Harvard University announced earlier this month a startling move to alleviate the sometimes back-breaking burden many low-income families experience when they attempt to send their children to school.

When the numbers are broken down even further, the results are eye-opening.

Harvard expects to have families with incomes in the $40,000 to $60,000 range pay only $2,250 of the school's $26,066 tuition bill. Meanwhile, families below the $40,000 income line will not have to pay a single cent.

Penn State would never -- and could never -- undertake such an enormous financial burden. But, the university can take this model and learn some valuable lessons. Granted, the differences between Harvard and Penn State are indeed vast. One is an Ivy League school, the other is state-related. But Harvard has a good idea here and is making an outright commitment to make a quality education affordable for low-income families.

Low income students add to the diversity of an academic institution. There are smart students out there who deserve opportunities just as much as upper- or middle-class students. These are not just potential Harvard students, but also potential Penn Staters.

Penn State tends to place the tuition blame on the state for not giving enough appropriations. But if state funding continues to drop, this school could become a private university with more control over its tuition.

The university just started another round of touting its massive alumni donor base. Where is that money going? Prospective students should be seeing more scholarship and aid information, not more buildings and construction, when they visit campus.

Harvard's latest tuition break is another way the school is attracting bright and talented students. No, this is not Harvard. But Penn State could take a few pointers on how to recruit based on an open policy on financial aid.

Making monetary information more readily available to applicants and to current students could attract more people from low-income areas. As college becomes less and less affordable even for middle-class families, comprehensive aid programs benefit the student body and in turn, their families -- the extended Penn State family.