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#24
Harvard University: Ranking, Tuition Fees, Admissions and Graduate Salaries
Cambridge – Boston
About
Harvard University is ranked 5th in the world in the QS World University Rankings 2027 and admitted about 4.2% of applicants to its undergraduate Class of 2029 (2,003 out of 47,893). Founded in 1636 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Today, Harvard enrolls 24,317 undergraduate and graduate students across 15 schools, from Harvard College to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Undergraduate tuition is $62,226 for 2026-2027, and graduate tuition ranges from about $59,000 to $85,000 depending on the field. Harvard is also one of the few US universities with need-blind admissions for international students: a family’s ability to pay has no effect on the admissions decision.
What Is Harvard’s World Ranking in 2026-2027?
Harvard ranks 5th in the QS World University Rankings 2027 (published in June 2026), the same position as in the previous edition. Its overall score is 97.4 out of 100. Harvard ranks 1st in the world on four of the ten QS indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per faculty and employment outcomes. Its weakest indicators are the share of international students and international faculty, where it ranks well outside the global top 200.
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How Much Does Harvard Cost? Tuition Fees by Field (2026-2027)
Fees below are annual tuition for the 2026-2027 academic year, followed by the total estimated cost of attendance (tuition, fees, housing, food and personal expenses) when the school publishes it. All amounts are in US dollars.
- Arts, sciences and engineering: $59,048 to $67,504 in tuition. Undergraduates at Harvard College pay $62,226 in tuition, for a total cost of $95,134 to $100,134. Master’s programs at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) charge $59,048, and engineering and data science master’s degrees (SEAS) charge $67,504 for the first year.
- Business (MBA): $84,760 in tuition, for a total cost of $130,318 for a single student.
- Law (JD and LL.M.): $84,400 in tuition, for a total cost of $126,650 (JD) to at least $127,250 (LL.M.).
- Medicine (MD): $76,828 in tuition, for a total cost of $121,950 to $126,436 per year depending on the year and track.
- Public policy (Harvard Kennedy School master’s): $64,340 in tuition, or $72,106 to $81,903 including program fees.
At Harvard College, families earning under $100,000 a year are expected to contribute nothing, and families earning up to $200,000 have at least tuition covered. International students are eligible for exactly the same aid as American students.
How to Get Into Harvard: Admissions Overview
Harvard College received 47,893 applications for the Class of 2029 and admitted 2,003 students, an acceptance rate of about 4.2%. International students made up 16% of the enrolled class. Undergraduates apply through the Common App with five Harvard-specific short answers, and SAT or ACT scores are required. There are two rounds: Restrictive Early Action (deadline November 1, decision in mid-December) and Regular Decision (deadline January 1, decision at the end of March). The application fee is $95, with fee waivers available. At the graduate level, each school runs its own admissions process: Harvard Business School, for example, received 9,409 applications for an MBA class of 943, with a median GMAT Focus score of 685.
Want the full application strategy? Discover our complete guide to how to get into Harvard as an undergraduate and our guide to [how to get into a Harvard master’s program]
What Are the Best Programs at Harvard?
- Bachelor’s degree at Harvard College: a four-year liberal arts and sciences program with 51 concentrations (majors) and more than 3,700 courses. Every student takes general education courses in four categories, including Ethics & Civics and Science & Technology in Society.
- MBA at Harvard Business School: a two-year program taught largely through the case method. The Class of 2027 has 943 students, 37% international, from 62 countries.
- Master in Public Policy (MPP) at Harvard Kennedy School: a two-year program with a core curriculum in economics, policy design, negotiation and quantitative analysis, ending with a Policy Analysis Exercise written for a real client. Incoming students typically have two to three years of work experience.
- LL.M. at Harvard Law School: a one-year master of laws for lawyers trained outside the US, judges, diplomats and academics. The class typically includes about 180 students from some 65 countries.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Harvard’s main campus is in Cambridge, Massachusetts, just across the Charles River from Boston. Harvard College and most graduate schools are located there. Harvard Business School and part of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are in Allston, a Boston neighborhood facing Cambridge, while the medical, dental and public health schools are in Boston’s Longwood Medical Area.
Harvard hosts about 5,627 visa-sponsored international students, around 23% of total enrollment, from 144 countries. The share varies widely by school: international students make up 16% of the undergraduate Class of 2029 and 37% of the Harvard Business School MBA Class of 2027.
Yes. At Harvard College, international students are eligible for exactly the same need-based aid as American students, and admissions are need-blind for all applicants. Aid is based on family income: parents earning under $100,000 a year contribute nothing. Graduate schools each run their own financial aid and fellowship programs.
Yes. International graduates on an F-1 student visa can apply for 12 months of Optional Practical Training (OPT) to work in the US in their field of study. Graduates of eligible STEM degrees can extend it by another 24 months, for a total of 36 months. Applications are processed with the support of the Harvard International Office.