Five Things Harvard Should Make Free (On Top of Tuition)

Last week, a slate of alumni running under the name “Free Harvard, Fair Harvard” for the Harvard University Board of Overseers announced their intention to lobby for a critical change in Harvard’s tuition practices. They intend to use Harvard’s massive endowment to make Harvard College free for all students attending.

Just think about what that would mean: each student would have an extra $60,659 to spend however their heart desires. Imagine how decked out your dorm would look with all that extra cash, how many Cafe Americanos that amounts to in Greenhouse Cafe, or, most importantly, how often you’d Uber to your class in Northwest Labs now that money is no longer an issue. While we applaud this slate for their plan, we here at Flyby think that there are plenty of other things at Harvard on top of tuition that need to be made free. After all, with an endowment like ours why stop at tuition? Here’s what we think:

Laundry

Freshman undergraduate council representatives have been lobbying for this one for years. At a university known for “rolling in dough,” there’s no reason why laundry should cost anything, let alone $3 per load. Columbia boasts a robust free-laundry program, and there’s a chance Harvard might send some students flocking to the Big Apple solely for that perk.

Coffee during exam periods

I would have thought this was a given. Stressed college students plus exam period means a campus full of students pulling all-nighters, and there’s no better way to show students that you care than showering them with cups of steaming hot, free coffee in such times of desperation.

Sleds and Snow dogs

Winter is coming, and there’s no denying it. With a major winter storm expected to hit the Northeast this weekend, it is only a matter of time before Harvard students are buried in snow. But, given Boston’s immunity to snow days, wouldn’t it be helpful for everyone if Harvard spent just a little bit of that massive endowment on a fleet of snow dogs to make the trek to class through the tundra just a bit easier? Plus, take a second to imagine the selfies that the tourists will be taking with Harvard students speeding past on sleds. Finally putting those selfie sticks to good use.

Mankiw’s Econ Textbook

It’s been said before: Professor Mankiw’s Principles of Economics book, while totally rad and chocked full of ice-cream metaphors and more than enough graphs, simply costs to much. For the savvy shopper, it's possible to snag the textbook for about a $100 online, but if you buy it from the Harvard Coop it could run you upwards of $300. With about 700 students enrolled in the course this year, Mankiw is banking in some serious royalties. Do us all a favor, Harvard, and subsidize the cost of the textbook. We’ll even calculate how much of a per-unit subsidy is needed for you.

Netflix and Hulu Plus

When we first learned that HBO Go was one of the free perks of being a Harvard student, we were sold. That is until we realized that the only time we open the HBO GO app is when Game of Thrones is releasing content. Given that Game of Thrones has a pretty long time between the release of new episodes, HBO GO is a poor choice in streaming service for college students who demand a steady flow of mindless television. Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Philo would be the perfect trio to satisfy all of the diverse bingeing needs of Harvard’s student population. Unfortunately, there might be a corresponding downturn in grade point averages, especially given how difficult the winter time makes the trek to classes.

Harvard, don’t get us wrong, free tuition is still very much in favor. Just perhaps consider throwing in a few of these while you're at it.