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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. Harvard University: Year in Pictures 2012-2013
  2. Oprah Winfrey Commencement Speech
  3. Chasing the caffeine high
  4. Incoming HGSE dean on his passion for education
  5. New dean for HGSE
  6. Multitasking against obesity
  1. Oprah Winfrey Commencement Speech
  2. An idea that changed the world
  3. Text of J.K. Rowling’s speech
  4. Winfrey: Failure is just movement
  5. Food for thought
  6. The power of ‘thanks’
American Repertory Theater
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  • About 30 Minutes Ago from @GreenHarvard

    97% of the @radinstitute Fay House Renovation's construction and demolition debris was diverted from the landfill - http://hvrd.me/13Ogvkg

  • About 7 Hours Ago from @Harvard

    It's one thing to conduct good #science. It's another to get people to notice. http://hvrd.me/17hDw3U

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    It's Market Time! Get your lists ready for the Farmers' Market tomorrow on the Plaza from 12-6 pm http://hvrd.me/14eg4if

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    . @Harvard's #landscaping is 100% #organic. Learn more and help #green your own yard this summer w/ these tips - http://hvrd.me/13OuYwJ

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    . @Harvard poll finds Americans favor #cleaner #energy sources, especially close to home - http://hvrd.me/13OxfYL

  • About 10 Hours Ago from @HarvardAlumni

    Building boats (and rowing them on the Charles) gives students a chance to get back to basics http://ow.ly/m399R

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    Read the case study and overview of @radinstitute #LEED Gold renovation of the historic Fay House http://hvrd.me/19JzocT @Harvard_GBS

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    Historical study of how popular media impacts political polarization http://hvrd.me/13NsE95

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    Jack Viertel will discuss today’s American theater at @Harvardwood in NYC on 6/24 http://ow.ly/m0xnm

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  • About 13 Hours Ago from Harvard

    Congratulations to National Aeronautics and Space Administration - NASA 2013 Astronaut Candidate Class member Jessica U. Meir, Ph.D. Read more…

  • About 19 Hours Ago from Harvard

    As part of Professor Gonzalo Giribet’s Biology of Invertebrates class, students make closely observed, highly detailed sketches of Read more…

  • June 16, 2013 from Harvard

    James E. Ryan, who will become the new dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education this fall, discusses the importance of #education. Read more…

  • June 15, 2013 from Harvard

    These photo journals offer unique ways to look at Harvard, on campus and around the world - http://hvrd.me/Ngfg5S #photography Read more…

  • June 14, 2013 from Harvard

    A nebula 5,500 light-years from Earth is forming stars so rapidly that it is undergoing a “mini-starburst” - http://hvrd.me/14j014B Read more…

  • June 13, 2013 from Harvard

    In this video, Fanaye Yirga delivers the Latin Oration at the 2013 Harvard Commencement ceremony - http://hvrd.me/17RXAKh Read more…

  • June 12, 2013 from Harvard

    The year in pictures slideshow captures highlights and quiet moments during the 2012-13 academic year at Harvard. - http://hvrd.me/11X6m08 Read more…

  • June 12, 2013 from Harvard

    One Harvard: Becoming a whole that is greater than the sum of its thriving parts - http://hvrd.me/17RWuy3 Read more…

  • June 11, 2013 from Harvard

    Meet James E. Ryan, who will become the new dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education this fall - http://hvrd.me/11xTjDz Read more…

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