“We feel that’s a more reasonable way to decide family contributions,” said Sally C. Donahue, Harvard’s director of financial aid.

Harvard officials were also concerned that since some of the schools which signed the agreement offer merit aid or athletic scholarships, that placing a “cap” on need-based aid—a cap on top of which those other schools could still offer merit or athletic aid—would place Harvard, which does not provide merit or athletic scholarships, at a strategic disadvantage in the admissions process.

While Harvard may differ in some of the details, Donahue praised the agreement for possibly restoring some of the public’s trust in financial aid.

“It has been an effort that’s worthy of a lot of support,” she said. “We agree with the principles.”

Despite the new agreement, financial aid officers will still have wide discretion over the application of aid to students.

“It’s as much as an art as it is a science,” Donahue said.

—Staff writer Garrett M. Graff can be reached at ggraff@fas.harvard.edu.