Yale vs. Harvard on Financial Aid

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>For the poster who asked in the now locked thread:</p>

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[quote]
Some people say Yale attracts upper-class smart students, while Harvard attracts middle and lower income smart students. That is one reason why Harvard needs to give out more financial aids. Is this true? Is there any proof to this theory?

[/quote]
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<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/12056606-post45.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/12056606-post45.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Students with Pell Grants (federal aid given to students from families with very low income):
Harvard 13%, Yale 11%
College</a> Results Online-Harvard Profile
College</a> Results Online-Yale Profile</p>

<p>Students on need-based financial aid:
Harvard 4068 of 6655 (61%), Yale 2861 of 5275 (54%)</p>

<p>Average need-based aid extended:
Harvard $37620 , Yale $39270</p>

<p>Average costs after need-based aid:
Harvard $15607, Yale $13161</p>

<p>% of aid from grants (vs. loans)
Harvard 94%, Yale 96%</p>

<p>% of students with loans
Harvard 38%, Yale 31%</p>

<p>Kiplinger.com-Harvard</a> Profile
Kiplinger.com-Yale</a> Profile</p>

<p>Summary: Not a dramatic difference here. Harvard has a little higher percentage of students from poor families and extends slightly thinner aid to a little higher percentage of students, relying a little more on loans to do it. Harvard is extending aid to 7% more of students but appears have made a decision to do this by mixing in a few more loans (7% more, ironically). Loans, of course, could be sought privately by any Yale family that might think it could use them and so, IMO, don't really represent additional generosity.</p>

<p>I don't think one can generalize much about differences in student demographics based on these data. It is fair to say that there is a wide spectrum of economic backgrounds represented at both schools.</p>

2

<p>I think the “debt at Grad” is an important figure. In that they are almost identical. When is that info from btw? Which year…</p>

<p>Ask me on April 1st and I will tell you who offered me more :P</p>

3

<p>2010 Peterson’s is data source: [url=&lt;a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/how-we-rank-the-schools.html]Kiplinger.com[/url”&gt;http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/how-we-rank-the-schools.html]Kiplinger.com[/url</a>]</p>

<p>Costs appear to be for 2009-2010 year.</p>

4

<p>I know Harvard has committed to making families pay no more than 10% of their income (As long as they make less than 180k)…is this true of Yale as well? I couldn’t find it anywhere on their finaid website… I certainly hope so!</p>

5

<p>In mid December, Yale decreased FA for middle class families, while increasing aid for lower income families. So currently, Harvard offers better FA than Yale at the higher end, while Yale holds a slight advantage over Harvard at the lower end.</p>

<p>Yale 2011-2012 FA: Families that earn less than $65,000 per year pay no tuition. Families earning between $65,000 and $130,000 pay 10% of AGI. Families earning between $130,000 and $200,000 will be asked to pay about 15 percent of their income. See: [Cuts</a> to financial aid possible | Yale Daily News](<a href=“http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2011/feb/03/yale-could-consider-cuts-to-aid/]Cuts”>http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2011/feb/03/yale-could-consider-cuts-to-aid/)</p>

<p>Harvard 2011-2012 FA: Families that earn less than $60,000 per year pay no tuition. Families earning between $60,000 and $180,000 are typically asked to pay no more than 10 percent of the family’s income. See: [Financial</a> Aid Rises, Tuition at Harvard College To Reach $52,650 | News | The Harvard Crimson](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/2/25/aid-financial-percent-year/]Financial”>Financial Aid Rises, Tuition at Harvard College To Reach $52,650 | News | The Harvard Crimson)</p>

6

<p>Don’t forget that all of these percentages of family income numbers ASSUME “normal” assets. Families with assets above this threshold will pay more. Don’t get me wrong, H&Y are still extremely generous, but while income is the more important factor, assets do count as well and families need to take this into consideration when estimating their probable EFC.</p>

