Harvard's system still counts all of a family's home equity when calculating need.

Rife said that, of the students that Stanford's new policy is designed to attract, she believes many now go to Harvard or other Ivies.

President Neil L. Rudenstine pledged in a speech to alumni last week that Byerly Hall will keep "within shouting distance" of its competitors' offers this spring on a student-by-student basis.

Rudenstine's pledge seems to indicate that for now, Harvard does not plan a formal change for the class of 2002, nor any current students.

Harvard Financial Aid Director James S. Miller declined comment yesterday on Stanford's changes. Except for Rudenstine's comments, Miller and the rest of the University have stood by an official "no comment" policy since Princeton announced its changes in late January.

Duke University Financial Aid Director James A. Belvin Jr. said his school, with a far smaller endowment than Princeton, Yale, Stanford or Harvard, could not easily afford similar changes.

He added, however, that if other schools continue to follow Princeton's lead, Duke will be forced to change somehow in order to stay competitive.