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.

　　Though Harvard's is the most generous to date, Princeton, Yale and Stanford have all launched similar plans to cap tuition contributions for students from low- and middle-income families. Indeed, students on financial aid at nearly every Ivy stand a good chance of graduating debt-free, thanks to loan-elimination programs introduced over the past five years. And other exclusive schools have followed their lead by replacing loans with grants and work-study aid. And several more schools are joining the no-loan club this fall. Even more schools have taken steps to reduce debt among their neediest students.

　　【參考譯文】

　　數(shù)十年來，州內(nèi)學(xué)費(fèi)是大型州立學(xué)校得天獨(dú)厚的優(yōu)勢，連常春藤聯(lián)盟都無法匹敵，因為這能為學(xué)校招來最優(yōu)秀、最聰明的學(xué)生。但是如今，情況卻未必如此。從今年九月起，一些學(xué)生會發(fā)現(xiàn)讀一個哈佛大學(xué)的學(xué)位比許多公立大學(xué)的還要便宜。去年十二月，哈佛官員詳細(xì)闡述了一項新的財政資助政策，對于年收入不高于180000美元的家庭，只收取其中的10%作為學(xué)費(fèi)。絕大多數(shù)學(xué)生的家庭經(jīng)濟(jì)條件一般，本來每年要繳納45600多美元的學(xué)費(fèi)，對他們而言，這可謂一份厚禮，整個學(xué)術(shù)界為之震動。近年來，美國的精英大學(xué)紛紛出臺財政資助政策，相互之間打得不可開交，哈佛大學(xué)的這一舉措只是其中最新的一項。

　　盡管哈佛開出的條件是迄今最優(yōu)厚的，普林斯頓、耶魯和斯坦福都出臺了類似的計劃，來降低中低收入家庭的學(xué)生所需支付的學(xué)費(fèi)。而且，由于過去五年里采用的免貸款計劃，如今幾乎每一所常春藤盟校里接受資助的學(xué)生都很可能無債一身輕地畢業(yè)。其它收費(fèi)昂貴的學(xué)校紛紛效仿，取消了貸款，發(fā)放助學(xué)金和勤工儉學(xué)補(bǔ)助。今年秋天，還有幾所學(xué)校會加入這個“無貸款俱樂部”。更多的學(xué)校都已采取措施，為最需要資助的學(xué)生減少債務(wù)。