When an Op-Ed Makes No Sense--Harvard for Free

Yesterday the LATimes published an oped, How Harvard could share the wealth,
proposing that Harvard use the income from its endowment to make itself free to all students. (The figures seem to work.) The writer's key point was the contrast between Harvard's wealth and the $41K it charges for tuition, suggesting that it needed to be accessible to the poor. But then the writer says:

"Two years ago, Summers took action to make Harvard more accessible. He declared that parents of undergraduates with family incomes less than $40,000 a year would no longer have to pay anything for their children's Harvard education. The expected payment from families with incomes under $60,000 would be cut greatly as well.

Summers said his initiative sent 'a powerful message that Harvard is open to talented students from all economic backgrounds.' The university reported that the enrollment of students in those income brackets rose 18%. But the 18% growth, when you do the math, means only an additional 45 students.

Harvard's message needs to be more powerful — at least as powerful as one ought to expect from an elite, 370-year-old, $26-billion institution. Dropping tuition, room and board charges for all students would be a gesture worthy of the institution."

So the bottom line is that Harvard is already free to students from families under $40K. So what's the effect of the writer's proposal? To make Harvard free for rich kids!!

Not something I want to support.