Reply to Bethesda Magazine - List of College Acceptances

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]... Are you really trying to argue that three times as many Whitman students would have been admitted to Ivy colleges, but simply chose not to apply because they couldn't afford it?  ...[/quote]
Student loans are available, but federally subsidized loans, with lower interest rates and deferrals until after graduation, are limited to a total of $34,500 for 4 years of college. And you have to be eligible for financial aid to be eligible for subsidized Stafford loans. If you don't qualify for a Stafford loan, or want to borrow more money, you don't get a deferral--payments start right away--and you need a cosigner. If you have a cosigner, you can indenture yourself for the rest of your days if you want. Four years at Harvard costs $240,000. It would take a long, long time to work off that kind of money.[/quote]
I'm not sure the situation is quite as dire as you suggest.  When I look at Harvard's webpage, I see this:
[quote]Harvard College has provided assistance to students who need help in meeting their education expenses for over 350 years, enabling us to seek out the most outstanding scholars in the world and open our doors to students of exceptional ability and promise, regardless of their financial circumstances. [u]Approximately 60% of undergraduates[/u] will receive an estimated $182 million in need-based Harvard Scholarship aid in 2013-14. Over the past decade we have increased our financial aid by 150 percent, enhancing our program to ensure the affordability of a Harvard education even in these challenging economic times.  We understand that the thought of financing four years of college can be a daunting prospect for anyone, and we are eager to help you and your family understand our financial aid programs and assist you in finding ways to meet your college costs.

All of our financial aid is awarded on the basis of demonstrated financial need – there are no academic, athletic or merit-based awards, and we meet the demonstrated need of every student, including international students, for all four years.  We invite you to explore our web site for a detailed description of all aspects of our aid program, including our Harvard Financial Aid Initiative for low and moderate income students, under which [u]parents with incomes currently below $65,000 are not expected to contribute to college costs[/u].

We do not consider home equity or retirement accounts as resources in our determination of a family contribution, and aid packages do not include any loans. [u]A typical student may receive over $150,000 in Harvard scholarship assistance over four years and the majority of students receiving scholarship are able to graduate debt-free[/u].  Our program continues to be generous for students across the economic spectrum, with [u]more than two thirds of those receiving scholarship assistance coming from families with incomes greater than $65,000[/u][/quote]
I'm sure a student from Bethesda with parents making over $200,000 would not get tons of financial aid.  So if parents failed to set aside any money for college savings, that student would have lots of debt at the end of 4 years of Harvard.  Yes, it's daunting.  But most studies show it's a good investment.[/quote]

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