Harvard University

Harvard University is a private, nonprofit school in an urban setting in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard was founded in 1636 and now enrolls around 10,071 students a year, including 5,222 undergrads. Harvard provides on-campus housing for students. Most students live in off campus housing, and 90% of students spend their weekends on campus .

There are many ways for students to get involved at Harvard! Love music or performing? Join a campus band, sing in a chorus, or perform with one of Harvard's theater groups.

Interested in journalism or communications? Harvard students can write for the campus newspaper, host a radio show or be a producer for the student-run television channel.

There are no fraternities or sororities at Harvard, so it might be a good choice if you're not interested in Greek life.

Planning to play sports? Harvard has many options for athletes. See them all and learn more about life at Harvard on the Student Life page.

Learn more about life at Harvard on the Student Life page.

Mark your calendar! The deadline to apply regular decision to Harvard for Fall 2022 is January 1.Regular decision applicants for Fall 2022 should find out if they got admitted by April 1.

Is Harvard a Good School?

Different people have different ideas about what makes a "good" school. Admissions difficulty and admitted student statistics can give you a sense of how selective a school is, but they don't tell you how happy or successful students are. There are a few statistics that can give you a good idea of how satisfied students are and how well a school supports its students.

Let's take a look at to get a clearer sense of what Harvard offers and if it might be a good fit for you.

Harvard Acceptance Rate 2021

It is extremely difficult to get into Harvard. The acceptance rate at Harvard is 5%. In 2021, just 2,015 out of the 40,248 students who applied were accepted.

Retention and Graduation Rates at Harvard

Retention is the number of students that stay enrolled at a school over time. This is a way to get a sense of how satisfied students are with their school experience, and if they have the support necessary to succeed in college.

About 75% of students who start at Harvard return for their second year of college. Around 98% of students who started at Harvard earn their Bachelor's degrees within six years. Compare this to the average six-year graduation rate for colleges and universities in the U.S., which is around 61% for public schools and 67% for private.

Job Outcomes for Harvard Grads

Job placement rates after graduation and average starting salaries can all give important clues about the value of a degree from a specific school.

Harvard's Endowment

An endowment is the total value of a school's investments, donations, and assets. Endowment is not necessarily an indicator of the quality of a school, but it can give you a sense of how much money a college can afford to invest in expanding programs, improving facilities, and support students. As of 2021, the total market value of the school endowment was $41.9 billion. The average college endowment was $905 million in 2021.

Tuition and Financial Aid at Harvard

Cost is another important factor when choose a college. Some colleges may have high tuition, but do a better job at meeting students' financial need. Harvard meets 100% of the demonstrated financial need for undergraduates. The average financial aid package for a full-time, first-year student is around $62,338 a year.

Students in the class of 2021 who had taken out student loans graduated with an average of $18,197 of debt. For context, compare this number with the average national debt, which is around $36,000 per borrower.

The 2022-2023 FAFSA Opened on October 1st, 2021

Some aid is available on a first-come, first-served basis, so fill out the FAFSA as soon as you can. Visit the FAFSA website to apply for student aid. Remember, the first F in FAFSA stands for FREE! You should never have to pay to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), so be very wary of anyone asking you for money.

Learn more about Tuition and Financial Aid at Harvard. Based on this information, how does Harvard sound? Remember, a school that is perfect for one person may be a terrible fit for another! So ask yourself: Is Harvard a good school for you?

If Harvard University seems like a school you want to apply to, click the heart button to save it to your college list.

Still Doing Your Research?

Choose one of the options below to learn more about Harvard:

Admissions

Student Life

Academics

Tuition & Aid

Harvard Community Forums

Then use the college admissions predictor to calculate your chances of getting admitted to some of the best schools in the U.S.

Where is Harvard?

Harvard is located in the urban setting of Cambridge, Massachusetts, less than an hour from Boston.

If you want to see Harvard for yourself, plan a visit. The best way to reach campus is to take Interstate 90 to Cambridge, or book a flight to the nearest airport, Logan International.

You can also take a virtual campus tour to get a sense of what Harvard and Cambridge are like without leaving home.

Considering Colleges in Massachusetts?

See a full list of colleges in Massachusetts and save your favorites to your college list.