$40,000 Magic Number

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>How concrete/absolute is this policy?</p>

<p>I know of situations where a family with an income of less than $40,000/year still has a FAFSA EFC of $20,000-30,000/year due to investments and/or previous financial success. Should those families still expect a zero tuition bill? Specifically, if a family's financial situation hinges on a small business that has been profitable well above $40,000 in previous years, but more recently has fallen below that figure, does the new financial aid initiative still apply? The family in this example does NOT qualify for a Pell grant.</p>

<p>Also, assuming the $40,000 standard is absolute, does that "zero contribution" mean the entire cost of attendance is provided as a grant, or that student loans and work study would be included to meet the COA?</p>

2

<p>the below 40k is if you're poor...families with incomes less than 40k but million dollar houses don't qualify for this (at least i dont THINK they do) :-&lt;/p>

3

<p>hmmm well my rents gross income is 35k and my efc was 360...m i qualified?</p>

4

<p>sexy - i would definitely think so. ur gross is less than 40k.</p>

5

<p>yay.....but ya know its the getting in..thats a bitc...</p>

6

<p>sexydesi - don't worry about it, if Harvard doesn't want you, theres TONS of other schools that will! = D</p>

7

<p>slimlic - that's exactly what I'm asking. Does anyone know for sure or know of somewhere online where Harvard spells out the policy in more detail than news reports have given it?</p>

8

<p>awwwwww thnx irock!:)</p>

9

<p>Any thoughts....?</p>

10

<p>Check out the various sub-links HERE:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/hfai/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/hfai/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

11

<p>
[quote]
the below 40k is if you're poor...families with incomes less than 40k but million dollar houses don't qualify for this (at least i dont THINK they do) :-

[/quote]

I believe the policy is independent of assets. I would imagine that this is a very rare situation (even rich retirees often recieve large pensions), and that Harvard is willing to overlook these extreme cases in favor of an "unconditional" policy.</p>

<p>It's like the store that advertises "Free Gift!" with a giant asterick under it and plenty of fine print. Once you see all that, the impact of the free gift is lessened. The giant asterick would be analagous to Harvard saying: </p>

<p>"Full Tuition to Poor Families!*"
*after other factors are considered </p>

<p>Not quite the same, is it?</p>

12

<p>The impression I get from the websites is, to continue raven's analogy, a distinct lack of asterisks/fine print. Does that mean $40,000 is in fact the absolute magic number I take it to be?</p>