My Baby can go to Harvard! (And yours can too!)

I am so excited!  My son (8 yrs. old) had told me that he wanted to go to Harvard.  At first I thought, wow what an awesome goal!  Then, reality hit me like a tether ball in the face.  The average cost for Harvard is $45,000 per year!  You don't want to discourage your children from a dream like that but there is absolutely no way that we, as teachers, could ever afford to send our 3 children to a school like Harvard...until now!  

I just learned that Harvard has what they call a "middle income initiative".   The deal is that Harvard will charge 10% of household income for tuition for students whose families earn between $120,000 and $180,000.  This means that instead of paying the normal $45,600, you would only pay $12,000 to $18,000.  This is still a stretch for 2 teachers, and we may be left eating beans for 4 years, but it is doable!  

Harvard will also give grants (not loans) in financial aid packages that don't count equity in a home so that parents won't be forced to sell or borrow against their homes to send their children to the prestigious university.

What's even better?  If you make under $60,000 your child can go to Harvard without any contribution from you!  And, an income of between $60,000 to $80,000 will yield you significant discounts.  

Knowing this, I no longer get that bad feeling in the pit of my stomach when my son talks about going to the Ivy league school.  I feel confident that if he does the work to get in, then the option is open to him.  What a fantastic country this is!  Now, if he says he wants to go to Harvard and get a degree in "Underwater basket weaving"....we need to talk!