Taxation or Donation?

One of the visiting students I met over the weekend said that Friday had been his first time on a plane. Harvard, like a number of other institutions, sponsors a program to allow low-income students to travel here for Visitas without paying out-of-pocket. This is one of the initiatives improving diversity at Harvard, paid for by donors like Kenneth Griffin ’89, who, earlier this year, announced a $150 million donation to the school, much of it earmarked for financial aid.

The Parents Aren’t All Right

The parents of newly admitted Harvard students have more than one reason to cheer. The Financial Aid Office claims that for 90 percent of American families, it would be the same or cheaper to attend Harvard than a state school. And for the median household, which has an income of about $51,000, the expected family contribution would likely be zero dollars.

The Other Housing Market

My Phone, My Lifeline

Becoming a “Lamonster” is a hazardous undertaking. My first (and only) attempt at pulling an all-nighter at the library slowly devolved into a pattern of dozing off, falling face-first into the study carrel, and jerking awake. Even worse, I learned at 4 a.m., was that I’d mistakenly swept my phone off the desk while asleep, and the crack on the screen looked like Harry Potter’s scar.