A private R1 research university in Cambridge, admitting 3.65% of applicants with median graduate earnings of $101,817.
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Harvard University is a private R1 research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, founded in 1636 as the oldest institution of higher education in the United States. It enrolls 7,601 undergraduates and 21,415 graduate students across faculties including Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the graduate professional schools. Social sciences account for 30% of bachelor's degrees awarded, followed by biological sciences at 12% and computer science at 10%. Harvard holds a Doctoral University: Very High Research Activity (R1) Carnegie classification and is accredited through the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE).
Official website: harvard.edu
UCD scores every college on four pillars: Outcomes, Value, Affordability, and Selectivity. Within peer group A (four-year selective institutions), Harvard scores 88.83 overall, rated Strong. Outcomes (99.07) and Selectivity (99.66) are near-perfect, reflecting a 97.6% graduation rate and earnings that rank among the highest in the country. Affordability scores 33.25, reflecting the gap between Harvard's very low average net price ($19,066) and its $89,000 sticker price: families who do not apply for aid face the full cost. All scores use verified federal data only.
Harvard is the most selective major research university in the United States, admitting 3.65% of applicants. The middle 50% of enrolled students scores between 34 and 36 on the ACT and averages 1,553 on the SAT. Harvard requires test scores from all applicants. No fixed formula governs admissions: grades, essays, letters of recommendation, and extracurricular depth all factor into decisions alongside scores. A non-binding restricted early action option is available with a November 1 deadline. Applicants from under-resourced high schools are evaluated in the context of their available opportunities.
Acceptance rate over the last five admission cycles. The trend tells you whether Harvard University is getting harder, easier, or staying about the same.
Harvard's sticker price is $61,676 in tuition plus $21,190 in room and board, bringing the full cost of attendance to approximately $89,000 before aid. In practice, most Harvard students pay far less. Starting in 2025-26, families earning under $100,000 per year pay nothing: tuition, room, board, health insurance, and travel are fully covered. Families earning under $200,000 pay no tuition. The average net price across all students is $19,066. For families earning above $110,000, the net price is $53,337.
Published cost of attendance, the sticker price before grants and scholarships. Most students underestimate room & board and other expenses.
Application fee: $85 (one-time, due at submission)
Aid is need-based, so net price varies by family income. Here's what each bracket typically pays after grants and scholarships.
Cumulative federal-loan debt across the full borrowing distribution. The 10th and 90th percentiles bracket the typical range; the median sits in the middle.
Median federal-loan debt at graduation broken down by demographic. Each slice's size is proportional to the dollar amount that group typically borrows.
Harvard graduates nearly all of the students it enrolls. The six-year graduation rate is 97.6%, and the four-year rate is 77.4%. First-year retention stands at 98.5%, among the highest of any four-year institution in the country. These figures apply to full-time, first-time bachelor's-seeking students. The high completion rates reflect both the selectivity of the admissions process and the breadth of academic and financial support available to enrolled students.
Harvard graduates earn at the top of the national distribution. Median earnings are $99,572 six years after first enrolling and $101,817 at ten years. At the ten-year mark, 91.0% of former students earn more than a typical high school graduate. Only 4.4% of enrolled students take federal loans, one of the lowest rates among major research universities. Median debt at graduation is $14,000, well below the national average for selective private universities. Earnings vary by major and career path; social sciences, computer science, and pre-professional tracks drive the institutional median.
Median annual earnings 6, 8, and 10 years after students first enrolled.
Mean annual earnings 10 years after entry, segmented by demographic. Reveals gaps the headline median can't show.
Median earnings for female grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Median earnings for male grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Earnings of grads from the bottom-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the middle-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the top-third of family incomes at entry.
Share of completer-cohort borrowers paying down at least $1 of principal at the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 7-year mark. Climbing rates show graduates settling into careers and managing debt; flat or declining rates are a warning.
Harvard enrolls 7,601 undergraduates from a broad range of backgrounds for a highly selective institution. White students account for 31% of undergraduates; Asian students 22.4%, Hispanic 11.9%, and Black 8.9%. Sixteen percent of undergraduates receive Pell grants, and 25.7% are first-generation college students, a notably high share for a university with a 3.65% admit rate. Only 4.4% of students take federal loans, reflecting the strength of Harvard's grant-based aid program. Part-time enrollment accounts for 6.4% of the student body.
Undergraduate student body composition reported to the US Department of Education.
Where students live, learn, and connect at Harvard University. The campus setting, housing profile, and signals that shape day-to-day life here.
Harvard University offers an extensive catalog of programs: 209 distinct programs across 27 majors. Below are its strongest majors, each with flagship programs and typical earnings. Open a major to explore it in depth, or browse the full program catalog.
Harvard operates at a 7:1 student-to-faculty ratio, one of the lowest among major research universities. 86.8% of instruction is delivered by full-time faculty. Instructional spending per full-time equivalent student is $51,780 per year. The endowment stands at $53.2 billion, the largest of any university in the world. Class sizes range from large introductory lectures to small seminars; seminars and tutorials are a defining feature of the Harvard undergraduate experience.
2,117 instructional faculty across 5 ranks. The rank mix shows how many senior faculty are teaching versus contingent or junior staff, with average salary equated to a 9-month contract.
| Rank | Faculty Count | Share | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Professors | 1,180 | 56% | $275,986 |
| Associate Professors | 173 | 8% | $173,985 |
| Assistant Professors | 271 | 13% | $155,862 |
| Instructors | 186 | 9% | $81,991 |
| Lecturers | 307 | 15% | $121,115 |
Harvard's strongest data points are its Outcomes (99.07), Selectivity (99.66), and Value (92.55) scores, reflecting near-perfect graduation rates, the highest earnings in the national dataset, and a financial aid program that makes attendance effectively free for most middle-income families. The weakness is Affordability (33.25): the sticker price exceeds $89,000 per year, and families earning above $110,000 pay an average of $53,337 net. Best fit for students at any income level who apply for financial aid; the sticker price is largely irrelevant to admitted students who complete the aid process.
The questions below address what students and families most commonly search about Harvard: how competitive admissions are, how financial aid actually works, and what graduates earn. Harvard's aid program is frequently misunderstood; several of the most important facts about attending Harvard center on cost, not admissions. Each answer leads with the key number, then the context.
One federal dataset, 3,839 colleges. The median school costs $16,371 a year, admits 78% of applicants, and enrolls 1,259 students. The shape of US higher ed.
Across 1,645 four-year colleges, graduation rates climb steadily with selectivity, from 54% at open-admission schools to 93% at the most exclusive. The gap is real.
For-profit colleges post the highest median net price of any sector and the lowest graduate earnings. They cost more than private nonprofits and pay less than publics.
Browse our full directory: every college, major, program, and career we track, all built from verified government data.
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