Financial Aid the Key to a Record Admissions Year

Cambridge, Mass. March 30, 2009 - Harvard's financial aid program made the critical difference in leading many of the nation's and the world's best students to apply to Harvard College in these challenging economic times. A record 29,112 students applied for admission this year, compared to 27,462 last year. Enhanced a number of times recently, Harvard's undergraduate financial aid program next year will be the most generous in its history, with $147 million in scholarships, an 8 percent increase from last year and a 167 percent increase over the past decade. "For those aspiring to a Harvard education and for those currently at Harvard who come from families coping with job losses, home foreclosures, shrinking home equity, and the depletion of savings and retirement funds, our renewed program arrived at a crucial time," said William R. Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid. "Financial aid enables students with modest means to believe Harvard is possible for them. Once they are here, the new program ensures they have the same academic and extracurricular opportunities as their more affluent classmates.