就读常春藤

就读常春藤 　　Some helpful subsidies from Harvard and Yale 　　哈佛和耶鲁提供的一些助学金 　　WEAK dollar or no, $46,000—the price for a single year of undergraduate instruction amid the red brick of Harvard Yard—is expensive. But nowadays cost is no barrier to entry at many of America's best universities. Formidable financial-assistance policies have eliminated fees or slashed them deeply for needy students. And last month Harvard announced a new plan designed to relieve the sticker-shock for undergraduates from middle and even upper-income families too. 　　不管美元是否疲软， 一年要投进哈佛红墙大院4万6千美元都是够呛的高费。 不过, 如今学费不再是许多美国顶尖大学的高门槛了。 大学强力推行的助学金政策已经帮助需求的学生全部或大部分地减免了读书费用。 去年12月份, 哈佛公布了一项新[1], 使得中产甚至中产以上家庭收入的本科生也能从"高费标价"之下松口气。 　　Since then, other rich American universities have unveiled similar initiatives. Yale, Harvard's bitterest rival, revealed its plans on January 14th. Students whose families make less than $60,000 a year will pay nothing at all. Families earning up to $200,000 a year will have to pay an average of 10% of their incomes. The university will expand its financial-assistance budget by 43%, to over $80m. 　　紧跟其后，另一些富足的美国大学也积极作出类似行动。耶鲁这个最是苦苦相追哈佛的竞争对手，于今年1月14日推出了自己的。在该计划中，凡家庭年收入 低于6万美元的学生将学费全免;年收入达20万的家庭只须支付平均收入的10%。耶鲁打算增加43%助学金预算, 总额超过8千万美元。 　　Harvard will have a similar arrangement for families making up to $180,000. That makes the price of going to Harvard or Yale comparable to attending a state-run university for middle- and upper-income students. The universities will also not require any student to take out loans to pay for their tuition, a policy introduced by Princeton in 2001 and by the University of Pennsylvania just after Harvard's announcement. No applicant who gains admission, officials say, should feel pressured to go elsewhere because he or she can't afford the fees. 　　哈佛的计划相似，即减免家庭收入在18万之内的学生学费。对中产或以上家庭收入的学生来说，减免之后，就读哈佛或耶鲁与就读一所州立大学的学费便所差无 多。 这些大学也不会学生贷款付债。该项计划在2001年先由普林斯顿大学提出。现在宾夕法尼亚大学则在哈佛之后也宣布了同招。它们招生办的负责人说，入招 的学生不该因为付不起学费的压力而被迫往它处。 　　None of that is quite as altruistic as it sounds. Harvard and Yale are, after all, now likely to lure more students away from previously cheaper options, particularly state-run universities, enhancing their already impressive admissions figures and reputations. 　　当然，此等好事并非真如歌声一般动听。哈佛和耶鲁的最终目的或许不外是为了吸引更多学生，把他们从原先选择低费学校，如对州立大学的考虑中争取过来，提升它们本来就令人羡慕的招生及声誉。 　　The schemes also provide a model for structuring university fees in which high prices for rich students help offset modest prices for poorer ones and families are less reliant on federal grants and government-backed loans. 　　这些方案同时为大学收费构设了一种模式，其中通过对富裕学生高收费来帮助补贴对较困难以及不够领取联邦津贴和政府贷款家庭的学生。 　　Less wealthy private colleges whose fees are high will not be able to copy Harvard or Yale easily. But America's state-run universities, which have traditionally kept their fees low and stable, might well try a differentiated pricing scheme as they raise cash to compete academically with their private counterparts. Indeed, the University of California system has already started to implement a sliding-fee scale. 　　收费同样高但家身却不太富裕的私立院校并不能轻轻松松地照抄哈佛或耶鲁。然而美国的州立大学一贯能保持他们学费稳定和低廉。它们可能会在筹集资金，与私立 对手进行学术竞争的同时，尝试一些不同的收费计划。 事实上，加州大学系统已经开始行施一种“滑动收费”的衡量。