The world-renowned Harvard University, USA, has announced a scheme under which bright students from a poor background can attend the school on scholarship. Those who qualify are students whose families earn less than $60,000 (about N9 million) a year.

A statement on Harvard’s website said:

Harvard College has provided assistance to students who need help in meeting their education expenses for over 350 years, enabling us to seek out the most outstanding scholars in the world and open our doors to students of exceptional ability and promise, regardless of their financial circumstances. Over 60% of undergraduates will receive an estimated $172 million in need-based Harvard Scholarship aid in 2012-13. Just in the past five years we have increased our financial aid by over 70 percent, enhancing our program to ensure the affordability of a Harvard education even in these challenging economic times. We understand that the thought of financing four years of college can be a daunting prospect for anyone, and we are eager to help you and your family understand our financial aid programs and assist you in finding ways to meet your college costs.

All of our financial aid is awarded on the basis of demonstrated financial need – there are no academic, athletic or merit-based awards, and we meet the demonstrated need of every student, including international students, for all four years. We invite you to explore our web site for a detailed description of all aspects of our aid program, including our Harvard Financial Aid Initiative for low and moderate income students, under which families with incomes currently below $60,000 are not expected to contribute to college costs. Beginning in the fall of 2012, financial aid will be further expanded for low income students, when this income level will be increased to $65,000.

We do not consider home equity or retirement accounts as resources in our determination of a family contribution, and aid packages do not include any loans. A typical student may receive over $150,000 in Harvard scholarship assistance over four years and the majority of students receiving scholarship are able to graduate debt-free. Our program continues to be generous for students across the economic spectrum, with more than two thirds of those receiving scholarship assistance coming from families with incomes greater than $60,000.

We invite prospective students and their families to complete our Net Price Calculator to receive an individual estimate of their scholarship eligibility and cost of attendance at Harvard. We look forward to working with you.