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Harvard at a Glance

Harvard at a Glance

Established

1636

Faculty

About 2,100 faculty members and more than 10,000 academic appointments in affiliated teaching hospitals

Students

Harvard College – About 6,700
Graduate and professional students – About 14,500
Total – About 21,000

School Color

Crimson Specs

Living Alumni

More than 323,000, over 271,000 in the U.S., nearly 52,000 in some 201 other countries. See the alumni website for more information.

Nobel Laureates

44 current and former faculty members

Motto

Veritas (Latin for “truth”)

Real Estate Holdings

5,076 acres

Library Collection

About 17 million volumes

Faculties, Schools, and an Institute

Harvard University is made up of 11 principal academic units – ten faculties and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. The ten faculties oversee schools and divisions that offer courses and award academic degrees.

UNDERGRADUATE COST AND FINANCIAL AID

Families with students on scholarship pay an average of $11,500 annually toward the cost of a Harvard education. More than 60 percent of Harvard College students receive scholarship aid, and the average grant this year is $40,000.  

Since 2007, Harvard’s investment in financial aid has climbed by more than 70 percent, from $96.6 million to $166 million per year.

During the 2012-2013 academic year, students from families with incomes below $65,000, and with assets typical for that income level, will generally pay nothing toward the cost of attending Harvard College.  Families with incomes between $65,000 and $150,000 will contribute from 0 to 10 percent of income, depending on individual circumstances.  Significant financial aid also is available for families above those income ranges.

Harvard College launched a “net price calculator” into which applicants and their families can enter their financial data to estimate the net price they will be expected to pay for a year at Harvard.  Please use the calculator to estimate the net cost of attendance.

The total 2011-2012 cost of attending Harvard College without financial aid is $36,305 for tuition and $52,652 for tuition, room, board and fees combined.

University Professors

23 'individuals of distinction'

Harvard University President

President Drew Gilpin Faust This photograph is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license by Harvard University.
 Drew Gilpin Faust

University Income (Fiscal Year 2010)

$3.7 billion

University Expenses (Fiscal Year 2010)

$3.7 billion

Endowment (Fiscal Year 2011)

$32 billion

Harvard University Shields

Harvard Shield
Harvard Shield Wreath

Naming

The name Harvard comes from the college’s first benefactor, the young minister John Harvard of Charlestown. Upon his death in 1638, he left his library and half his estate to the institution established in 1636 by vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

More Information

These numbers come from many sources, including the Harvard University Fact Book and the Annual Financial Report to the Board of Overseers of Harvard College.

  1. Crime-fighting platform wins President’s Challenge
  2. Hansjörg Wyss doubles his gift
  3. Her wheels are always turning
  4. Harvard yield hits 82 percent
  5. Cultivating community in Shanghai
  6. New masters for Pforzheimer House
  1. Challenging ‘eureka’ with rigor
  2. Making old hearts younger
  3. Hansjörg Wyss doubles his gift
  4. New study finds 45,000 deaths annually linked to lack of health coverage
  5. Harvard serves up its own ‘Plate’
  6. Crime-fighting platform wins President’s Challenge
American Repertory Theater
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Connect with Harvard via:

Twitter

  • About 31 Minutes Ago from @HarvardAlumni

    The Harvard Jewish Alumni Network’s Hillel Reunions Shabbat Dinner is on 5/31 http://ow.ly/l1vKK

  • About 1 Hour Ago from @HarvardAlumni

    "Careers [are] not a ladder, they're a jungle gym." @sherylsandberg AB'91, MBA'95 http://ow.ly/lmLjY #gradvice

  • About 1 Hour Ago from @Harvard

    Broad diversity continues to characterize the Latino Leadership Initiative at the @Kennedy_School http://hvrd.me/10gKaCr

  • About 2 Hours Ago from @HarvardAlumni

    Attend Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs' reception in Maxwell Dworkin on 6/1 http://ow.ly/l1wks

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    RT @greenharvard: RT @theSolecan: Be persistent and do what you love #Harvard13! #gradvice Jeff Helfrich '03

  • About 3 Hours Ago from @Harvard

    Harvard's daguerreotypes include some of the earliest successful photographs of the moon http://hvrd.me/18I0kaZ

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    Meet @dckogan AB’88 at a book signing with Alumnae/I Network for Harvard Women on 6/1 http://ow.ly/l1wTV

  • About 5 Hours Ago from @HarvardResearch

    What motivates researchers to spend their lives pursuing answers to difficult questions? [videos] http://hvrd.me/10toRdv

  • About 5 Hours Ago from @HarvardCommence

    Congratulations to the 2013 Harvard Medalists who will receive their medals during #Harvard13 Commencement http://hvrd.me/12Bkpe0

Facebook

  • About 8 Hours Ago from Harvard

    Get in the Commencement spirit and download a themed Facebook cover photo - http://hvrd. Read more…

  • May 24, 2013 from Harvard

    A magnetar, an exotic object in our galaxy, is a type of neutron star that has a relatively slow spin rate and generates occasional large Read more…

  • May 23, 2013 from Harvard

    Three Harvard College seniors will graduate from the University this spring with more than a college diploma; each will also carry the Read more…

  • May 22, 2013 from Harvard

    Behind the success of each graduate stand the spectators. This photo journal shows how they celebrate Commencement Day. http://hvrd. Read more…

  • May 21, 2013 from Harvard

    Reading a text message while driving is equivalent to driving blindfolded the length of a football field at 55 mph. Read more…

  • May 20, 2013 from Harvard

    For students like Morgan Lehmann '12, financial aid helped make the dream of attending Harvard a reality. Video: http://hvrd.me/10ALawH Read more…

  • May 19, 2013 from Harvard

    Professor Anne Harrington ’82 and her husband John Durant talk about raising their son in Pforzheimer House and their future as House Read more…

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