Can Harvard change it all?

[Anonymous]

There is an effort afoot to elect to Harvard's Board of Overseers a slate that believes in (1) free tuition for all Harvard undergrads (because the endowment is large enough to afford it); (2) greater transparency in admissions (so that special perks don't go to alumni kids); and (3) strict enforcement of the principle of nondiscrimination so that there is not necessarily a cap for diversity reasons on Asian applicants.

If Harvard does it, others will follow. The same could apply to private high schools.

The obvious downside is that some who can easily afford to pay are given a free ride. That upside is that it creates competition to compete for the best.

Thoughts? Could this be the beginning of the end for high tuition costs at the top colleges and private high schools?

[Anonymous]

Very few schools have the resources to do this. Harvard is absolutely loaded and can afford to do so.

[Anonymous]

Lots looked at this -- esp. given the hour. Add your thoughts, please.

[Anonymous]

Can't ten or fifteen of the top schools afford to do it? And if they do, won't others have to follow suit?

[Anonymous]

It would certainly mark a sea-change. Imagine if Harvard were free. That would put pressure on everyone else to meet the competition. Students would benefit. Meritocracy would be ascendant. What id not to like?

[Anonymous]

Good for GDS since it is a Harvard feeder!

[Anonymous]

The point is that some financially secure institution can do this, and will do it, and then it truly will get the best and the brightest to enroll. Everyone else will then play catch-up to meet competition. Bring it on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Lots looked at this -- esp. given the hour. Add your thoughts, please.

?? Don't hector.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it's a good idea. I went to Yale, not Harvard, but Yale could afford free tuition also. I grew up middle class (both parents teachers) and got generous financial aid from Yale so I graduated with no debt. The amount my parents were expected to pay was reasonable to their circumstances and Yale was much cheaper than the other, less prestigious schools I got into because the financial aid packages weren't as large. If my kids get into Yale, I wouldn't want it to be free. I can easily afford the tuition and don't want Yale to spend its money subsidizing my family.

Also, one of the big advantages of going to a place like Yale is the chance to mix with people who are well-connected. A school where everyone is a smart kid from some random suburban high school (like I was) isn't nearly the same experience of a school with a mix of kids who are rich, poor, international, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it's a good idea. I went to Yale, not Harvard, but Yale could afford free tuition also. I grew up middle class (both parents teachers) and got generous financial aid from Yale so I graduated with no debt. The amount my parents were expected to pay was reasonable to their circumstances and Yale was much cheaper than the other, less prestigious schools I got into because the financial aid packages weren't as large. If my kids get into Yale, I wouldn't want it to be free. I can easily afford the tuition and don't want Yale to spend its money subsidizing my family.

Also, one of the big advantages of going to a place like Yale is the chance to mix with people who are well-connected. A school where everyone is a smart kid from some random suburban high school (like I was) isn't nearly the same experience of a school with a mix of kids who are rich, poor, international, etc.

I don't get this. Are you saying that you don't want free tuition so Ivy League schools can stay hotbeds of wealth and privilege?

[Anonymous]

No, I don't believe most other schools will follow because they don't have the endowment to afford it so it will only put the other schools in more dire straights as they try to keep up and can't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The point is that some financially secure institution can do this, and will do it, and then it truly will get the best and the brightest to enroll. Everyone else will then play catch-up to meet competition. Bring it on.

Yes, it is critical for Harvard to do this, because they currently are missing out on the best and the brightest.

[Anonymous]

If the top colleges admitted solely on numbers then they would be wall to wall boring students. And this extends to the Asian students as well. There are many students, doubtlessly smart, who are academically top notch and have top scores but are not generally interesting people. The top colleges don't want that, which is why they include soft factors into their admissions standards as well. It helps create a more diverse, more interesting student body.

That is their justification. I can see the reasoning in it. As it is, no one has a "right" to attend any of the top colleges so they can damn well do what they want to do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I don't get this. Are you saying that you don't want free tuition so Ivy League schools can stay hotbeds of wealth and privilege?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
There is an effort afoot to elect to Harvard's Board of Overseers a slate that believes in (1) free tuition for all Harvard undergrads (because the endowment is large enough to afford it); (2) greater transparency in admissions (so that special perks don't go to alumni kids); and (3) strict enforcement of the principle of nondiscrimination so that there is not necessarily a cap for diversity reasons on Asian applicants.

If Harvard does it, others will follow. The same could apply to private high schools.

The obvious downside is that some who can easily afford to pay are given a free ride. That upside is that it creates competition to compete for the best.

Thoughts? Could this be the beginning of the end for high tuition costs at the top colleges and private high schools?

Do you have any evidence to support this assertion? In what way would Harvard benefit by doing this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the top colleges admitted solely on numbers then they would be wall to wall boring students. And this extends to the Asian students as well. There are many students, doubtlessly smart, who are academically top notch and have top scores but are not generally interesting people. The top colleges don't want that, which is why they include soft factors into their admissions standards as well. It helps create a more diverse, more interesting student body.

That is their justification. I can see the reasoning in it. As it is, no one has a "right" to attend any of the top colleges so they can damn well do what they want to do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I don't get this. Are you saying that you don't want free tuition so Ivy League schools can stay hotbeds of wealth and privilege?

Different poster. What I am saying is that Ivy League schools already offer the best financial aid in the country, allowing low income students to attend for close to free and middle class students to attend for less than most of them would pay at in-state schools. How would things change if a Harvard were free? Further, if other schools had endowments close to Harvard's endowment, they'd offer similar financial aid packages. But, almost none of them do. Harvard becoming free doesn't change Boston University's situation one iota.