Low-Income? Have a Smart Kid? Harvard will pay for their Education

Hard to believe but apparently true; if your child gets into Harvard and your family makes under $60k, that student can go to Harvard..for free.  (They do not consider retirement assets or home equity in their financial aid calculations.)   They eliminated student loans, preferring to offer jobs to help students with non-academic expenses. 

From Harlem World:

For another year, Harvard University announced on Friday, September 20th, 2013 that undergraduate students from low-income families will pay no tuition. In making the announcement, Harvard’s president Drew Faust (she replaced Larry Summers). Past Harvard president Larry Summers said, “When only ten percent of the students in elite higher education come from families in the lower half of the income distribution, we are not doing enough. We are not doing enough in bringing elite higher education to the lower half of the income distribution.”

To find out more about Harvard offering free tuition for families making less than $60,000 a year, visit Harvard’s financial aid website at :http://www.fao.fas.harvard.edu/or call the school’s financial aid office at (617) 495-1581.

Comments

Maureen said…
For another year, Harvard University announced on Friday, September 20th, 2013 that undergraduate students from low-income families will pay no tuition.

Note that it's not just tuition. Low income students don't pay room and board either. Harvard does expect students to contribute something from summer and school year earnings towards miscellaneous expenses. If you haven't done it, plugging numbers into a college's Net Price Calculator can be very eye opening. Here are links to Harvard's and one for The University of Washington.
Anonymous said…
I thought it is a sliding scale so that students whose parents earn $200K (with no assets) will receive some assistance.

Of course you have to get into Harvard.


SPS Mom
Maureen said…
Yes, SPS Mom, you're right. Some schools have a lot of money to give away. But, as you say, you have to get into Harvard!

Here are a few more possibilities for poor, bright, hardworking students: Questbridge and Gates Millenium Scholars. Becoming a National Merit Scholar or a National Achievement Scholar can open up a lot of doors, but you have to do well on the PSAT.

Any more to add?
Anonymous said…
I believe all the Ivies, and a handful of similar institutions with GDP-sized endowments (and I say that fondly) do exactly what Harvard does. Harvard is just, as always, better at self-promotion. (Again, said with fondness, so all you alums, don't jump down my throat). And you don't have to be "poor" to benefit. Most of the people who qualify and take advantage wouldn't think of themselves as poor, in fact. The truly poor have had a free ride for a very long time. This program, begun several years ago by Harvard and Princeton and spread across the Ivy League by the pure force of competition, is meant to attract the bottom to middle of the middle class. If your parents earn 60K - 80K a year in Nebraska, you're not living "poor", but you probably get a very generous or nearly full ride of grants, not loans, at any Ivy League school. It's a great change from the loan packages of the 90s.

Signed, Good Deals
Maureen said…
I just ran across this article from Consumer's Checkbook. They ran Net Price Calculators for several different financial situations. This one is aimed at the Pacific Northwest.

A poster at College Confidential listed links for several other areas here including one for Massachusetts that includes Harvard.

Very eye opening for people who haven't compared the net costs of public vs. private colleges.

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