Financial Aid Statistics Speak for Themselves

To the editors:

We read your editorial “Overdue Aid for Students” (Feb. 27) with interest, and we wish to offer a number of additional perspectives that might be helpful to your readers:

• Over the past four years we have increased our scholarship program by 40% in a time when tuition and fees rose on average 2.5% annually.

• This year we will devote close to $63.8 million in need-based grant assistance to ensure that Harvard remains accessible.

• Students can choose whether to work or borrow in fulfillment of their expected annual “self-help” contribution of $3,150. Without recent initiatives, this amount would be over $7,150.

• Students receiving financial aid can graduate debt-free by working 10-12 hours a week, or they can choose not to work, instead borrowing their entire expected contribution through subsidized, low-interest loans.

• About two thirds of our undergraduates receive some form of financial aid.

• Nearly half our undergraduates receive need-based grants, averaging over $20,000 annually.

Harvard students have access to over a million dollars in summer and academic year research opportunities, and to unlimited career options following graduation. Most of all, Harvard’s long tradition of providing need-blind admissions and need-based financial aid for all students, coupled with the recent initiatives to strengthen the scholarship program, have resulted in a student body that is unparalleled in its excellence.

Sarah Clark Donahue

William R. Fitzsimmons ’67

Marlyn McGrath Lewis ’70-’73

Mar. 1, 2002

Sarah Clark Donahue is director of financial aid. William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 is dean of admissions and financial aid. Marlyn McGrath Lewis ’70-’73 is director of admissions.