FOCUS: The Future of Financial Aid

Last week Harvard announced another leap forward for financial aid: now families earning less than $60,000 a year need not make any contribution, a 50 percent increase in that critical number. Raising this baseline, however, was the expected next step after other schools topped Harvard’s figure.

But what’s the next frontier in making college more affordable? This page offers a sampling of suggestions made in response to this complex question.

— Adam M. Guren, Focus Editor

HFAI: A Low-Income Revolution
By BRYCE E. CASWELL and PRECIOUS E. EBOIGBE
Friday, April 07, 2006 2:42 AM
Harvard’s increased commitment to HFAI is an exciting and groundbreaking transformation in making college more accessible to people of different economic backgrounds.

Supporting Harvard’s Sagging Midsection
By ALEX SLACK
Friday, April 07, 2006 2:45 AM
Only by extending HFAI to cover middle-income students can Harvard cement the initiative’s reputation as one based on egalitarian principles, not just on the enhancement of Harvard’s image.

Make it Better, Make it Free
By PIERPAOLO BARBIERI
Friday, April 07, 2006 2:48 AM
Because we can, because we should, let’s make Harvard free.

Beware of the Band-Aid
By LUCY M. CALDWELL
Friday, April 07, 2006 2:51 AM
Genuinely improving the situations of low-income students requires Harvard to pursue a more laborious and selfless task than just lining its students’ pockets: it needs to begin aid at the precollegiate level.