THE COST of a Harvard education is going up again next term. The increase seems to be very difficult to avoid. The costs of running the college are undeniably rising and any cutbacks in services would be resented by both students and University employees. The Faculty has managed to reduce the rate of tuition increase over the past few years--from over 12 per cent in 1975 to 7 per cent this year. But that 7 per cent increase brings the total cost of our education to $7500--a staggering amount, considering that one-quarter of all American families live on less than $7500 per year.

No matter how reasonable tuition hikes may seem, they are beginning to place college education beyond the range of middle-income groups. As tuition continues to increase, the contradictions inherent in maintaining a diverse student body at an elite university become more and more severe. If middle-income students are priced out of Harvard, a diminishing minority of the wealthy will have to bear the cost of the diversity which is based on financial aid, and they may quickly grow tired of that burden. Ultimately it seems that if Harvard cannot find a way of stabilizing tuition, it may revert to the ultra-elitism which characterized it 50 years ago. Although it seems inevitable, the pattern of annual increases must not be accepted with resignation.