Now, other Ivy League schools also offer generous financial aid, and universities in England are beginning to structure financial aid offerings in the likeness of Harvard’s program, according to Fitzsimmons.

“You always hope that Harvard will be a leader not just in the size of its endowment but in actually initiating enlightened policy,” Bok said, speaking about Harvard’s admission policies.

RECRUITMENT

As Harvard continues to pursue socioeconomically diverse applicants, the Admissions Office has stepped up its recruitment efforts.

Harvard admissions officials travel the country, holding panels that Fitzsimmons said demystify the process for students who would not necessarily think of Harvard as a viable option.

Reaching out in person is important to any effort to recruit, according to Graduate School of Education Professor Emeritus Charles V. Willie, who has been critical of the lack of diversity at Harvard, particularly in the faculty.

“There needs to be more talking. I know people who would have been good people at Harvard but went elsewhere when they would have done great here,” he said.

According to Fitzsimmons, while it is obvious that not everyone who receives promotional materials can be admitted to the College, the letters are essential to reaching students who would not consider Harvard otherwise.

About 70 percent of the students who ultimately enroll at Harvard were among those sent recruitment letters, according to Fitzsimmons. He said that 90 percent of minority students at Harvard received such a letter.

But Harvard’s recruitment policies have their critics.

Earlier this month, Bloomberg News published an article that featured a number of students and high school guidance counselors criticizing Harvard for the number of promotional mailings that it sends each year.

“The overwhelming majority of students receiving these mailings will not be admitted in the end and Harvard knows this well,” Jon Reider, director of college counseling at University High School in San Francisco, said in the article. He is also quoted as calling the mailings “not honorable.”

EVOLVING

Harvard’s efforts to diversify its applicant pool have improved dramatically in the last decade, beginning with African Americans in the 1960s.

In a 1961 report that garnered national attention, Harvard Director of Admissions Wilbur J. Bender ’27 argued that students would benefit from a more diverse college.