Financial Aid for the Upper Class - Harvard expands its support to reach the rich

Sara Rimer and Alan Finder report that Harvard will be substantially expanding its financial aid to those whose parents make between $120-180K/year.  The article, "Harvard's Aid to Reach High in Middle Class," N.Y. Times (Dec. 11, 2007), in its title equates the top 20, and even top 5 percent of Americans with the middle class.  (According to the U.S. Census Bureau the top 20% of households had incomes above $97K/year and the top 5% of households had incomes $174K/year that would still qualify for Harvard's "middle class" aid; data available here).  Details of the Harvard plan also available from the Harvard Gazette (official news release) and the Harvard Crimson (student paper).

UPDATE: Though not about financial aid, Herbert A. Allen's "Gold in the Ivory Tower," N.Y. Times (Dec. 21, 2007), references Harvard's recent aid announcement and advocates for a revenue sharing scheme between the super-rich schools like Harvard and other academic institutions, based in part on the missions of the best schools, and is worth checking out.

UPDATE 2

Yale has followed suit:  N.Y. Times coverage;  Yale Office of Public Affairs; Yale Daily News coverage (ed. note, I am a former editor). 

-E.R. erosser@wcl.american.edu