The Harvard Financial Aid Initiative (HFAI)
The Harvard Financial Aid Initiative (HFAI) is an extension of the generous financial aid program at Harvard College. Under HFAI, students from families making less than $60,000 annually who are accepted to Harvard under the regular application and admissions policies will have no expected parent contribution for their education over the four years. Additionally, families that make less than $80,000 have seen their expected parent contributions significantly reduced.
The first step a student must take to benefit from HFAI is to apply to Harvard College. Harvard Admissions is need-blind, which means that Harvard does not look at whether or not a student can pay for college when they determine whether or not the student is accepted. Admissions requirements, as well as forms, are available at http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/ . The postmark deadline for freshman admission is January 1 for Regular Action.
In addition to filling out all the application materials, students will also need to apply for financial aid. In order to apply for financial aid, students should fill out the CSS/Profile which can be found on http://www.collegeboard.com/ as well as the FAFSA, which can be found on http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/. These forms help the financial aid office determine what kind of financial aid package a student will need to be able to afford to attend Harvard. Harvard Financial Aid meets 100% of all families’ demonstrated need; last year, Harvard’s need-based scholarships totaled over $90 million.
In summary, in order to benefit from this initiative, a student must apply to Harvard and for financial aid. If accepted, he or she will receive a financial aid package that meets his demonstrated need.