This sounds like email spam. Did you check this out?

Harvard has one of the highest endowments of any university and has always has scholarship opportunities that hinged on family income.

Tricky part is the acceptance letter!

Nope, not a scam, it's true. Harvard has eliminated the family contribution for households under $40k.

Here is a link that might be useful: Havard Gazette with announcement

Interesting, anyone been to Harvard lately? I've heard from people going there they don't cater to Americans. The place is like 70% foreigners, mostly Chinese, as China sends their best and brightest over here fully paid for by the Chinese government who Harvard loves people who pay in full with no chance of being a risk. After getting some of the best education in America they go back to their country, typically China to better their country and teach their people everything Harvard had to offer. That's what Harvard is about they said. Then, Harvard needs to make a quota of minorities, so out of the remaining 30% that aren't foreigners they fill in mostly that margin with Minorities. That leaves like 10% or less of the remaining applicants for caucasians. Of which, given a choice of accepting a female or male, the female wins. The scraps go to the male caucasian who can pay in full and finding a male caucasian on financial aid to Harvard my friend said you'd have more luck finding a unicorn. My friends have been denied a program at Harvard, because they're white males that need financial aid but take the occasional class there. They get the best grades and told me, you wouldn't believe what it's like at Harvard. It is seriously like you're in a classroom of a foreign country.

Be interesting what others say, that's what a couple people who go to Harvard have said to me. They wished they could see how many foreigners compared to US citizens go there, and of that how many are minorities compared to caucasions, and of the accepted caucasions what the ratio of male to female was and how many caucasions on aid are there at harvard particularly male caucasions on aid. Take it as you will, that's just what a couple Harvard students told me it's like and maybe there's exaggerations maybe not. They did see one white male in a degree at Harvard over 3 years. Then chuckled and said, he must've been the Presidents son as there's no other way Harvard would've let that happen. They could be completely off but I get the sense there may be some truth.

I must address this poisonous stew of bigotry, ignorance, and plain bad grammar. The following statistics are from collegeboard.com's description of the Harvard student body:

* 14% In-state students
* 86% Out-of-state students

* 50% Women
* 50% Men

* 1% American Indian/Alaskan Native
* 19% Asian/Pacific Islander
* 9% Black/Non-Hispanic
* 7% Hispanic
* 47% White/Non-Hispanic
* 9% Non-Resident Alien
* 8% Race/ethnicity unreported

* 95% in top 10th of graduating class
* 100% in top quarter of graduating class
* 100% in top half of graduating class

If Piedmont's idiotic post is representative of our level of reasoning, may God help the United States.

Many of our kids have grown up with the feeling that they're entitled.

Yet many of them come out not near the top when taking worldwide exams, despite many of the others coming from areas where the education system is much below the average in our area. Many of the ones who come from overseas are, or course, the cream of the crop.

I don't know about the situation in the U.S., but foreign students in Canada have to pay far higher tuition fees that do Canadians.

It doesn't seem to me quite fair that we should deny quality education to people who want to return to their underprivileged countries to assist in the people there getting an opportunity to better themselves.

While I am thankful and proud to be enjoying the privileges of the citizenship that I have, I also believe that it was an accident of birth that gave me such a huge privilege.

As one who quietly claims to be Christian, I believe that God loves the people in other parts of the world equally - so it seems to me that I should, as well (love my neighbour as myself) ... and that I owe them something substantial, including the tools of development.

Yet ...

... the subsidies that Euro countries and the U.S. give to their farmers mean that much of our products can go to other parts of the world, undercut local prices, and put their farmers out of business.

ole joyful

What do farm subsidies have to do with the the lies Piedmont has written?

Thank you kaleberg!

I think the farm subsidies comment had more to do with how we, as "first world" nations undercut self-sufficiency in struggling nations by "protecting" our own farmers. I think it was directed more toward long range world care and how dangerous shortsightedness can be... every bit as dangerous as self-serving, pitying bigotry. But maybe I'm wrong...

Why should our fine colleges and universities NOT accept the best and brightest the WORLD offers for their student bodies? For heaven's sake, if American kids can't "cut it" academically, they don't deserve places in the most prestigeous halls of higher learning. That's life in the "food chain".

May I suggest a book that I think should be required reading for all of our young people, written by a New York Times journalist who has travelled worldwide for a number of years, Thomas Fried-man (Friedman), called "The World is Flat".

Subtitled, "A Short History of the 21st Century" - that's only 5 years old.

Telling how the computer, internet and modern communications has permitted anyone with the necessary connection to be plugged in to the modern world.

