CORRECTIONS APPENDED

Senator Edward “Ted” M. Kennedy ’54-’56 (D-Mass.) reached out to university presidents across the state in a flurry of letters this Tuesday, seeking feedback on his proposal to reauthorize the Higher Education Act and introduce legislation that would reduce interest rates on student loans and increase Pell Grants.

While his proposals will have potential benefits for university students around the nation, the impact at Harvard will be minimal, due to the University’s already comprehensive financial aid packages, Director of Financial Aid Sally C. Donahue wrote in an e-mail yesterday.

According to Donahue, close to 50 percent of Harvard students receive need-based scholarships of over $31,000. Seven hundred undergraduates are also Pell Grant recipients. [SEE CORRECTION BELOW]

In January, the House of Representatives voted to increase Pell Grants—the largest need-based financial aid program in the country—to $4,600. Kennedy’s proposal calls for Congress to increase the maximum to $5,100.

“The reauthorization of the Higher Education Act is one of my highest priorities for the new session of Congress,” Kennedy wrote in his letter to the schools. “I plan to do all I can to enact worthwhile and bipartisan legislation in the coming months.”

Described by Director of Federal Relations Suzanne Day as an “omnibus bill,” the Higher Education Act includes undergraduate and graduate student aid, early intervention programs, and resources for teacher training. The bill was last reauthorized in 1998 and is renewed about every six years, but is now several years off cycle.

“These programs are not at risk of being terminated,” said Day. “But the Higher Education Act gives legislators an opportunity to make positive changes regarding education.”

Reducing interest rates on student loans has been a key point of the Democratic “100 days” agenda, since they obtained control of Congress in January.

Kennedy will convene a hearing on college affordability today.
“Students and families are pinching pennies to pay for college more than ever,” wrote Kennedy. “The President and Congress need to work aggressively together on all these fronts to give them as much help as possible.”

Interim President Derek C. Bok has not yet received or responded to the letter, his spokesman John D. Longbrake said. [SEE CORRECTION BELOW]

But Donahue added that she hoped Harvard’s outreach to low-income applicants would set an example for Congress as they considered the legislation. [SEE CORRECTION BELOW]

“With our recent financial aid initiative, we have taken a leadership role nationally in addressing the issue of access to higher education,” she said. [SEE CORRECTION BELOW]

CORRECTIONS
The Feb. 16 news article "Kennedy Proposes Higher Aid" contained several errors. First, it listed the wrong title for Senior Director of Communications John D. Longbrake. Longbrake is a University spokesman, not Interim President Derek C. Bok's spokesman. Second, it incorrectly attributed remarks by Director of Federal Relations Suzanne Day to Director of Financial Aid Sally C. Donahue. The article should have stated that Day "hoped Harvard's outreach to low-income applicants would set an example for Congress as they considered the legislation." The following quote was given by Day--not Donahue: "With our recent financial aid initiative, we have taken a leadership role nationally in addressing the issue of access to higher education." Finally, the story incorrectly reported that close to 50 percent of Harvard students receive need-based scholarships of $30,000 or more. In fact, the 50 percent receiving scholarships receive that sum on average; each student does not receive $30,000 or more, as the story stated.