4. Sustained fancial aid.

Unlike the College, the GSAS has no "aid blind" admissions policy. It bases admissions decisions in part on the applicant's financial situation.

In one of its more fiscally conservative moves, the Strauch Committee endorsed the current policy of admitting only students "who will receive or can demonstrate sufficient financial resources."

The committee also endorsed an existing requirement that financial aid applicants disclose their parents' incomes. That requirement met opposition at a spring Faculty meeting, where some professors argued that parents should not be expected to support their children's graduate study.

On the other hand, the Strauch Committee recommended the retention of co-called merit awards designed to lure top students to Harvard. In addition, it urged that the GSAS continue to guarantee support for second-year students at the same level provided in their first year.

The result is a hefty price tag. The Strauch Committee estimated that the GSAS would require a 15 percent real increase in its financial aid budget to maintain its current aid policy--without an increase in the number of students enrolled.

5. Inclusion of graduate students in the Houses.

When it comes to housing and non-academic life, undergraduates and graduate students face a double standard, the Strauch Committee argued. Graduate students are left to fend for themselves, deprived of a residential community.

To make the graduate experience less arduous, the committee recommended that graduate students be affiliated with undergraduate Houses on an experimental, non-residential basis. The committee also called on the University to make more campus housing available to graduate students and to construct additional housing, if possible.

6. Quality control.

Education at the graduate school centers on the individual departments, and the Strauch Committee recommended a variety of measures to ensure quality and consistency across the board.

First, the Committee recommended that the academic dean enlist experts from outside Harvard to review each department's graduate program every six years. Current visiting committees periodically conduct broad studies of each department; the Strauch Committee recommended a separate evaluation system focusing on the graduate programs.

In addition, prompted in part by student complaints, the committee mapped out an improved advising system for use by all departments.