Heftier Aid at Elite Colleges Draws Praise, Rebukes

Some critics of the moves by the elite schools noted that none of the recent proposals guarantee enrolling a set percentage of low-income students. They said they fear that widening the pool of middle- and upper-middle-class students at elite schools could cut the number of neediest who are accepted. At the most selective U.S. universities, 10 percent of students receive Pell Grants, federal aid open to families that earn $45,000 and under, according to a study done by Heller a few years ago.

Some educators said Harvard and Yale could have decided to use their resources to help elementary and secondary schools do a better job preparing needy students for college. They could have also worked to enact more general reforms and lobby Congress to provide more financial aid.

Yale President Richard Levin said Yale and Harvard can't win with critics. "If we don't spend our resources for a social good, we are criticized," Levin said. "If we do spend our resources for a social good, we are criticized. We are trying to strike a balance."

Levin said that if the new plans create any pressure, it could be on state legislatures to increase financial support for higher education, totals that rise and fall over the years depending upon the condition of the national and state economies.

Levin also said one of the reasons Yale made its move was pressure from Grassley, who has authored legislation mandating that schools with endowments of more than $500 million spend at least 5 percent for students' benefit. Harvard and Yale, with multibillion-dollar endowments, routinely spend less than 5 percent. Many college leaders have opposed a congressional mandate.

William Fitzsimmons, Harvard's dean of admissions and financial aid, said the school needed to do more for families with incomes between $60,000 and $200,000 because so much of the aid efforts had been targeted at the poor. He said that many middle-income students never applied to Harvard and that those who did attend did not enjoy a full experience.

"We feared that we were returning to the bad old days" when students who were not wealthy felt like "second-class citizens," he said. "Morally, I'm not sure we had a choice."