College Won't Seek Aid Under New Federal Bill

The College will apparently not apply for any federal funds under the new college aid legislation passed by Congress last December.

President Pusey said Wednesday it was "very unlikely" Harvard would do so since the bill restricts funds to colleges which have had a "substantial increase" in enrollment.

Because this restriction has not been defined precisely, however, Pusey said the college might be able to qualify for some aid. But Congress' intentions are clear, he said, and therefore, it was unlikely the College would even apply for the funds.

The federal aid bill, which was the largest single educational aid bill ever passed, apportions the available money according to the college population of each state, and then leaves the actual distribution procedures to the individual states.

Massachusetts, however, remains one of the few states in the nation which has not yet set up the machinery for applying for federal money. Thus, no Massachusetts college or university has had the opportunity to make a request yet, and Harvard's final decision whether to apply or not will not be made until this machinery has been set up.

Grad Schools May Apply

Although the College will probably not attempt to qualify for aid under Title I, Pusey indicated that some of the graduate schools would probably apply for funds under Title II. The amounts of the requests, however, will depend upon the guidelines which the state of Massachusetts issues.

The Education School in particular has announced its intention to apply for 3,500,000 to help finance the construction of its new buildings on Applan Way. Other schools such as the School of Public Health are also seriously weighing applications for large amounts of federal aid.

The University opposed the "expanding enrollments" clause; the administration had hoped to use funds from the bill to construct an undergraduate science center on Oxford St.