City Town Info

Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University, established in 1636, is the United States’ oldest university for higher learning. This private university, founded by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, occupies 380 acres of land and offers enrollment to more than 10,000 students. The college has 9 faculties. They are (in order of foundation):

  • The Faculty of Arts and Sciences
  • The Faculty of Medicine
  • Harvard Divinity School
  • Harvard Law School
  • Harvard Business School
  • The Graduate School of Design
  • The Graduate School of Education
  • The School of Public Health
  • The John F. Kennedy School of Government

Harvard University's athletic teams are nicknamed Crimson. The sports teams of the university participate in swimming, basketball, tennis, football and various other athletics events. Noteworthy alumni of the university include former lawyer Francis Lee Bailey, horse racing expert Andrew Beyer, tennis player James Blake and inventor Edwin Land.

Overview of Harvard University

Cambridge, MA is home to Harvard. Cambridge is a medium-sized city. The school is a private, not-for-profit institution. Degrees at Harvard go up to the Doctoral degree.

Areas of Study

Students commonly pursue studies in law, science, medicine, mathematics, and family and social work.

Harvard Selectivity

Prospective students are advised that admissions are not open to all; the school selects from among qualified applicants. The school attracts a lot of applicants every year, and can only accept about 9% of them (as of 2007). Three quarters of students in 2007 had SAT verbal scores of at least 700. Half of math SAT scores of accepted students fell between 700 and 790. Since a large share of students are from out-of-state, you can assume the school has broad appeal.

Faculty

Harvard maintains a faculty/student ratio (full-time) which is better than most colleges. The school has a tenure system for senior faculty. The full-time faculty at Harvard is well-paid, which often goes with faculty quality.

Student Body

The school has 25,690 enrolled students (as of 2007).

Student Life

Full-time students are the norm at Harvard. The school has a residential or campus feel. Harvard offers dorm rooms to a higher percentage of its students than do most colleges. The school offers students meal plans. Harvard values student athletics, and belongs to the Ivy Group.

More complete details are provided below.

Contacting Harvard

Harvard University
Massachusetts Hall
Cambridge, MA 02138
General Phone: (617) 495-1000
http://www.harvard.edu/

Harvard Programs and Degrees (2007)

General CategoryDegreesMost Common Majors [see all]
Liberal Arts1,635liberal arts and humanities, economics, political science, history, English, social services, anthropology, sociology, ...
Business And Management984business, business management, managerial economics, organizational behavior
Law742law, advanced legal research
Medicine711public health, public health courses, medicine, advanced general dentistry, pre-med, dentistry, advanced dentistry
Science697physics, biochemistry, chemistry, biology, evolutionary biology, neurobiology, geology, genetics, ...
Education And Teaching664education, industrial arts teaching
Family And Social Work594public administration, public policy analysis
Architecture And Planning217architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture
Religion And Philosophy197theology, ministry, philosophy, religion, theology and religious vocations
Therapy And Counseling151psychology, social psychology
Mathematics137applied mathematics, mathematics, statistics
Engineering68engineering science
Computer Science And Engineering65computer science, computer and info science, computer services management
Art Studies53visual and performing arts, art studies
Music26music
Conservation And Resource Management24environmental studies, natural resources management, forest sciences
Fine Arts17art history and criticism
Media8media studies
Medical Administration2occupational health

Number of programs and degrees for Harvard in 2007:

Degree LevelTotal
Awarded
Number of
Programs
Master's degree3,35259
Bachelor's degree1,80247
First-professional degree8404
Doctor's degree68362
First-professional certificate1742
Postbaccalaureate certificate1137
Post-master's certificate191
Associate's degree91

Harvard Student Body

In 2007, Harvard had a total enrollment of 25,690 students (21,904 full-time equivalent).

Students in the Freshman Class:

GroupPercent
Men49%
Women51%
Full-Time100%
Part-Time0%

Students By Class:

GroupPercent
Undergraduate44%
Graduate48%
First Professional9%

Racial Diversity:
RacePercent
White49%
Black6%
Hispanic5%
Asian13%
American Indian1%
Unknown14%
(Foreign Students)12%

Students by Age:

AgePercent
Under 181%
18-1911%
20-2112%
22-2414%
25-2926%
30-349%
35-393%
40-492%
50-641%
65+0%

Harvard Graduation, Retention, and Transfers

Retention Rates (2007):

GroupReturning From
Previous Year
Full-Time96 %

Harvard Room and Board (2007)

Harvard offers campus housing for 12,809 of its 21,904 (full-time) students.

(Please refer to our profile of Cambridge, Massachusetts for details about the area surrounding the campus. Also see our list of other Massachusetts Colleges).

