Scholarships Augmented
"It will be seen that, even allowing for increase in total enrollment figures, financial aids have gone ahead proportionally with student costs. If to the present total there are added certain competitive prize awards and new scholarships recently made available, the annual total reaches about $250,000. With few exceptions the whole is thrown open to the competition of all meritorious undergraduates. This sum represents the income from invested principle amounting to about $5,000,000. The undergraduate body at Harvard is doubtless more heavily endowed with scholarships and financial aids (not loans) than that of any other large college in the world.
"The relatively large amount of funds available, together with the present methods of administration, explain the confidence with which if may be said that no student, possessed of normal physique and proved intellectual promise, over need be compelled because of financial causes to withdraw from Harvard College. The physique is necessary to enable him to help himself to a reasonable extent; the intellectual promise must be proved in order to justify financial aid from others.
No Right to Education Without Cost
"Whether or not this sum is sufficient to meet the needs of the worthy candidates is difficult to determine. It is obvious that no student has a right to expect an education without cost and without effort directed towards his own support if he lacks other means. On the other hand, it would be discouraging if potential scholars were stifled because of insufficient cooperation and inducement. Just what standards to set up in order to determine the relative merit of candidates for financial aid has been the subject of differing views. Careful study, however, covering the history of students in college and their success in after life, contributes to the feeling that the present bases of determination and distribution are fundamentally correct...
"Financial need can be determined only by a considerate examination of the information supplied by the candidate or by persons from whom information is sought. Mere income figures are not final. Circumstances of a particular nature must be carefully weighed. Distance from home, either or both parents deceased, size of family, brothers or sisters in college or school, amount of candidate's own effort to help himself these and many other considerations enter as determinants of real need. Scholarship awards vary in amount from $175 to $975. The greater the financial need combined with distinction record the greater the chances a boy has of receiving a larger award.
Charity to be Avoided
"In maintaining too rigid an emphasis on financial need there is the danger of giving a color of charity to the award. For this reason there are a few scholarships awarded entirely on a prize basis regardless of need, although here the stipend is variable according to the recipient's financial condition. They are usually small in amount, however, and in no way endanger the opportunities of needy students. Outstanding achievements in studies is recognized also by the award of non-stipendiary or honorary scholarships to all students in the upper portion of the Dean's List who are not in need of financial aid.
"A large number of the awards cover tuition costs at least. Ordinarily, a student who has a scholarship is given preference when it is re-awarded at the end of the year; if his circumstances have changed, the award may also change. The distribution of awards by amount is variable owing to the presence of large unrestricted funds, but the following table shows a normal distribution: