Share the Wealth

Last winter, due to a significant budget shortfall, the Kennedy School of Government closed its Washington office, which held seminars and executive education programs. Yet just a few months later, the Business School opened its own European Research Center in Paris. The Kennedy School’s loss and the Business School’s gain are just one example of the wide disparity in funding that exists between Harvard’s graduate schools.

The change in donation rules recently announced by University President Lawrence H. Summers will help to overcome those sizable and detrimental funding differences. In a letter sent out yesterday, Summers describes the change in donating procedures that expand the types of donations that count for class credit. The new guidelines will go a long way towards equalizing some of the inequalities that currently exist among the graduate schools.

Currently, class reunions encourage alums from the College, Law School and Business School to surpass the donation records set by classes from previous years. This is a highly lucrative means of raising money, but in the past, alums could only receive so-called “class credit” for contributions to their own schools. Thus, for graduates of the College, Law School and Business School, there existed few incentives to contribute to Harvard’s less financially-sound schools—and so the rich schools just kept getting richer. The policy hurt the smaller schools, which received little money from their own graduates, who often go into public service jobs with lower paying jobs.

The new policy grants class credit to gifts of more than $250,000—from any alum—to the schools of design, divinity, education, government and public health, as long as the donation is earmarked for priorities identified by the schools’ deans. As a result, these schools will likely receive an influx of major, much-needed donations for professorships, collaborative academic activity and financial aid. In addition to helping the smaller, poorer schools, this change makes eminent sense; such a generous donation to any of the University’s critical academic priorities ought to count for class credit.

In addition, all donations to the University Fund for Graduate Student Aid will now count towards class totals. Increased funding, both to the public service-oriented schools directly and to graduate financial aid, will support those students who plan to go into lower-paying, yet beneficial, public service jobs. This boost in financial aid will reduce the debt burden of graduates and help attract the best students to Harvard, regardless of need.

The University is more than the sum of its parts; the College and the graduate schools complement and reinforce each other with their programs, course offerings, professors and students. Graduates of the different schools should be given every incentive to help each other. This University-wide improvement of the donation process is a sensible and smart way to strengthen the graduate schools most dedicated to public service.