经济危机时期入读哈佛难上加难

Getting into Harvard University got tougher this year as a record number of students applied to the school's undergraduate program, many drawn by attractive financial aid offers during the recession.

Harvard, the world's richest university, said Monday 29,112 students applied for a spot in the Class of 2013. Of those, just 7 percent were accepted, the lowest in the history of the school and down from 7.9 percent last year.

Many U.S. universities are seeing a surge in enrollment as the baby-boomer generation's kids graduate from high school. But unlike Ivy League peers Princeton, Yale and Stanford, Harvard has not significantly expanded the size of a freshman undergraduate class in more than two decades.

It has, however, rolled out a series of financial aid incentives in recent years.

The Class of 2013 will receive the most financial aid in Harvard history, with $147 million in scholarships alone. That is up 8 percent from last year.

Seventy percent of Harvard students receive some form of financial aid. The Harvard Financial Aid Initiative, which was announced in 2004, slashed the amount low-income students must pay to attend the oldest US institute of higher learning.

Under the program, students from families earning less than $60,000 a year do not have to contribute to the cost of tuition, which together with room and board, reaches $47,000 a year.

Those from families earning between $60,000 and $80,000 also pay far less than they would have in previously.

About 25 percent of the Class of 2013 are eligible for the program.

Harvard also caps tuition at 10 percent of income from families earning up to $180,000.

The school said it would mail out acceptance letters on Tuesday. Nearly 18 percent of those accepted to the Class of 2013 are Asian, a record 10.9 percent are Latino and 10.8 percent are black.

今年想入读哈佛大学更加困难，因为今年申请哈佛大学本科学位的人数创新高，这主要是因为在经济衰退的大背景下，该校高额的奖学金对很多人而言是一个诱惑。

堪称世界最富有高等学府的哈佛大学于本周一称，申请2013届学生的数量达29112人，但录取率则从去年的7.9%降至7%，为哈佛建校史上最低水平。

随着“婴儿潮”一代的子女们高中毕业，美国多所大学招生人数激增。但与普林斯顿大学、耶鲁大学和斯坦福大学等其他“常青藤”盟校不同，哈佛大学在过去二十多年中未对本科生进行过大规模扩招。

但哈佛大学近年来出台了一系列的助学金奖励计划。

2013届新生将获得哈佛建校史上最高额度的助学金，仅奖学金就达1.47亿美元，比去年增加了8%。

70%的哈佛学生会得到某种形式的助学金。于2004年公布的“哈佛助学金计划”大规模削减了低收入家庭学生必须支付的费用。哈佛大学是美国历史最悠久的高等学府。

按照该计划，家庭年收入低于6万美元的学生不必交纳每年合计共4.7万美元的学费和食宿费用。

家庭年收入在6万至8万美元之间的学生交纳的费用较以往也大幅减少。

约25%的2013届新生有资格申请该助学计划。

哈佛大学还设定了学费上限，即家庭年收入不到18万美元的学生需缴纳的学费不超过其家庭总收入的10%。

哈佛大学称学校将于本周二寄出录取通知书。在被录取的2013届新生中，近18%是亚裔，10.9%为拉美裔，创历史纪录；10.8%是黑人。