In Defense of Work Expectations

Recently, some have called for the elimination of the work expectation from students’ financial aid packages. Harvard College would be wrong to comply.

I received nearly full financial aid at the College. I also chose to work five out of eight semesters.

When I would receive my weekly paycheck, I found myself reflecting on how thankful I was to receive, in grants from the College, more than 20 times my working income. My job reminded me just how valuable my education actually was. It gave me something substantive to talk about during interviews. And it allowed me to meet some great friends with whom I still keep in touch.

According to the College’s net price calculator, Harvard will cover 100 percent of billed expenses, including tuition, room, and board, for families with less than $65,000 in yearly income. Personal expenses, books, and travel expenses — estimated at approximately $4,600 per year — are generally not covered by financial aid, but aid calculations can sometimes change depending on travel costs. Though actual numbers may fluctuate slightly from the above, they’re close enough for argument’s sake.

So, I’d like to clear up a misconception, which is that there is some hidden “annual fee” payable to the College, even for students who are promised full financial aid. This is simply not true. In reality, the College just asks students to pay independent vendors (like CVS) for normal living expenses: getting a haircut, buying laundry detergent, taking the T.

These are the expenses that work expectations are designed to pay. Students who work on campus jobs are paid in cash and, in my experience, above a fair market rate for the work they do. Students have complete discretion on how to use this money. This work expectation is not conspiratorial or inappropriate.

It does feel odd that the parents of wealthy students may pay for these expenses while poorer students must resort to work or loans. But I do believe there’s value in having some “skin in the game.” My work arrangement certainly made me a more serious student and helped me become a better citizen and citizen-leader. Moreover, Harvard does not have an infinite supply of money, despite popular opinion to the contrary. Everything has an opportunity cost: The approximately six million dollars that it would take to offer an additional $4,600 per year to the 20 percent of College students on full financial aid could pay for the full tuition, room, and board of an additional 25 or so students per class.

I’m not advocating for the status quo, and critics of the financial aid system have fair points. Books are the most egregious exclusion from financial aid coverage. Travel estimates are laughably low. Affording food when the dining halls shut down is still challenging. Start-up grants are a fabulous idea. But a blank check that eliminates work expectations is not the answer.

I am profoundly thankful to the generations of alumni who made Harvard possible for me. Our donors have already paid for the entirety of a Harvard College education — let’s do our part to meet them halfway, not ask them for spring break tickets too.

Trevor Lutzow ’16 is a first-year at Harvard Law School.