Getting into Harvard gets even harder
Boston,
Mar
30:
Getting
into
Harvard
University
got
tougher
this
year
as
more
students
than
ever
applied
to
the
Ivy
League
school's
undergraduate
program,
many
drawn
by
an
attractive
financial
aid
offer.
Harvard,
the
world's
richest
university,
said
yesterday
a
record
22,955
students
applied
for
a
spot
in
the
Class
of
2011.
Of
those,
just
2,058
were
accepted
--
an
admission
rate
of
9
percent,
the
lowest
in
school
history.
Last
year,
2,109
of
22,753
applicants,
or
9.3
per
cent,
got
the
nod
from
the
university
in
Cambridge,
Massachusetts,
near
Boston.
Harvard
and
other
prestigious
US
universities
are
benefiting
from
a
surge
in
enrollment
as
children
of
the
baby-boomer
generation
graduate
from
high
school.
Harvard,
whose
former
president
Lawrence
Summers
was
criticized
for
controversial
remarks
about
women,
said
just
over
half
of
those
admitted
to
the
Class
of
2011
were
women,
while
the
number
of
ethnic
minorities
hit
a
record
high.
Nearly
20
per
cent
of
those
accepted
are
Asian,
10.7
per
cent
are
black
and
10.1
per
cent
are
Latino.
The
class
would
also
be
its
most
economically
diverse,
Harvard
said,
with
26
percent
eligible
for
a
new
financial
aid
program.
The
Harvard
Financial
Aid
Initiative,
announced
in
2004
by
Summers,
slashed
the
amount
low-income
students
must
pay
to
attend
the
oldest
US
institute
of
higher
learning.
Under
the
program,
students
from
families
earning
less
than
60,000
dollars
a
year
do
not
have
to
contribute
to
the
cost
of
tuition.
Those
from
families
earning
between
60,000
dollars
and
80,000
dollars
pay
far
less
than
they
would
have
in
previous
years.
Since
the
program
began,
aid
for
students
from
families
with
incomes
under
60,000
dollars
has
risen
34
per
cent,
Harvard
said.
More
than
two-thirds
of
Harvard's
entering
class
receives
financial
aid,
including
scholarships
and
loans,
while
more
than
half
qualify
for
scholarship
assistance
and
an
average
total
aid
package
of
close
to
34,000
dollars.
Many
badly
need
the
help.
Annual
undergraduate
tuition
will
rise
3.9
per
cent
next
year
to
31,456
dollars,
increasing
at
a
pace
nearly
double
the
US
rate
of
inflation,
a
Harvard
statement
showed
this
month.
Throw
in
room,
board
and
services
fees
and
the
cost
jumps
to
45,620
dollars,
almost
double
the
average
at
a
private
college
in
the
United
States.
Summers,
a
former
US
Treasury
secretary
whose
confrontational
style
led
to
a
faculty
vote
of
no
confidence,
resigned
last
year.
Historian
Drew
Gilpin
Faust,
Harvard's
first
female
president,
has
been
appointed
to
replace
him.
Reuters