"If you use earning [as the gauge], I sense that it looks like the return on the investment is rather good," says Reisinger Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures William M. Todd III, who will become dean of undergraduate education next month.

Indeed, three economists from the University of Pennsylvania recently tried to quantify the financial return on a first-rate education, according to a March issue of Time Magazine.

The economists found that students who graduated from Penn will most likely earn 56.6 percent more than if they only receive a high school diploma. However, students tend to earn only 37.1 percent more if they graduates from a top-notch public university, according to the article.

Director of the Office of Career Services William Wright-Swadel says he believes that more households are realizing the benefits of a Harvard education.

"I think there's a sense that a private education is a better value than it's ever been, in part because of the education and in part, the network of people that you meet," Wright-Swadel says.

"I don't think that the value has necessarily changed, but the awareness in the community of that reality is now quite clear," he adds.

L. Fred Jewett '57, former dean of the College and former dean of admissions and financial aid, says promoting the investment of a Harvard education is not "a hard-sell process."

"If you maintain the quality of the institution...my assumption would be that smart people are more likely to be able to see the reasons why that investment would be worthwhile," Jewett says.

"Is a Harvard education worth the investment? Of course!" says Knowles. "Try elsewhere, and see how quickly you yearn for the quality and talent of your Harvard peers, and of the faculty offerings that are available."

Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education Jeffrey Wolcowitz says that there are other ways to assess the changing value of a Harvard education, but most are hard to document.

Consider the following:

*Students' educational experience has been augmented by diversity in the student body, Faculty members say.

"I very strongly believe that one's education is a matter of not only coursework, but also interaction with fellow students," Todd says.

* Despite complaints of overflowing sections in large courses, many members of the Faculty say they believe that there has been a move towards more small group instruction over the past decade.

"I expect that you would find more tutorial teaching done by senior Faculty than 10 years ago," Wolcowitz says.