Grad School Runs Deficit In Budget for Kraus Plan

The Kraus plan for financial aid to graduate students appears to have cost Harvard about $400,000 more than administrators had predicted.

The plan, instituted amidst controversy earlier this year on a trial basis, called for $1.9 million in scholarship aid for students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Although the plan shifted extra funds to incoming graduate students, financial aid to first-year students will cost the University about $200,000 more than the Kraus estimates, Edward T. Wilcox, acting dean of the GSAS, said yesterday.

In explanation, Wilcox speculated that Harvard's offers to "more needy" applicants were probably higher than those of other graduate schools, despite criticisms earlier this year from department chairmen that the Kraus plan would limit their freedom to recruit applicants.

Author of the Plan

Richard A. Kraus, assistant to the dean of the GSAS for Financial Affairs and author of the plan, said yesterday that financial aid for second-year students will also total about $200,000 more than the $1.2 million he had originally estimated. Kraus said that an unexpected number of current first-year students qualified for aid under the plan's need criteria.

Financial aid calculations for next year's third-, fourth- and fifth-year graduate students are not yet complete, Kraus said.

The GSAS admitted about 1000 prospective students for its 550 places and offered a total of $2.3 million in aid--an increase of $1 million over last year's offers. Although only 510 students have accepted the offers, the group includes a disproportionate number of scholarship students, Wilcox said.

Another reason for the deficit is an unexpected decline in government and outside aid for first- and second-year students, Kraus said.

Wilcox said yesterday that he and President Bok are attempting to obtain other outside funds to help compensate for this year's losses. The Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation donated $50,000 this year for nine graduate students writing theses in the humanities.

Hale Champion, vice president for Financial Affairs, said yesterday that some projected Faculty programs may have to be eliminated if GSAS financial aid requirements create a deficit in the Faculty's budget. Champion said that the Faculty could also borrow funds from University accounts at going commercial interest rates to compensate for a deficit.

The Kraus plan will probably be adjusted next year as a result of its unexpected cost, but it will not be changed for the coming academic year, Wilcox said. Wilcox would not speculate on whether future cutbacks in the plan would come from need-based or merit-based funds.

The relative size of the need and merit-based funds under the Kraus plan drew opposition from both students and department chairmen earlier this year.

Graduate students called an unsuccessful strike last month, protesting the plan's need criteria and demanding an elimination of merit-based grants.

Several department chairmen claimed, however, that the merit-based funds were too limited.

Most departments succeeded in attracting the target number of students this year, Wilcox said. However, Natural Science departments had smaller yields this year than in the past, he added.

Wilcox speculated that other graduate schools increased their scholarship offers to prospective science students this year, while Harvard's offers remained at last year's levels.