Getting into Harvard University got tougher this year as a record number of students applied¹ to the school's undergraduate program, many drawn² by attractive financial aid offers during the recession.

Harvard, the world's richest university, said Monday 29,112 students applied for a spot in the Class of 2013. Of those, just 7 percent were accepted, the lowest in the history of the school and down from 7.9 percent last year.

Many U.S. universities are seeing a surge in enrollment³ as the baby-boomer generation's kids graduate from high school. But unlike Ivy⁴ League peers Princeton, Yale and Stanford, Harvard has not significantly expanded the size of a freshman⁵ undergraduate class in more than two decades.

It has, however, rolled out a series of financial aid incentives⁶ in recent years.

The Class of 2013 will receive the most financial aid in Harvard history, with $147 million in scholarships alone. That is up 8 percent from last year.

Seventy percent of Harvard students receive some form of financial aid. The Harvard Financial Aid Initiative, which was announced in 2004, slashed⁷ the amount low-income students must pay to attend the oldest US institute of higher learning.

Under the program, students from families earning less than $60,000 a year do not have to contribute to the cost of tuition, which together with room and board, reaches $47,000 a year.

Those from families earning between $60,000 and $80,000 also pay far less than they would have in previously⁸.

About 25 percent of the Class of 2013 are eligible⁹ for the program.

Harvard also caps tuition at 10 percent of income from families earning up to $180,000.

The school said it would mail out acceptance letters on Tuesday. Nearly 18 percent of those accepted to the Class of 2013 are Asian, a record 10.9 percent are Latino and 10.8 percent are black.

今年想入读哈佛大学更加困难，因为今年申请哈佛大学本科学位的人数创新高，这主要是因为在经济衰退的大背景下，该校高额的奖学金对很多人而言是一个诱惑。

堪称世界最富有高等学府的哈佛大学于本周一称，申请2013届学生的数量达29112人，但录取率则从去年的7.9%降至7%，为哈佛建校史上最低水平。

随着“婴儿潮”一代的子女们高中毕业，美国多所大学招生人数激增。但与普林斯顿大学、耶鲁大学和斯坦福大学等其他“常青藤”盟校不同，哈佛大学在过去二十多年中未对本科生进行过大规模扩招。

但哈佛大学近年来出台了一系列的助学金奖励计划。

2013届新生将获得哈佛建校史上最高额度的助学金，仅奖学金就达1.47亿美元，比去年增加了8%。

70%的哈佛学生会得到某种形式的助学金。于2004年公布的“哈佛助学金计划”大规模削减了低收入家庭学生必须支付的费用。哈佛大学是美国历史最悠久的高等学府。

按照该计划，家庭年收入低于6万美元的学生不必交纳每年合计共4.7万美元的学费和食宿费用。

家庭年收入在6万至8万美元之间的学生交纳的费用较以往也大幅减少。

约25%的2013届新生有资格申请该助学计划。

哈佛大学还设定了学费上限，即家庭年收入不到18万美元的学生需缴纳的学费不超过其家庭总收入的10%。

哈佛大学称学校将于本周二寄出录取通知书。在被录取的2013届新生中，近18%是亚裔，10.9%为拉美裔，创历史纪录；10.8%是黑人。