Harvard’s Financial Aid Is Anti-Middle Class

“Let’s cut to the chase: you can afford Harvard.” So claims Harvard’s website. But that’s not the whole truth.

In general, families making less than $85,000 a year pay nothing for their child to go to Harvard. And assuming modest savings of $50,000, Harvard’s net price calculator estimates a parental contribution of $3,000 for a family making $100,000, and $15,000 for a family making $150,000 per year.

So far, so good.

But what about a family making $200,000?

They have to pay $37,000 a year, not including a student term-time work contribution. For a family here in Massachusetts, that’s 23 percent of their post-tax income — compared with 12 percent for the family earning $150,000 and just 3 percent for the family making $100,000. But worst of all, a family earning $285,000 has to pay a shocking 37 percent of their post-tax income.

While less-well-off families face many obstacles to sending their children to Harvard, tuition and fees are thankfully not among them. On the other hand, those making over $500,000 per year can also pay without too much pain, especially given the opportunity to save over time.

But what about those in the middle?

Some might argue that a family earning $285,000 a year can indeed afford to pay almost 40 percent of their post-tax income — after all, they would still be far from poor after paying tuition. But that isn’t the point. The impact of such a massive cost to their standard of living is life-altering. It’s not a sacrifice a family should have to make to send their child to Harvard.

This week, Harvard will finish admitting the Class of 2028.

While many high school seniors rejoice when they receive that coveted letter, some — even after reading that they “can afford Harvard” — will need to have a painful conversation with their parents about how they will possibly afford it.

At Harvard, which boasts an applicant pool of the best and brightest, cost should never impact a prospective student’s enrollment choice. While conversations on affordability often focus on those in most need of full financial aid, it also must include middle-class families being forced to shift their lifestyles or take out massive loans to attend.

For middle class students who do choose Harvard, their sacrifices ironically close doors. A mountain of debt can pull students away from careers in government, non-profits, or academia.

When middle class families must give up so much to pay tuition, it becomes more difficult for students to take full advantage of the opportunities this school has to offer. Whether being strapped for cash when going out with friends or forced to give up a preferred major in the humanities for a course of study that leads to more lucrative employment, the burden of tuition and loans is a heavy one.

Cruelly, many middle-class students who do come to Harvard don’t get the same freedom and breadth of experiences as their classmates, despite their family’s huge sacrifice.

There are solutions — more financial aid is the obvious one — but let me offer some more novel options.

We could also have a different graduated system, where families pay a fixed percentage of their income, with some cost floor and cap. The school could then redistribute who gets financial aid money. Is it really right that some families pay nothing while others pay almost 40 percent of their post-tax income? If families making less than $85,000 were asked to pay at least a small amount that could be easily borrowed and paid off following graduation, Harvard could reallocate that money to reduce others’ burden.

Don’t get me wrong. Harvard and its peer institutions do far better with financial aid than most other private schools, increasing broad access to higher education. But its claim to meet “100 percent of our students’ demonstrated financial need” doesn’t tell the full story.

Rohan Nambiar ’27, a Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Apley Court.