Harvard Endowment Fund

Harvard university endowment fund

Harvard Endowment Fund - On December 10th, 2007, Harvard President Drew Faust and Dean of the Faculty of arts and Sciences, Michael D. Smith, expounded their new, pioneering financial support program in an attempt to make Harvard more affordable for families of all incomes, but particularly for families of middle and upper middle incomes. Major improvements were made in awarding grants, dumping student loans and removing home equity values from the financial help calculations, as well as getting rid of the contribution made by families with incomes less than $60,000 : “Families with incomes above $120,000 and below $180,000 and with assets typical for these earnings levels,” Harvard related, “will be asked to pay ten p.c of their incomes. For those with incomes below $120,000, the family contribution % will decline continuously from 10 p.c, reaching zero for those with incomes at $60,000 and below.”

“We need all scholars who might dream of a Harvard education to grasp that it’s a pragmatic and affordable option,” declared President Faust. “Education is basic to the future of individuals and the nation, and we are anxious to do our part to restore its place as an engine of opportunity, instead of a source of fiscal stress. With no loans, no consideration of home equity, and an astonishing quick dramatic increase in grant help, we’re not tinkering at the margins, we are rebuilding the engine. This is a massive investment for Harvard, but there is no more critical commitment we could make. Excellence and opportunity must go hand in hand,” he said.

NOT SO FAST WITH YOUR APPLAUSE. Before you begin offering words of praise for Harvard’s proclaimed financial support initiative, consider whether or not, as we have seen so many times before, all of those punctiliously selected words are as empty as the pot at the end of a rainbow that no-one ever uncovers. Could it be the Ivy League giant has already stopped on their promise and that some of their groundbreaking finance help is nothing more than a lot of hype?

One thing is certain, if Harvard low balled their financial support offers to these families, it is safe to presume there are others who had the crimson pulled over their eyes. I welcome any Harvard family, and since we’re on the subject, any other college or college-bound family, to get in touch with me for a FREE money research to determine if they too were short changed and if there’s any way to get extra financial aid. ( There customarily is. )

Over the last 10 years, prompted by the control of previous president, Neil L. Rudenstine, Harvard’s grant appropriations have gone up 143 percent, and in 2008 and beyond, more than 90 % of Harvard families will qualify for what appears on the surface, to be a most generous financial support program. Two thirds of the scholars currently attending receive some form of financial aid and need-based scholarships are awarded to half of them. This brings Harvard’s total aid assistance for 2008 to more than $98 million - about of 1% of the total funds they have available.

Fact is, Harvard has so much cash it might actually pay the tuition for the complete student body for the subsequent 100 years and still have billions of bucks left over! So, let the borrower beware. Before you canonize America’s most requested college for taking up the financial help torch, remember that while the lyric might be new, we have all heard that tune before, and it ain’t necessarily so. Do the maths. Appeal an unappealing award offer, and take no grant for granted. Trust should never be a gift - it should be earned, every year a student is at school.