Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles has announced that Harvard's package of undergraduate tuition, room and board, and student fees will increase by 3.3 percent over 1998-1999, to $32,164 for the academic year 1999-2000. This is the eighth consecutive year in which the rate of increase has declined. The percentage increase is the lowest since 1968.

Even the 52 percent of students who pay full tuition and fees are subsidized by Harvard's endowment and gifts to the College, since the actual cost of a Harvard education is close to $48,000 per year. More than half of Harvard undergraduates on financial aid pay less than $11,000 per year to attend. The average family income for students who receive grants from Harvard is $70,000 annually.

"The vitality of our institution -- as well as the quality of our students -­ requires that Harvard be affordable for families of all income levels," Knowles said. "We are absolutely committed to need-blind admissions, and to constraining our costs, now and in the future."

Harvard's determination to ease financial pressure on undergraduates was underscored in September, when Knowles authorized an increase in the aid budget of nearly $9 million per year. At that time, each student on scholarship aid received an additional $2,000 per year from the College. The funds have been used by students to reduce their overall debt or to earn less in the academic year.

In December, the University increased the payout on its endowment by 28 percent. In addition to enhancing undergraduate financial aid, the new funds are addressing a variety of needs, including graduate student aid, preservation of Harvard's library collections, and support for the library system's digital initiative, building renovations, and investment in science education and research.