We don’t expect to be a Harvard.

In the wake of the University’s new financial aid plan last week, and Cornell University’s plan days later, it’s become clear that the kind of aid large institutions with infinite endowments can give isn’t feasible at a small, tuition-driven college like Ithaca.

But we also shouldn’t use our inability to meet Ivy standards as an excuse to keep financial aid offerings at current levels. The cost of college education has risen significantly during recent decades and will only continue to do so.

Competing aid programs will soon make the cost to attend this college feasible only for those from middle- or upper-class families. The consequence is an elimination of differing socioeconomic profiles, a kind of diversity often overlooked in the college’s rhetoric.

Racial and ethnic perspectives, while significant, are not the only insights that cultivate the exchange of ideas on campus. Priorities, values and experiences learned at home also play a crucial role in developing diverse perspectives vital to intellectual development. Economic statuses play an important role in shaping these.

The college’s Capital Campaign set a goal of $30 million to endow and enhance scholarships,  which represents nearly 35 percent of the campaign’s goal. Though almost as much is going to one-time investments like the School of Business and A&E Center, it is not enough to affect as many students as it should.

We don’t expect immediate solutions to a problem facing higher education across the country. But what we should expect is for the college to re-examine its model to stay competitive in light of recent changes.