“Harvard puts the student in a very difficult place. It’s almost like a front that they offer so much help, because in the end you’re stuck between the institution and your parents,” Marsha said about the situation for students whose parents are hostile to their child’s sexual orientation.

This is at the heart of the issue, according to Crosby Burns, who authored the report on LGBT financial aid issues in higher education for the Center for American Progress.

“In my research ... even universities such as Harvard, while they might be progressive and give a lot of aid, they aren’t perfect,” Burns said, emphasizing that universities should do a better job explaining their policies.

The majority of students contacted by The Crimson declined to share their full stories. Still, Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of financial aid assistance website finaid.org, said that parental refusal to cooperate is a national issue. His website receives thousands of emails each year from students looking for help when their parents refuse to pay as expected, he said.

Conflicts about a student’s sexual orientation, religion, friends, or significant other are among the issues that Kantrowitz said often cause such a split.

Kantrowitz’s recommendations to students facing such situations largely coincide with the way Harvard’s Financial Aid Office handles them. Kantrowitz first recommends that students reach out to parents to try to reconcile the situation. If such an attempt is unsuccessful, he recommends that students pursue a dependency override, which lifts the student’s financial burden. To attain such an override, he said, would require documentation from a neutral third party—someone such as a social worker, teacher, or a family friend.

Although some students attain such an override, Kantorwitz said students facing a steep tuition bill with no parental support often attend community college or work for a few years in hopes of saving money before college.

Despite the unfortunate circumstances that students often face, nearly everyone The Crimson spoke with agreed that it would be difficult for the University to loosen its policy without inviting the possibility of students requesting additional assistance unnecessarily.

“Harvard always tries to be as fair as possible. In this situation they couldn’t really say because you’re gay, we’re going to help you out,” Marsha said. “They give the same treatment to every student, which they should do.”

“Our goal is to be fair and equitable across the student population,” Donahue said. “It wouldn’t be fair if we quickly said to one student, ‘Oh, your parents won’t contribute. No problem. Here you go.’ Because there are many other families in which students and parents might be working out a very difficult situation and somehow working through it.”

—Staff writer Justin C. Worland can be reached at jworland@college.harvard.edu.