<p>It doesn't make much sense to me that a family earning $179,999 per year pays $18,000 and a family making $180,001 pays $45,000+. I suspect that there is another sliding scale that kicks in upto a maximum, say, $300,000 per year at which the full amount is payable. It is my understanding that it is based on AGI. I am no tax accountant but my understanding is any tuition aid i.e. the $35,000 is not taxable, but any aid for room/board etc the remaining $10,000+ will be treated as taxable. Best bet is to call the FA office they are very helpful - I expect they are also very busy after Mondays announcement!</p>
<p>Harvard's yield is already over 80%</p>
<p>People have been asking about families with incomes (this would be the adjusted gross income on the bottom line of the first page of their income tax form) above $180,000. Let me post here what I just posted in the other thread about Harvard's announcement: </p>
<p>One thing to look at right away is where families with that level of income stand in the family income percentiles in the United States. It's plain that under Harvard's PREVIOUS financial aid policies that families with a family income of $180,000 were already getting financial aid. (Read the Harvard Gazette announcement carefully to see the before and after figures for aid at that level of income.) </p>
<p>Beyond that, what's the problem? If a family with that level of income has an above-typical level of family assets, that family CAN AFFORD HARVARD (or Bennington, or any other expensive list price college). There are still plenty of families deemed able to pay full list price who are glad to have their kids apply to Harvard and glad to pay the bills if Harvard admits their kids, so Harvard is probably doing enough already for people at the highest end of the income distribution.</p>
<p>"
Beyond that, what's the problem? If a family with that level of income has an above-typical level of family assets, that family CAN AFFORD HARVARD (or Bennington, or any other expensive list price college). There are still plenty of families deemed able to pay full list price who are glad to have their kids apply to Harvard and glad to pay the bills if Harvard admits their kids, so Harvard is probably doing enough already for people at the highest end of the income distribution.
"</p>
<p>"
I have little sympathy for those earming >$180k, they will have had every opportunity to save a significant amount towards their kids education and can afford to contribute a large chunk during the year
"</p>
<p>The problem is the comments like this make me irrited. Not all highend family income parents were born with money. Many of my friends come to this country with only a few hundreds $s. We were not making over $180k from the beginning. We start with min wage per hour, hard working and long hours put ourselves through colleges at the same time brought up the kids. How many years these families forego without vacation; how many times they had to drag their kids away from McDonald while the kid just want a 'kid meal'; how many times they don't buy toys for their kids or things for themselves, which most typical mid class parents (say income around $100k anule) would buy for their kids or themselves without a second thoughts; ..... with both parents work, how many quality family hours being sacrified. All these sacrifies for saving for a decent house in a decent school district, now just made it to that highend income family.......yes on one hand I feel fortunate that we can afford whatever school if my kid addmitted, at least he/she dosen't have to feel any pressure to chose schools because of financial consideration. But on other hand, I can't help feeling like being 'cheated' by the system. Had I quit job a few years earlier, became a stay home mom (like most residents in our town) and enjoy the time with my kid, growing together with kid. We would qualify some fianantial/scholarship now. But now almost all of my earning after the tax would go my kid's education. I would hope some tax break for the tuition paid to the college, so at least I can bring home some real money. Otherwise there is no incentive to stay on job. Is there?</p>
<p>this is fantastic...it will be even better if i get accepted in april! haha.</p>
<p>this is terrible...</p>
<p>now i'm definitely not getting in with all the new people that will be applying</p>
<p>Considering the size of its endowment, Harvard (indeed ALL Ivies) should have done this long ago. But, it's good to see that they've taken this step to financially help out the middle class.</p>
<p>Note that $120,000 a year does NOT put you in the middle class for a typical family of 4. You're actually making more than 80% of the general population, whereas $180,000 a year puts you slightly above 90% of the general population.</p>
<p>Thanks, xjayz, for providing that perspective. </p>
<p>Household</a> income in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia </p>
<p><a href="http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p60-218.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p60-218.pdf</a> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/04in01tr.xls%5B/url%5D">http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/04in01tr.xls</a> </p>
<p>Harvard announced general policies and much discussion has ensued. It's worth pointing out here that financial aid awards are still specific to each family. If there is something unusual about your family's situation, it will be reflected in the financial aid award as long as you let the financial aid office know about your unique circumstances.</p>
<p>abcMom2: Quitting your job does not necessarily get you any financial aid at schools other than Harvard. I lost my job the year before my eldest child went to college (7 years ago) and have not worked steadily since. With ~$120,000 in income we get no aid from our son's school where tuition is $45,000+. The only time we've gotten any fnancial aid is when we had two kids at the school. Then we were only expected to pay ~$62,000 for the school year. Count your blessings. You could be paying full tuition with a lot less ability to afford it.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if this is going to be based on gross income or adjusted gross income (AGI)?</p>
<p>i agree with a statement made earlier. in my humble opinion, i seriously don't think 120k to 180k is middle income. middle income is 60k to 120k, and even that is being generous with the upper limit. one earlier post mentioned that people who can afford college costs without financial aid are justified in receiving aid because they have worked from the bottom up (i.e. a rags to riches story). well, then, what about all the people who HAVE worked so hard but were unable to reach an income of 120k or more? Many people work hard but cannot increase their pay or improve. They make sacrifices too, and i don't believe that amelioration is a fair excuse for receiving financial aid on the high end.</p>
<p>anyways, it would be great if someone could analyze this economically. </p>
<p>i personally see these reasons for the move on harvard's part:
1. elimination of early program decreases pool of applicants
2. competition with other selective schools
3. increased selectivity
4. finding geniuses who wouldn't otherwise apply due to financial reasons</p>
<p>I personally planned on applying to Harvard before this news--partly because they had a good financial aid policy before this move anyways (at least they did so in my case).</p>
<p>Article in The Crimson about how this may affect admissions:</p>
<p>The</a> Harvard Crimson :: News :: New Aid Initiative May Lower Admission Rate</p>
<p>what do you think about their timing on this?</p>
<p>I previously thought I would get almost no money at the ivies. How do other Ivies compare for someone with 180K?</p>
<p>Harvard is leading the way for other Ivies to either lower their tuition or provide more financial aid. My son has just received emails from Rice and Caltech stating their new financial aid programs. Here is the link to Caltech's press release:</p>
<p>Thank you to Harvard for making college more affordable for everyone!!!!</p>
<p>Yes, I was just about to post Rice's announcement I got via email...
..
lol, this is a lovely chain reaction!</p>
<p>great... now it will be even harder to get into harvard. I expect applicants in the 50,000+ range</p>
<p>From the Harvard Crimson:</p>
<p>"Admissions dean says end of early action, new aid package may affect yield"</p>
<p>
[quote]
Theres good and bad news for Harvard applicants this year...Dean of Admissions William R. Fitzsimmons 67 said that since the new program could boost Harvards yieldthe number of admitted students who matriculatethe admissions office may accept a smaller class this year.</p>
<p>We will be conservativewe havent been over [expected enrollment] in the freshman class for 30 years, Fitzsimmons said. Well err on the low side and take more off the waiting list....
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The</a> Harvard Crimson :: News :: New Aid Initiative May Lower Admission Rate</p>
<p>When Harvard makes a decision, the academic world listens and follows the lead.</p>
<p>2008 is a bad year for students hoping to get in to HYP. first with H and P ending their early and now this :-(</p>