<p>"Harvard may be the nations wealthiest university, but it is short on cash.</p>
<p>Harvards endowment has shrunk by at least $8 billion, forcing the university to freeze salaries and delay expansion plans.</p>
<p>The school relies on its endowment to generate a third of the money for its operations, and the endowment is on the verge of posting its biggest loss in 40 years. With much of its money tied up for the long term, it is scrambling to meet some obligations.</p>
<p>Harvard has frozen salaries for faculty and nonunion staff members, and offered early retirement to 1,600 employees. The divinity school has warned it may not be able to cover tuition for all its students with need, the school of arts and sciences is cutting its billion-dollar budget roughly 10 percent, and the university president said this week than the unprecedented drop in the endowment was causing it to delay its planned expansion, starting with a $1 billion science center, into the Allston neighborhood of Boston.</p>
<p>The school has even added to its debt by issuing $1.5 billion in new bonds, its largest such offering ever.</p>
<p>This makes me wonder about choosing to go to Harvard, if I were accepted. </p>
<p>One thing that makes me most excited about going to Harvard are the research opportunities for undergraduates. I had the impression you could get grants for practically anything you conceived. I wonder how this might change.</p>
<p>Also, I wonder how classes might change? At my campus visit, I kept hearing the example of a class where only one student signed up and the student wound up with 3 professors teaching it. Will class sizes and the teacher:student ratio go up, while class selection goes down?</p>
<p>I also wonder if other schools, like Stanford, are in as dire financial straits? I haven't heard as much about it.</p>
<p>Of course, Harvard will always have an amazing community of students and teachers so in all likelihood I'd still accept...if I were so lucky to have the choice...</p>
<p>It should be beneficial for anyone with similar concerns to note the following paragraph in President Drew Faust's Letter to the Community dated Feb. 18, which was sent to all faculty, staff, students, alumni and their families: </p>
<p>"The economic crisis, of course, has stressed the resources of many of our students and their families. With that in mind, we are working to make sure we restrain growth in tuition and fees for next year, while affirming our robust commitment to financial aid. Our various graduate and professional schools plan to maintain their strong student aid and fellowship budgets for 2009-10. For undergraduates in Harvard College , the package of tuition and fees will increase by 3.5% next year -- at the same time we carry forward in full the financial-aid initiatives we have introduced in recent years to ensure that a Harvard College education is affordable for families across the income spectrum. Since 2004, we have doubled the amount we spend on undergraduate financial aid. (See the related news release at <a href="http://www.news.harvard.edu/r/tuition.html.)">www.news.harvard.edu/r/tuition.html.)</a>"</p>
<p>My family and I greatly appreciate Harvard's commitment and efforts to keep the best available financial aid program and undergraduate research opportunities under the current situations. We have just received the information for next year's financial aid which is as generous as the current year. So, try to get in first and then make your choice with a thorough comparison... You won't be disappointed.</p>