Middle-class students of America, Harvard University wants you to forget about the annual cost of studying in Cambridge, Mass.: $45,620.

This morning, Harvard officials announced that they will ask families who make between $120,000 and $180,000 to pay 10 percent of their annual incomes. Under the current policy, families making $120,000 per year pay about $19,000.

Starting in the 2008-9 academic year, families with incomes below $120,000 will pay 10 percent or less, with family contributions declining to zero for parents making $60,000 or below.

Harvard also announced that it would eliminate loans from financial-aid packages, and that it would no longer consider home equity in calculating a family’s ability to pay.

Officials at the university said they would increase their spending on aid to about $120-million from $98-million annually. —Eric Hoover