The school offers students a meal plan with 21 meals per week.

Harvard Admissions and Selectivity (2007)

Acceptances:

GroupApplicantsAcceptedPercent
Accepted
EnrolledPercent of
Accepted Enrolled
Total22,8682,0229%1,65982%
Men11,3491,0039%81982%
Women11,5191,0199%84082%

Standardized Test Scores:

Test25th Percentile75th Percetile
SAT Verbal700800
SAT Math700790
SAT Writing700790
ACT Verbal3235
ACT Math3035
ACT Composite3135

Application Requirements:

ItemRequirement
GPArecommended
Class Rankrecommended
High School Recordrequired
College Prep Programrecommended
Recommendationsrequired
Formal Demonstration of Competencenot required
Standardized Tests (SAT and/or ACT)required
Percent of Applicants Submitting SAT98%
Percent of Applicants Submitting ACT21%
TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)not required
Other Standardized Testsnot required

Harvard Expenses and Financial Aid (2007)

Expenses and Financial Aid:

ExpenseAmount
In-state tuition and fees$ 34,998
Out-of-state tuition and fees$ 34,998
Room and board$ 10,622
Room charge$ 5,856
Board (meal plan) charge$ 4,766
Books and supplies$ 1,000
Other expenses$ 1,930

Financial Aid:
Harvard participates in Federal Title IV financial aid programs. (The school's OPE ID is 215500)

Harvard Faculty

Harvard has a tenure system for faculty.

Tenure Status of Faculty (2007):

Full-Time Faculty LevelMenWomen
Tenured783178
Non-tenured, but on tenure track501244
Non-tenured and not on tenure track1,156683

Salaries for full-time faculty:

Full-Time Faculty (2007):

Full-Time Faculty LevelContract LengthNumber MenAvg Salary MenNumber WomenAvg Salary Women
Professoracademic year692$185,296188$170,868
Associate professoracademic year108$111,88859$95,134
Assistant professoracademic year164$98,324103$91,285
Instructoracademic year43$54,76069$53,202
Lectureracademic year70$102,08053$91,896
No academic rankacademic year25$62,09533$57,496
All faculty totalacademic year1,102$151,985505$114,014

*: salaries are not displayed where there are fewer than 3 professors in the category.

Harvard Athletics

Athletic Conferences:

SportConference
FootballIvy Group
BasketballIvy Group
BaseballIvy Group
TrackIvy Group

Harvard Degree Programs (2007)

ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING
Architecture (BArch, BA/BS, MArch, MA/MS, PhD)
City/Urban, Community and Regional Planning
Landscape Architecture (BS, BSLA, BLA, MSLA, MLA, PhD)

ART STUDIES
Art/Art Studies, General
Visual and Performing Arts, General

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT
Business Administration and Management, General
Business/Commerce, General
Business/Managerial Economics
Organizational Behavior Studies

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Computer Science
Computer and Information Sciences, General
Computer/Info Tech Services Administration & Management, Other

CONSERVATION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Studies
Forest Sciences and Biology
Natural Resources Management and Policy

EDUCATION AND TEACHING
Education, General
Technology Teacher Education/Industrial Arts Teacher Education

ENGINEERING
Engineering Science

FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK
Public Administration
Public Policy Analysis

FINE ARTS
Art History, Criticism and Conservation

LAW
Advanced Legal Research/Studies, Gen (LLM, MCL, MLI, MSL, JSD/SJD)
Law (LLB, JD)

LIBERAL ARTS
African-American/Black Studies
American History (United States)
Ancient/Classical Greek Language and Literature
Anthropology
Area Studies, Other
Asian History
Celtic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
Classical/Ancient Mediterranean/Near Eastern Studies & Archaeology
Classics/Classical Languages, Lit & Linguistics, General
Comparative Literature
East Asian Studies
Economics, General
English Language and Literature, General
English Language and Literature/Letters, Other
German Language and Literature
History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
History, General
History, Other
Latin Language and Literature
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities, Other
Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
Linguistics
Museology/Museum Studies
Near and Middle Eastern Studies
Political Science and Government, General
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, General
Sanskrit/Classical Indian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
Slavic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, General
Social Sciences, General
Sociology
Ural-Altaic and Central Asian Studies
Women's Studies

MATHEMATICS
Applied Mathematics
Mathematics, General
Statistics, General

MEDIA
Communication and Media Studies, Other

MEDICAL ADMINISTRATION
Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene

MEDICINE
Advanced General Dentistry (Cert, MS, PhD)
Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences, Other
Dentistry (DDS, DMD)
Medicine (MD)
Pre-Medicine/Pre-Medical Studies
Public Health, General (MPH, DPH)
Public Health, Other

