Make less than $60k per year? Go to Harvard for free!

Maxamust brings up a valid point -- there are indeed many (seemingly unknown) programs, grants, and scholarships for a plethora of universities. I'm an undergraduate in the University of Wisconsin system, and next year I will actually get paid about $8K (after tuition, fees, etc.) to attend. ^_^

This is not news. It is called need-blind admissions. If you are smart enough, they will let you in and pay for whatever you need. The Ivy's have such a large endowment that they can pay for the best and the brightest to attend. That's the point. I just applied for financial aid at Columbia--you fill out the FAFSA form to prove the amount of financial aid you need, but only after you are accepted. Here is a list of all the schools that do this. Harvard may be different in stating the cutoff for full scholarships, and that it covers it all without loans, but most top schools do the same thing.

Amherst College
Beloit College
Boston College
Bowdoin College
Brandeis University
Brown University
California Institute of Technology
Claremont McKenna College
Columbia University
Cornell University
Cooper Union
Dartmouth College
Davidson College
Duke University
Emory University
Georgetown University
Grinnell College
Harvard University
Haverford College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Middlebury College
Northwestern University
Pomona College
Princeton University
Rice University
Stanford University
Swarthmore College
University of Chicago
University of Notre Dame
University of Pennsylvania
University of Richmond
University of Virginia
Vassar College
Vanderbilt University
Wake Forest University
Wellesley College
Wesleyan University
Williams College
Yale University

This was as of 2005 so go figure it has went up alot since then....

Harvard College has announced its fees for undergraduate tuition, room, and board for the 2004-2005 academic year. Tuition is set at $27,448. Overall charges will total $39,880, an increase of 5.15 percent, including room rate, $4,974; board, $4,286; health services fee, $1,264; and student services fee, $1,908.

The total cost to students will, as ever, be substantially reduced by Harvard's ongoing and increasing commitment to financial aid. Two-thirds of Harvard's undergraduates receive some form of financial aid, including scholarships, loans, and jobs. For 2004-2005, the average total aid package will be close to $28,500, or roughly 70 percent of a student's total costs, including an allowance toward personal expenses.

Harvard College's $80 million in scholarships for undergraduates in the coming year represents a 49 percent increase over the past six years, when inflation rose by only 13.5 percent.

"Harvard College continues to believe strongly in the twin principles of need-blind admissions and need-based financial aid," said William C. Kirby, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Edith and Benjamin Geisinger Professor of History. "At a time when universities and families nationwide are facing the effects of a weak economy, we are determined to protect every student's ability to come to Harvard regardless of financial background."

Harvard undergraduates and their families will benefit also from an initiative, announced Feb. 28 by President Lawrence H. Summers, that completely eliminates the need for families earning $40,000 or less annually to contribute toward their children's Harvard College education. The initiative also lowers the parental contribution expected from families earning between $40,000 and $60,000. The program expands Harvard's commitment to undergraduate financial aid by $2 million annually.

"We want to send the strongest possible message that Harvard is open to talented students from all economic backgrounds," Summers said. "Too often, outstanding students from families of modest means do not believe that college is an option for them - much less an Ivy League university. We are determined to change both the perception and the reality."

Kirby noted: "This initiative will enhance our effectiveness in reaching out to students who have done remarkable things despite limited financial resources."

If I actually new what I was supposed to do back in high school, well, I wish this was around when I graduated....

Let's just hope that our youth will take advantage of such opportunities.

Nice, wonder if they will do any marketing for it

Now the bright minds left behind due to poverty can get a shot at running the world. If they get this scholarship, it is because they earned that shot.

And I sure hope I'm poor enough to get in!

Hope for poor families doesn't come often.

what??!?

huh

any british citizen who can pass the entrance exams can attend Oxford ( any college ) paying the equivalent of $6k a year ( so i was told by students last year when i was there ) . i'll leave it at that when comparing Oxford ( or Cambridge ) to the "ivy league" here .

You know what they say: "If it sounds to good to be true, it usually is." I bet it's near impossible for a regular honor student from such a family to actually get in to Harvard anytime soon, maybe I'm wrong.