How some people from India, China, etc. used to feel that they needed to come to the U.S., Canada, Europe, etc. to make it - but now they feel that they can make it at home, and remain within their own cultural milieu.

Our manufacturers aren't going to pay $20. per hour - if they can get the product made somewhere else for $20. (or less) per day.

I feel double empathy, here - having lived for several years in a desperately poor country helping refugees resettle after a devastating war, I can't begrudge those folks the work, especially considering their levels of unemployment - but I want our economy to continue viable, as well.

As a retired person enjoying good health of body and, hopefully, mind, living comfortably, if frugally, I feel that it's important that I contribute what I can to help not only our local community, but the worldwide one as well, function more effectively.

Just had 4 sort of half close relatives, friends and former colleagues in overseas work die within the past week. As most of them were old and not in good health, one does not mourn their passing deeply - but it does impress upon one the need of urgency in making one's contribution to the world.

Have a great wek, everyone.

ole joyful (just past the double 7 - this should be my lucky year, right?)

How did this become a discussion about the supposed "entitlement mentality" of todays youth?

Harvard is doing the right thing by trying to make an Ivy League education available to people who might never have considered it possible.

Piedmont is so far off base it's hardly worth debating.......unless he would like to try and clarify his earlier post.

most of the ivy leagues do offer a reduced "family contribution" tuition plan, i'm glad to see harvard has joined in. my 17 year old son is a junior in high school, with a 4.22 gpa (the extra .22 is because of AP courses). everyday my mailbox is overflowing with college brochures for him, and the average cost per year is about $34,000.00!! we have realized that the non-ivy, private colleges do not have the sliding scale for tuition, which is a shame. i told my son that it seems as if it will have to be an ivy league college or a state college, the middle ground just is out of reach for us. i want my son to have the best education, regardless of income limitations. i am willing to pay for him to go to college, but i just cannot afford $34,000.00 a year. scholarships and grants only go but so far, and i do not want my child saddled with student loans that will take him years to pay back.

it seems wonderful to me, that if a young adult can accomplish the monumental feat of gaining admittance to an ivy league school, that school will make sure they can afford to attend. thank you harvard and all of the other ivies!

jiggreen

The problem of choosing/applying/financing college today is complex and intimidating for most parents. The comments in this thread barely scratch the surface. Although not an expert, I have one child in college and one a junior in HS preparing for the college application process. I have two suggestions for jiggreen and any others facing this task: go to washingtonpost.com and read the article which was published in the magazine yesterday about the value of elite universities, and then read/participate in the chat by the author of that article, which will take place this afternoon on the same site. You may have to register for the site, it's painless. The other suggestion is to go to the College Confidential forums, link below. Especially check out the Parents Forum. Those folks (at least some of them) have a wealth of information to share. Jiggreen, you may very well find an excellent private school that will be interested enough in your son to subsidize half or more of his costs, bringing them in line with the cost of a good state school. i.e., Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, if he's interested. But do take a look at the article. Good luck, Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: College Confidential Forums

jiggreen, I just read your member page and see that you're in Carlisle. That's so funny that I mentioned Dickinson. So?

steve_a...thanks so much for that link to the college confidential forums, i started to browse some of the forum topics and there is a lot of information there!
yes, i do live in carlisle, well the outskirts of carlisle, but i am quite familiar with dickinson as i drive through the campus nearly every day. i always see all of the kids walking to and from classes and have wondered how on earth their parents can afford to send them there. (Dickinson is one of those schools in the mid 30,000 dollar range!)
this is my first child to hit near-college age, and i'm so lost as to how to go about beginning the search for a good college match for him and financial aid. his interests are computers and engineering, and when i mentioned dickinson to him all he said was "law school mom"...i'm guessing he is not impressed with their other programs..lol
i'm sure after perusing that college confidential site that you linked to, i will have more of an idea where to start our hunt.
thanks again!
jiggreen

jiggreen,
Don't be discouraged by tuition at non ivy schools. You are lucky to be in PA, as Penn State is a great school for engineering and Computer science. However, if you son is a top student, he can get merit money at schools that are not in the top 50.

There are many wonderful schools out there that can provide great educations and it doesn't have to cost a fortune. Check out Grove City College. It is small, but it has a good engineering program, and it costs about $16,000 a year -- total.

My daughter was at the top of her class, and was admitted to more than one top universities. However, she received no merit aid, and our FAFSA said we could afford $45,000 a year (several years ago). Yeah, right.

She also had a bright futures scholarship to a public school in Fl, plus full tuition scholarships to two different universities. We would have sent her to one of the top schools, but she would have had to pick up massive loans, or get a ROTC scholarship. She didn't want either, so she went to one of the full ride schools.