7

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<p>If you drill a little deeper…and speak with FinAid…these are “average numbers” and your mileage may vary…Also…Yale adds back in things the IRS allows as deductions…even without any assets, your income “as calculated by Yale” will be more than what your CPA and the IRS agree it is (for the sake of Yale determining aid.)</p>

8

<p>Last year my offers from both schools were all but identical.</p>

9

<p>fogfog and evertheoptimist: I did drill a little deeper. Unfortunately, the answers I received did not make me happy. When my son was accepted EA this past December, I called the FA office and asked numerous questions. With 2 children in college (older child now at Harvard), Yale is going to cost us $8,000 more per year than we pay at Harvard with just one child in college. Given Yale’s new FA policy, for higher income families, the scales are no longer equal.</p>

10

<p>Whew ^… Would you mind telling me what the 8000 more is; i.e. 20000 vs 28000 or 10000 vs 18000</p>

11

<p>gibby: I’m sorry to hear that. To put my comment in perspective I should say that I come from a lower middle class background.</p>

12

<p>Could anybody comment on the feasibility of taking a more generous finaid offer (Harvard) to Yale’s finaid office (which gave me a less generous offer) to appeal for more money?</p>

13

<p>I think it may be quite feasible. Just present in the right way; </p>

<p>I really want Yale, but money is going to be the deciding factor. Could you possibly match this offer</p>

<p>not</p>

<p>Harvard will give me this much, if you want me, give me more!</p>

14

<p>^^ Yes. I know a young woman who did exactly that with success.</p>

15

<p>My aid from Harvard is luxurious. Yale met my full need but their definition allows for slightly less.</p>

16

<p>We did it. But I suggest that rather than asking for a ‘match’ or an ‘appeal’, ask for a FA review and mention that you have other more generous offers from XYZ school(s). They will ask for copies of the offers and will likely match.</p>

17

<p>Ah, thank you very much for that advice, ento…</p>

18

<p>Thanks for the advice! Having received my finaid offer from Yale, I wasn’t too satisfied. Yale finaid said they’d schedule a phone conference to go over the offer with us this week. I have a few questions…</p>

<ol>
<li>Would this be a time when they’d be willing to make the offer more generous, or is it just to explain why I only received so much?</li>
<li>My mom and I are going to compose a letter detailing all circumstances that contribute to our not being able to pay as much as they think we can. We are going to email that before we have our conference, so we’ll be on the same page. So this will be like our appeal, right? </li>
<li>I haven’t gotten finaid from anywhere else, but supposing I get more from another school, I would definitely tell Yale about that. So, my over-arching question is, would it make sense to still have this appeal conference next week, even though I might come back AGAIN in April with a better offer from another school? Or would Yale be like “get away, we already reviewed once.” </li>
</ol>

<p>I’d appreciate any thoughts on the matter!</p>

19

<p>One key difference between Harvard and Yale’s financial aid (as of the last cycle at least) is that Harvard takes roughly 5% of a student’s assets annually whereas Yale takes the more traditional 25%. This doesn’t matter much in most cases since few high school students have amassed much in the way of assets, but if parents made the unfortunate decision of saving money for college in a UTMA or similar account the difference can be substantial. I know for me personally, the difference was so large as to make the decision very easily. To use numbers than aren’t my own, if a family has saved $20,000 in a UTMA (which count as a student’s assets since they are legally his/hers at age 18 in some states) then at Harvard that sum would add .05*20,000=$1000 to that family’s expected contribution. At Yale, that same $20,000 would add $5000 to the EFC.</p>

20

<p>Passionfruit11: Having a conference call this week with the FA office will most probably result in them explaining why they gave you the aid they did. As you haven’t received any other offers yet, your family does not have the leverage needed for an appeal that will result in a more generous offer, unless the numbers provided to them have changed. Call the FA office after April 1st when you have a better offer from a comparative school.</p>