning $40,000 or less, a benefit extended in 2006 to those making as much as $60,000. Under the new standard, the family contribution will decline steadily from 10 percent of income to zero.
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