The Report Card—An Addendum It occurs to me that I've been unfair to Larry Summers in one way; I neglected to give him credit for his efforts to promote financial aid for Harvard students, both undergraduate and graduate.

So...allow me.

Financial Aid: A
Raising the subject of class disparities and access to higher education may well be Larry Summers' finest achievement to date. It's an important subject, he's well-positioned to talk about it, and he's done more than talk: Summers' decision to make Harvard free for families making less than $40,000 was smart and progressive. It also put pressure on other universities, and some, such as Yale, have now followed Summers' lead. Summers has also pushed to expand financial aid for graduate students, a far less sexy topic, but one that's very important; as an ex-grad student myself, I can vouch for that.
On the subject of access to higher education, then, Larry Summers has been an effective and important spokesperson, and he's made good use of the Harvard bully pulpit.  ¶ 3:24 PM