Harvard Leading the Way

This is a really cool article about Harvard's new policy regarding financial aid. It not only shows how progressive leading universities are now getting with regard to making a real commitment to socially-mobile education policy, it also shows that private sector reform can lead the way to education reform with the right leadership. I hope this is a sign of future reform in this direction as education truly is the most important piece of the puzzle.

Harvard Targets Middle Class With Student Cost Cuts

Harvard University will cut the costs of attending the Ivy League school by as much as 50 percent for families that earn $120,000 to $180,000 a year, making access easier for ``middle-income'' students.

These families will pay 10 percent of their yearly earnings to send a child to Harvard, the Cambridge, Massachusetts, university said today. The payments decline on a sliding scale, with those making less than $60,000 attending for free. The school also eliminated student loans, saying they will be replaced by grants as needed.

Case in point: if we had a better public education system, perhaps people buying homes at the peak of the real estate cycle with adjustable rate mortgages might have anticipated that this was not an ideal situation for the family budget.

On an unrelated note...
I just read an awesome piece on the credit crisis by Bridgewater. Will try to post about it later. But the punch line is this:

Just because I have been silent on increasing problems in the credit cycle over the last couple of weeks does not mean I feel they are dissipating. Bridgewater agrees, and although slightly more optimistic than me, they are only slightly - and probably ten times more specific in their fears.