GSAS Faculty and Students Approve of Tuition Experiment

One year after the institution of a new tuition policy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS)--which sets costs for many graduate students here at a level lower than at any other Ivy League school--most administrators, faculty and students view the experiment favorably.

Under the new system, graduate students' tuition decreases drastically after their fourth year at Harvard--to $380, compared to $4400 a year at Princeton.

Encouragement

The difference in rates reflects Harvard's policy of encouraging students not to rush through their graduate studies, and Princeton's desire to move students in and out as fast as possible.

Richard A. Kraus, GSAS director of financial aid, yesterday called the policy "pretty fair" and GSAS director of fiscal services R. Jerrold Gibson '51 said it was much easier to administer than the previous plan.

Randall B. Shirts, a fourth-year grad student in chemical physics said yesterday he likes the present system and that it is better for physical science students. Second-year English grad student Andrew E. Kimball also supports the current policy.

But Kimball added "you've got to draw the line somewhere" and for grad students "four years is enough."

John E. Dowling '57, chairman of the Biology Department said yesterday that the lower rates are "a big step in the right direction." Dowling said he supports the present system, and added the old one was "a disadvantage to us."

The present system was designed to prevent students who had been at GSAS for many years from using the University facilities without registering, a common occurrence under the old system.

Now grad students pay full tuition of $4100 for each of their first two years here, $1100 for each of the next two years, and a $380 facilities fee every year after that.