Last month, Harvard made headlines for revamping its financial aid policy in order to make the school more affordable to students from middle-class families. Harvard's new policy builds upon what Princeton pioneered in 2001 when it started meeting all "demonstrated need" with grants instead of loan packages and eliminated home equity as a factor in calculating financial aid packages. By ensuring that the tuition payments of families making between $120,000 and $180,000 per year are limited to approximately 10 percent of their income, Harvard will, in many cases, be offering more generous aid than Princeton currently does to families within that income range.
It is a positive step that Harvard has decided to follow Princeton in making reforms to its financial aid program and acknowledging the legitimate concerns that exist for middle-class families seeking to fund their children's education at expensive private schools. When a middle-class family makes significant sacrifices to pay a student's tuition, that student may feel compelled to find a paying summer job rather than pursue low paid or unpaid internships, summer course offerings or study abroad programs. Similarly, students who graduate with debt or have helped to pay their way through college may discount certain career paths that they perceive will not compensate them enough for the investment made in their education.
Princeton has consistently espoused its desire to attract the very best students and to encourage those students to pursue their interests while taking advantage of all the resources available to them. In order to accomplish these laudable goals, Princeton would do well to acknowledge, as Harvard has, the significant impact that the cost of tuition has on the decisions middle-class students make regarding where and what they study and what they do upon graduation. Money talks, and Princeton should continue its practice of providing the best financial aid in the nation for students by implementing a program at least as generous as Harvard's.
Furthermore, Princeton must do more to publicize its aid policies in order to ensure that lowand middle-income students and their families understand that a Princeton education is an affordable option for any qualified student seeking the best education in the world. Despite current efforts by Princeton to publicize its financial aid program, we fear that the University still has a reputation for being unaffordable among many students who are applying to college from lowand middle-income families. To address this misperception, the University must improve outreach through means including direct contact with students, schools and guidance counsellors, as well as engagement with the media. By doing so, Princeton can ensure that students make decisions about the University not based upon myths but rather the reality of what the University represents today.
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