Funding and financial aid

Admission to Harvard is "need-blind", which means that financial need is not  taken into account in the admission process. Harvard, like most colleges in the US, is more expensive than Uni in the UK, but for lower and middle income families, financial aid will often make the price affordable. Our goal in admissions and financial aid is clear: we want to bring the best possible people to Harvard, regardless of their ability to pay. We have a generous financial aid program which awards bursaries (not loans) based entirely on need and not merit, and takes into account all costs (tuition, fees, room, board, books, and travel).  International students have the same access to financial aid as United States citizens. Nearly 60% of students receive need-based scholarships.

You can rest assured that if you are admitted, there will be sufficient financial aid to allow you to attend for the full four year programme. We want to be sure that the best students, no matter what their economic background, are able to enrol at and graduate from Harvard. Click here for the Financial Aid Office web pages.

Comparing UK and US costs
Harvard tuition is more expensive than in the UK, as you can see from the graph below. If you were going to uni in the UK, you would be applying for loans to cover one of three basic options : fees and catered accommodation, fees and self-catered accommodation, or living at home or away from school. The Harvard "sticker price" looks high by contrast! But have a look at our second graph below...

At Harvard, you would be applying for outright grants to cover your costs, not loans. On a sliding scale, families will contribute a percentage of the annual family income (dependent also on typical financial asset profiles), so that even familiies earning an annual income of about £90,000 are only going to contribute roughly ten percent of their total income.