Harvard junior aims high with lift from financial aid
Part of a series on the impact of Harvard financial aid on students. Growing up in the tribal districts of Madhya Pradesh, India, Varsha Varman heard it all. Girls don’t play sports. They don’t dream of studying law, or imagine careers in politics. And attending a university like Harvard is little more than a fantasy. Luckily, Varman didn’t listen. The economics concentrator is nearing the end of her junior year, with a spot on the women’s varsity crew team and an eye on law school. One of the keys to making that possible, she said, is financial aid. More than half of Harvard undergrads receive financial aid, and the majority of students pay only 10 percent of annual family income, an average of $12,000 a year. Students whose family incomes are below $65,000 pay nothing. “I had known about Harvard’s financial aid before I applied, but it would be impossible to [be here] without it,”...