"Harvard slows work on Allston complex" by Tracy Jan, Globe Staff | February 19, 2009
Harvard University is putting the brakes on its landmark plans to remake an industrial slice of Allston into a sprawling new campus, President Drew Faust announced yesterday, in the clearest sign yet of the impact the recession is having on the world's wealthiest university.
Construction on a massive $1 billion science complex will slow and perhaps halt altogether for an undetermined period if the university's financial picture does not improve, Faust said....
Faust made the announcement as Harvard's endowment, which was once valued at $36.9 billion and covers more than a third of the university's $3.5 billion operating budget, is projected to plummet 30 percent for 2008-2009....
Wait a minute: they are SITTING ON nearly $30 BILLION and they are only spending about $1 billion a YEAR on their operation?? And they are CRYING POVERTY? Why does the word CHUTZPAH come to mind?
Work so far on the 589,000-square-foot science complex currently amounts to a giant hole in the ground.... The science complex, touted as the cornerstone of Harvard's presence in Allston, was planned to bring together under one roof researchers from the Medical School, the School of Engineering, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. It was to house the university's new department of stem cell and regenerative biology and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, as well as the new Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. Those highly acclaimed initiatives will be located elsewhere, Faust said....
Allston residents have already voiced frustration about the vacant Harvard-owned lots and buildings dotting their neighborhood. Now they are bracing for an undetermined length of construction before Harvard fulfills its long-term vision of meandering pathways, parks, other academic buildings, and arts and cultural spaces.
I'm sure Harvard gave them the old one-finger salute over those concerns.
"As a community, we have accepted living alongside all of Harvard's vacant buildings and abandoned property for almost 10 years now," said Harry Mattison, a member of the Harvard Allston Task Force. "You can suck it up and take it when you think it'll be a couple more years and all the watercolor drawings and pretty pictures will come true. But now this is what I may be looking at for the rest of my life."
Hey, they can't see it from their campus window so what do they care about community eyesores?
And REMEMBER the ENDOWMENT Harvard is sitting on?
Yeah, they gotta raise fees and cut staff, yup.
"Harvard to raise tuition 3.5 percent, same as '08
Harvard University plans to increase tuition by 3.5 percent to $33,696 next school year, bringing the cost of a Harvard education, including room and board, to $48,868 a year.
Oh, I won't be attending next semester, did I tell you?
Harvard increased tuition by the same amount last year, ranking the 3.5 percent rise among its smallest tuition bumps in the last decade. At the same time, the university will increase need-based scholarships by 18 percent.
Yeah, they are sooooooo generous over there!
"Despite unprecedented economic challenges, we remain fully committed to ensuring that Harvard remains open to talented students from across the economic spectrum," Michael D. Smith, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, said in a written statement.
Translation: they will continue to inculcate and indoctrinate the next generation of leaders.
The increase fits in the range of Harvard's peer institutions, which also kept tuition raises modest in light of tough economic times, Harvard president Drew Faust said yesterday. Stanford raised tuition by 3.5 percent; Princeton will go up 2.9 percent.
Faust, expecting to see more aid requests as parents lose their jobs and college investments, said Harvard will continue its 2007 financial aid initiative to help students from low- to upper-middle-income families. Families making below $60,000 pay nothing for a Harvard education. Those with incomes below $180,000 pay up to 10 percent of their income.
Harvard's estimated average financial aid package is about $41,000 for the upcoming year, reducing the average cost of a Harvard education to $11,500 for students on financial aid.
Still can't afford it. Think you could slice a little more off that endowment?