MUSIC
Music, General

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY
Divinity/Ministry (BD, MDiv)
Philosophy
Religion/Religious Studies
Theology and Religious Vocations, Other
Theology/Theological Studies

SCIENCE
Astronomy
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Other
Atomic/Molecular Physics
Biochemistry
Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Other
Biology/Biological Sciences, General
Biophysics
Biostatistics
Cell/Cellular Biology and Histology
Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology
Chemistry, General
Evolutionary Biology
Genetics, General
Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences, Other
Geology/Earth Science, General
Immunology
Medical Microbiology and Bacteriology
Neurobiology and Neurophysiology
Pathology/Experimental Pathology
Physics, General
Virology

THERAPY AND COUNSELING
Psychology, General
Social Psychology

Harvard Highlights

(Details are provided further down on this page.)

What Sets Harvard Apart:

CategoryTrophy 
Salaries of full-time faculty
(vs. all colleges)
Top 1%Harvard Salaries of full-time faculty
Student SAT scores
(vs. all colleges)
Top 1%Harvard Student SAT scores
Selectivity (based on % of applicants accepted)
(vs. all colleges)
Top 1%Harvard Selectivity (based on % of applicants accepted)
Number of degree programs
(vs. all colleges)
Top 1%Harvard Number of degree programs
Number of students
(vs. all colleges)
Top 2%Harvard Number of students
% of degrees in religion and philosophy
(vs. colleges of similar size)
Top 5%Harvard % of degrees in religion and philosophy
Dorm rooms per full-time student
(vs. all colleges)
Top 9%Harvard Dorm rooms per full-time student
% of accepted students who choose to enroll
(vs. colleges with similar degree levels)
Top 12%Harvard % of accepted students who choose to enroll
% of degrees in architecture and planning
(vs. colleges of similar size)
Top 12%Harvard % of degrees in architecture and planning
Faculty/student ratio (full-time)
(vs. all colleges)
Top 14%Harvard Faculty/student ratio (full-time)
% of degrees in mathematics
(vs. all colleges)
Top 15%Harvard % of degrees in mathematics
% of degrees in family and social work
(vs. all colleges)
Top 15%Harvard % of degrees in family and social work
% of degrees in medicine
(vs. all colleges)
Top 17%Harvard % of degrees in medicine
% of degrees in science
(vs. all colleges)
Top 18%Harvard % of degrees in science
% of degrees in law
(vs. all colleges)
Top 18%Harvard % of degrees in law
Degrees concentrated in limited number of degree programs
(vs. all colleges)
Top 19%Harvard Degrees concentrated in limited number of degree programs
Male % of student body
(vs. all colleges)
Top 20%Harvard Male % of student body
Explanation of the Highlights categories

Notable:
Grants credits for AP courses
Career counseling
Career services
Student employment services
On-campus day care
Remedial classes for students
Option to study abroad
Offers part-time study
On-campus library
Offers campus housing
Offers a board (meal) plan
Tenure system for quality teaching
Has ROTC (army, navy, air force)
NCAA athletic conference member

Online Degree Alternatives

Schools Most Similar to Harvard

Try our unique CollegeMatch™ tool to find schools similar to Harvard.

Career and College Resources on CityTownInfo

Real-World Career Reports

Career Stories from workers: daily activities, job tips, best/worst job aspects, training, etc.

Career Videos. Professional videos on 800+ jobs, featuring actual employees.

Daily Career & Education News from our staff. We're an approved Google News provider!

Career Reference and Data

Resource Center. A starting point for all CityTownInfo career and college resources.

Career Overviews of hundreds of careers: descriptions, salaries, forecasts, schools, more.

Top Cities for each career. Lists and maps; salaries by city.

Top Industries. Lists of major hiring industries by career, with salaries.

City Comparisons, showing most common jobs, highest paying, etc.

Original Career Articles and Studies

Best Careers Not Requiring Degrees: Good pay, job growth, low need for degrees.

Helpful Articles, many in "how-to" format; e.g., "How to Become a Chef".

Interactive College Search Tools

College Search Scout™. Search by degree, location, major, athletics, etc.

CollegeMatch™. Find school most similar to one of interest.

College Directories and Lists

These lists link to thousands of detailed school profiles.

Colleges by State. Nearly every college and trade school in the country.

Colleges Listed Alphabetically. About 7,000 colleges & trade schools, including online schools.

Exceptional Schools. Lists of the "best/most/highest/lowest" schools.

Link to This Resource Page

Information is not guaranteed to be correct. Please check with individual schools for the most accurate and recent information.

Copyright © 2004-2009, Moving Traffic, Inc. All Rights Reserved.