One year, including living costs, at Harvard will cost an estimated $80,263
The tuition fees for a year at Harvard cost $57,261
Housing & Food costs are estimated to be $19,502
Books & Personal Expenses are expected to be $3,500
While transport costs are expected to be $0 for a student living on campus
This puts the tuition fees for a 4-year degree at an estimated $229,044
And the total cost of a 4-year degree including living costs at $321,052
Paying for Harvard
The average parent contribution towards a Harvard degree is $13,000 per year
Although more than 22% of families pay nothing toward their child’s education
Harvard claims to meet 100% of their students’ financial needs — meaning if a student can demonstrate they cannot pay anything towards their degree then 100% of the costs will be covered
But this also means that students from wealthier families will be expected to pay more out of pocket toward their education
A family where both parents earn the median wage, the parents are expected to contribute $12,550 toward the price of college
The student is expected to contribute a further $3,500 through student-term work
This equates to working around 6 hrs per week during term time at Massachusetts state minimum wage without taking taxes into account
With the family contributing a combined $16,050 towards costs, the remaining $65,113 will be covered by Harvard
A large number of Harvard students will graduate without student debt or with manageable debt
The typical federal student loan debt for a student that graduates from Harvard is $12,665
This is significantly lower than the national average student loan debt upon graduation of $30,000
History of financial aid at Harvard
In 1643, Lady Mowlson of London left money to Harvard in her will to be used to aid students at Harvard
Since then, it has become common or even a tradition for people to donate money to Harvard in this way to support students
In 1934, Harvard President James B. Conant created the National Scholarship Plan
This helped many more people into higher education across the country than otherwise would have been able to attend and increased the diversity of the undergraduate pool
Families with a combined income below $75,000 pay nothing towards the cost of a Harvard education
