So if we admit Harvard is an elitist institution (and something like 50% of students receive no financial aid, meaning their family incomes exceed $200K, which is 1% territory), then there is even less reason for them to escape paying their fair share on the grounds that they are serving a public need.
As for not finding enough low income kids who can qualify, give me a break. Harvard has only 5500 or so undergraduates. You are telling me they can’t find 1000 or 1500 kids out of the whole country who are Pell eligible? They already have between 10% and 16% Pell-eligible students (depending on where you read), who graduate at the same rate as everyone else. Or find another 2000 from middle income homes? I am not buying it. It’s purely a matter of Harvard wanting to find these kids. It’s not that hard.
Harvard received $1.2 Billion in donations last year. This is new revenue coming in… $30 or $40 million to pay for their fair share of local services like roads, fire and police protection, mass transit, schools, etc., is barely a rounding error for them. But they don’t pay because they don’t legally have to.
(Why anyone donates to Harvard is a mystery to me. Unless your donation reaches 9 figures it has virtually no impact on Harvard at all. Donate your money somewhere where it will actually make a difference.)