Harvard will ask for about $1.5 million in Federal aid this year under the National Defense Education Act, Wallace McDonald '44, director of the College's financial-aid office, said yesterday.

McDonald indicated that the figure included funds to be requested by the graduate schools as well as money for the College. The amount is 25 per cent above the $1.2 million in NDEA funds the University requested last year.

The rise reflects Harvard's growing needs, rather than removal of the ceiling on institutional grants. Harvard has made it a practice always to request the amount it considers necessary, regardless of the amount it can get.

When Congress extended the National Defense Education Act at the beginning of October, it removed an $800,000 limit on the amount of aid any one school can receive. While the University's request has grown dramatically, the amount it will get may be even larger.

University officials have said that they hope to receive about $800,000 in NDEA funds, compared to $350,000 for the current year. Even if Harvard gets several hundred thousand dollars less, however, its grant is likely to be the largest ever awarded to one institution.

M.I.T.'s Stand Key

The exact amount of each grant depends on a complicated formula that allots NDEA money according to the number of students and institutions in a given geographical region. An important factor in determining the size of Harvard's grant, according to McDonald, will be whether the Massachusetts Institute of Technology applies for NDEA aid.

M.I.T. students are currently counted to determine the total amount of aid for which Massachusetts is eligible--almost $33 million over the next four years--but they receive none of the money, since M.I.T. withdrew from the NDEA program and has not yet rejoined.

McDonald noted that the exact amount of the University's request would not be known until questionnaires had been completed by the graduate schools.