In-state tuition. For decades, it was the one advantage big state schools had that even the Ivy League couldn't match, in terms of recruiting the best and the brightest to their campuses. But these days, that's no longer necessarily the case. Starting this September, some students will find a Harvard degree cheaper than one from many public universities. Harvard officials sent shock waves through academia last December by detailing a new financial-aid policy that will charge families making up to $180,000 just 10% of their household income per year, substantially subsidizing the annual cost of more than $45,600 for all but its wealthiest students. The move was just the latest in what has amounted to a financial-aid bidding war in recent years among the U.S.'s élite universities.

数十年来，州内学费是大型州立学校得天独厚的优势，连常春藤联盟都无法匹敌，因为这能为学校招来最优秀、最聪明的学生。但是如今，情况却未必如此。从今年九月起，一些学生会发现读一个哈佛大学的学位比许多公立大学的还要便宜。去年十二月，哈佛官员详细阐述了一项新的财政资助政策，对于年收入不高于180000美元的家庭，只收取其中的10%作为学费。绝大多数学生的家庭经济条件一般，本来每年要缴纳45600多美元的学费，对他们而言，这可谓一份厚礼，整个学术界为之震动。近年来，美国的精英大学纷纷出台财政资助政策，相互之间打得不可开交，哈佛大学的这一举措只是其中最新的一项。