Harvard University Data & Information Overview
Get the facts about Harvard University. Learn how it ranks, what majors it offers, how diverse it is, and much more. All you need to do to learn more about a stat is click on its tile, and you'll be taken to another page that analyzes that data more closely. Also, you can use the links below to scroll to any section of this page.- Rankings
- Admission and Acceptance
- Faculty
- Retention and Graduation Rates
- Diversity
- Cost
- Student Debt
- Average Earnings
- Location
- Majors
- Online Learning
- Related Schools
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How Well Is Harvard University Ranked?

2021 Rankings
College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.
Harvard University was awarded 177 badges in the 2021 rankings. The highest ranked major at the school is ecology, evolution and systematics biology.
Overall Quality
According to College Factual's 2021 analysis, Harvard is ranked #3 out of 1,715 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 1% of all schools in the nation!
Harvard also holds the #1 spot on the Best Colleges in Massachusetts ranking.
See all of the rankings for Harvard University.
Is It Hard to Get Into Harvard?
Acceptance Rate
With an acceptance rate of 5%, Harvard is one of the most selective schools in the country. Good grades and high test scores alone may not be enough to get you into the school, so do your best to submit a stellar application.
Average Test Scores
About 67% of students accepted to Harvard submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 730 and 790. Math scores were between 730 and 800.
Learn more about Harvard University admissions.
Harvard University Faculty
Student to Faculty Ratio
At Harvard, the student to faculty ratio is an excellent 7 to 1. That's much better than the national average of 15 to 1. This indicates that many classes will probably be small, and students will have ample opportunites to work closely with their professors and classmates.
Percent of Full-Time Faculty
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at Harvard University is 86%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Retention and Graduation Rates at Harvard University
Freshmen Retention Rate
The freshmen retention rate of 98% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Harvard University enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That's certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
Graduation Rate
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor's degree is typically four years. This rate at Harvard for first-time, full-time students is 86%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Harvard University.
Excellent Overall Diversity at Harvard
During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 9,950 undergraduates at Harvard with 7,210 being full-time and 2,740 being part-time.
Harvard Diversity Score
College Factual computes an overall diversity score for each college and university that takes gender, ethnicity, geographic location, and age into account. Schools with the best mixtures of students with respect to these factors are ranked the highest, and those that cater to just one or two student groups are ranked the lowest.
With an overall score of 99.89 out of 100, Harvard is one of the most diverse schools in the nation.
Get more detailed information on diversity and student demographics at Harvard University.
How Much Does Harvard University Cost?
The overall average net price of Harvard is $15,561. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.Net Price by Income Group for Harvard
$0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
---|---|---|---|---|
$2,382 | $1,094 | $3,149 | $19,733 | $46,466 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.Note that the net price is typically less than the published for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Harvard, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Student Loan Debt
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Harvard, approximately 6% of students took out student loans averaging $6,430 a year. That adds up to $25,720 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Harvard is 0.8%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
Get more details about paying for Harvard University.
How Much Money Do Harvard Graduates Make?
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor's degree from Harvard make about $89,700 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is good news for future Harvard graduates since it is 125% more than the average college graduate's salary of $39,802 per year.
See which majors at Harvard University make the most money.
Location of Harvard University
Harvard University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life.Get more details about the location of Harvard University.

Contact details for Harvard are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | Massachusetts Hall, Cambridge, MA 02138 |
Phone: | 617-495-1000 |
Website: | www.harvard.edu |
Facebook: | http://facebook.com/harvard |
Twitter: | http://twitter.com/harvard |
Harvard University Majors
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 112 majors graduated from Harvard University. Of these students, 2,905 received undergraduate degrees and 6,498 graduated with a master's or doctor's degree. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.Most Popular Majors | Bachelor’s Degrees | Average Salary of Graduates |
---|---|---|
Economics | 334 | $78,800 |
Computer Science | 227 | $128,900 |
Political Science & Government | 196 | $51,800 |
History | 181 | $48,000 |
General Social Sciences | 178 | $52,000 |
Public Health | 107 | NA |
Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences | 104 | $48,200 |
Applied Mathematics | 103 | $80,500 |
Statistics | 97 | $126,100 |
Romance Languages | 89 | NA |
Online Learning at Harvard
Online learning options are becoming more and more popular at American colleges and universities. Online classes are great for students who have busy schedules or for those who just want to study on their own time.
In 2017-2018, 5,681 students took at least one online class at Harvard University. This is an increase from the 4,600 students who took online classes the previous year.
Year | Took at Least One Online Class | Took All Classes Online |
---|---|---|
2017-2018 | 5,681 | 4,087 |
2016-2017 | 4,600 | 3,244 |
2015-2016 | 3,885 | 2,698 |
2014-2015 | 3,081 | 2,032 |
2013-2014 | 2,197 | 1,415 |
Learn more about online learning at Harvard University.
Find Out More About Harvard University
Related Schools
If you’re considering Harvard University, here are some more schools you may be interested in knowing more about.
Curious on how these schools stack up against Harvard? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare college on the features that matter most to you!
Notes and References
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References
- National Center for Education Statistics
- College Scorecard
- Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
- Image Credit: By Elisa.rolle under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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