A few weeks ago, Harvard made an announcement that may result in students from more middle and upper-middle-class families to apply and attend the university.

The New York Times reported that, “The move, to go into effect in the next school year, appears to make Harvard’s aid to students with household incomes from $120,000 to $180,000 the most generous of any of the country’s prestigious private universities. Harvard will generally charge such students 10 percent of their family household income per year, substantially subsidizing the annual cost of more than $45,600.”

What Harvard has done is eliminate Early Admission - which critics said targeted students from wealthy families. In lieu of this, Harvard is seeking students from rural America who might not be as well off, as well as others who might help diversify the socio-economic profile of the student body. To learn more about this initiative and how the administration is going after this goal, check out this video on Harvard’s website. It seems that other top schools, like Princeton, are also trying to diversify. The Times article mentions a slew of schools doing the same thing:

“Princeton was among the first universities to alter its financial aid formulas to help low-income and middle-income students. In 2001, Princeton made the shift to grants from loans for all students receiving financial aid. It also removed a family’s home equity from the calculations, said Robin Moscato, Princeton’s director of financial aid.

“We share Harvard’s concern about the pressures on middle-income families,” she said.

Both Williams and Amherst announced recently that they would substitute grants for loans as part of their financial-aid packages to reduce debt. And Stanford added $5 million in financial aid this school year for students with family incomes between $60,000 and $135,000.”

By Sindya Bhanoo