The Facts Brand vs. Value

by Erik Presley | May 5, 2009 | Newsletters 0 Comments

Parents Do You Know the Facts?

May 05, 2009

Harvard says yes to 7% of 29,112 aspirants who sought admission for the August 2009 enrollment period.

On March Tracy Jan, a Global staff writter, submitted a piece on Harvard University’s admission and application statistics for the 2009/2010 year.

In the article the following truths were presented.

“Only 7 percent will be admitted, college officials said yesterday, the most selective year yet at one of the world’s most selective universities.”

Last year, 7.9 percent of Harvard applicants were admitted. The stiffer competition is not surprising, given the record 29,112 applications this year for the class of 2013, a 5.6 percent increase from last year that Harvard officials attributed in part to a financial aid initiative.

The applicant pool reached an unprecedented level of achievement, university officials said. More than 2,900 scored a perfect 800 on their SAT critical reading test, and 3,500 scored perfectly on the SAT math test. Nearly 3,700 were ranked first in their senior class.

“We had never had so many good choices,” said William Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid. “Our new financial aid program encouraged so many people who might not have ever thought about applying to get into the pool.”

Members of the incoming freshman class come from diverse backgrounds. A record 10.9 percent are Latino, said Fitzsimmons; 10.8 percent are African-American; 17.6 percent are Asian-American; and 1.3 percent are Native American. Another 8.9 percent are international students.

About a quarter of the admitted students come from families earning less than US$80,000, making them eligible for a nearly free ride at the university. Two years ago, Harvard instituted one of the most generous financial aid initiatives in the country, waiving tuition, room, and board for students whose parents earn less than $60,000 and capping tuition, room, and board at 10 percent of income for those whose families earn up to $180,000.

The average financial aid package is likely to total more than $40,000 annually. The annual cost of a Harvard education, including room and board, will be $48,868 next year.”

This presents hope for those young students who are the top of the top and are able to score perfect scores on the SAT regardless of family income.

Yet for the academically strong student who may not score perfect SAT scores or rank number 1 or 2 in a high school graduating class what does it mean for them? The truth is that Harvard is only one of many excellent private universities in the U.S. from which young aspiring students can attain an undergraduate degree and prepare for their professional career. The same standards for academic excellence that are held at Harvard govern tier one universities across the United States.

More importantly for ELI 360 families is that most partner universities are tier one universities but cost half of the expense incurred at famous universities like Harvard. Let ELI 360 show you one of the best ways to get the highest value for every dollar spent in higher education. Contact them at info@eli360.com.