She is happy, thriving, and has said more than once that she chose the best school for her. She does have the type of personality that adapts very well, so I think she would have done well anywhere. One of her best friends said that of all of their classmates she is the happiest. That includes those who are in the ivy league schools.

She will graduate with no debt. With the outside scholarship that she won, our cost this semester was about $2000.

Your son will have to decide several things before the searching begins. First, his major. If he is serious about engineering + computers, it doesn't make sense to
look at schools that don't have it. Then, he has to decide whether he wants large, medium or small schools. Each has their advantages and disadvantages. Also, does he want urban, suburban or rural. Some of these things are important to the student, some aren't. Also, is going to a big sport's school important?

Your son may not know the answers right now. He has to visit different campusses to decide what is important to him. Also, discuss finances with him now. Don't wait until he is accepted to his dream school to figure out that you can't afford it.

Your son has some very good stats. Just remember that Harvard takes less than 10% of its applicants. They turn down tons of Validictorians and students with perfect SAT's. The same holds true of most of the top 25 schools. Getting in is a crap shoot. Do not let him get his heart set on an ivy league school. The big rule at College Confidential is "Love Thy Safety". Too many students applied only to top schools,and got in nowhere. There are more and more students applying to top schools every year. Really read the posts at CC. Look at andi and andison's story. He had top stats, and didn't get in anywhere. Have your son read College confidential. Make sure he doesn't have great disappointments next year at this time.

There is a FAFSA estimator that will give you a rough idea as to what will be your expected financial contribution. You can have a low income, but high assets and be stunned by what you will be expected to contribute. You may not think that you can afford $34,000, but FAFSA may think otherwise. Be prepared.

Sorry that this is long. It is an exciting time for your family. I wish you and your son nothing but the best.

jiggreen, Not to turn this into a discussion of Dickinson, but I mentioned it because my daughter, who may have a similar academic record as your son, received scholarships at Dickinson that brought her total cost down to roughly equal to what the University of Maryland (our in-state) costs us. This is not so unusual for private schools who are looking to recruit top students (she got a similar offer from Muhlenberg). That being said, Dickinson is a liberal arts school and may not be as strong in the areas your son is interested in. I was using it as an example of how families like ours can send kids to these schools. Steve

i kind of feel like i've hijacked this thread...sorry!!

steve_a, i appreciate you bringing Dickinson into my brain, i really had not considered that college as an option...but i've been doing a lot of research lately. they offer the 3+2 engineering program that my son is interested in (well, the 3 part, he'd have to switch for the remaining 2 years, but that's the case at most schools). Dickinson is having an open house for current high school juniors at the end of this month, and i have registered my son and myself to attend. it's worth checking out since we are so close!!
thanks again!
jiggreen

If that's a hijack I'm all for it!

This forum often moves slowly. I think any "hijack" that proves fruitful ought to spawn a new thread. Really think about this, I don't have kids and college costs are not part of my financial planning... start something new, but DON'T feel bad about redirecting a discussion. Please!

I appreciate your plans of giving support for those students who coudn't able to learn by themselves.

Okay, here's the deal: I'm from the NE and am quite familiar with Harvard and its policies.

#1. Harvard has always reached out beyond the wealthy and well-connected for thier student body. In fact, in Cambridge, they used to accept a certain amount of blue-collar working kids if thier family has been long-time Cambridge residents regardless of the inability to pay tuition.

#2. The best brains from all over the world converge there. Hence, it's quite a melting-pot.

#3. Yes, the worst part is getting in. Once you are there, they will do everything to keep you there. Going the extra mile to get your tuition covered or sending you to a private tutor, or getting you the best equipment for your studies is part of the norm. You have to be a real screw-up that doesn't care in order to flunk out.

#4. Just because an illustrious professor teaches there, that doesn't mean your child will be receiving her/his knowledge.

#5. INMHO, the value of a Harvard Education is the alpha - dog connections you make there who will help you with the job market later on.

my husband went to harvard. he studied math and physics. harvard gave him 4 years of university in addition to graduate and post graduate.
all for free.

he wasn't even american he was from france.

this is what he ended up doing.....writing and producing for the cinema which he loved.

go figure!

I recall reading an article on college indebtedness a year or two ago and kids graduation from Harvard had less debt than some "state" schools. The reality is that Harvard (and many other elite private schools) have huge endowments. Some years ago I knew a young lady who went to an elite private college because it was simply cheaper than another other school she was accepted to, including a public university.

Of course the hard part, as someone else mentioned, is the acceptance letter. The key point for those looking at colleges is not to rule out schools based solely on tuition.

kaleberg where do the legacy scholars fit into your list?