I am honored to be here today, (1) Harvard at this celebration of the College Board’s half century of working to promote (2) and

I am honored to be here today, representing Harvard at this celebration of the College Board’s half century of working to promote high standards and equal opportunity in higher education.
    Before I say anything else, I want to thank everyone in the room for the work you do every day to make college affordable, available and successful for millions of young people across the country.
    I want to focus my remarks on a matter of central concern to American families and to the future of the nation -- restoring education to its proper role as a pathway to equal opportunity and excellence in our society.
    This has been an enduring theme in higher education, with great and creative efforts made by many institutions. Earlier this year, we announced a new initiative at Harvard aimed at the students from families of low and moderate income. Under our new program, families with incomes of less than $ 40,000 will no longer be expected to contribute to the cost of attending Harvard for their children. Families with incomes of less than $ 60,000 will also see their contributions reduced.
    We are proud of this effort at Harvard, but we are aware that the programs of individual institutions with means can never be a substitute for our shared public responsibility to provide adequate funding for Pell grants and other financial aid, and for the state and community college systems that make higher education accessible and affordable for the broad public.
    There is something empty about undertaking initiatives that may be right for one institution without attention to their broader impact.  Likewise, we fall short if we urge changes in national policy without doing what we can on our own campuses.
    In this spirit, I want to address today a problem that is emerging with increasing urgency in this nation.