How Harvard could share the wealth
HARVARD University has an endowment of about $26 billion, which exceeds the gross domestic product of more than 100 nations and is greater than all the physical assets of McDonald's Corp. It is the richest university in the country; in fact, a few years ago, the Boston Globe reported that Harvard's endowment was greater than that of any nonprofit institution in the world except the Catholic Church.
So why then does Harvard have one of the lowest percentages of low-income students of any Ivy League college? And why does it charge an exorbitant $41,675 a year in tuition and fees to undergraduates -- a number not much less than the U.S. median household income of $44,389?
Because it can, of course. But does it have to? Here's a radical suggestion for Derek Bok, who is being brought back as president of the university after Lawrence H. Summers resigns in June: Why not make Harvard free?
That's right. Bok -- who has been a lucid critic of the corrupting influence of big money on universities -- can, with a single gesture of unassailable virtue, light a fire under the increasingly decadent realm of elite colleges, instantly restoring Harvard to a position of moral leadership in society.
Perhaps that sounds unrealistic. After all, no other private university in the country offers any such deal. But Harvard could do it with hardly a dent to its pocketbook -- and along the way, it could send a potent message about egalitarianism, excess and the importance of education for all.
Consider the numbers: Harvard currently has 6,600 students. Footing the entire bill for all its undergraduates would likely run close to $275 million a year (an additional net cost of only about $190 million, because the university already provides about $85 million in scholarships to undergraduates who qualify for need-based aid).
Of course, $190 million sounds like a lot to most of us, but it is less than 1% of the school's endowment, and only a small fraction of the endowment's $3-billion growth last year. What's more, Harvard spent 4.5% of its endowment in the 2005 fiscal year; even with the additional burden of paying for every single undergraduate, it would remain well within its own self-imposed comfort zone of an annual withdrawal of 5% of the endowment. (And who knows? Maybe such a worthy move would even prompt additional gifts from alumni and others, who last year donated about $639 million to the university.)
