Bravo Harvard

Harvard announced yesterday that it would waive tuitions for undergrads whose families earn less than $60,000 annually. From the Harvard Crimson:

The newly expanded financial aid program, which will also reduce the contributions of families with annual incomes between $60,000 and $80,000, is expected to cover more than 1,500 students--nearly a quarter of the College--in the next academic year, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons '67 and Vice President for Administration Sally Zeckhauser said in a joint interview this evening.

With the announcement, Harvard jumps to the head of a pack of top universities that are expanding financial aid for undergraduates from low-income and middle-class families.

Also announced yesterday (again from the Crimson):

Harvard officials announced yesterday that students and faculty will have a formal role in the selection of University President Lawrence H. Summers' successor--a move that comes five years after students decried their exclusion from the last presidential search.

There are still no students or Harvard faculty members on the nine-person presidential search committee unveiled yesterday. The committee comprises the six members of the Harvard Corporation--the University's highest governing board--as well as an art historian, a computer scientist, and a trial lawyer, all three of whom serve on the Corporation's sister body, the Board of Overseers.

But the search committee will seek official input from student and faculty advisory committees, according to a statement from the University. That marks the first time--at least in recent memory--that students and professors have had any formal involvement in the presidential search process.

The search committee will also consult with alumni "at various locations beyond Cambridge and Boston as well as locally," according to yesterday's statement.