Cambridge, MA · private · 7,601 undergraduates
Harvard University acceptance rate, SAT range and net price
Harvard took 4.18% of its applicants for the class that entered in fall 2025, about 1 in 24; families under $100,000 pay nothing toward the bill.
Net price per year at Harvard
$9,941
Reach · admit rate 4.18%
| Admit rate, Fall 2025 entering class (Class of 2029) | 4.18% (1 in 24) |
| Middle 50% of enrolled students (SAT) | 1,450 to 1,560 |
| Enrolled students scoring below you (approx.) | 3% |
| This site’s label | Reach |
| Sticker price 2026-27 | $95,134 |
| Paid by families with $75,001-$110,000 (2023-24) | $9,941 |
| Share of the sticker price | 10% |
Net price: average paid after grants by students on federal aid in that income band (2023-24), not a quote. The label is a fixed rule of this site (admit rate under 15% is a reach for everyone), not a prediction. Your exact price: Harvard net price calculator. How this is calculated.
Admissions: Harvard University Common Data Set 2025-2026, C1 · net price: College Scorecard, 2023-24 · figures checked · Built by Radif Partners · Method and data
- Admit rate, newest cycle
- 4.18%
- SAT middle 50%
- 1,450 to 1,560
- Sticker price 2026-27
- $95,134
- Net price, income $48k to $75k
- $2,091
Harvard's acceptance rate for the class that entered in fall 2025 (Class of 2029) is 4.18%: 2,003 admitted out of 47,893 applicants, and 1,675 enrolled, according to the university's Common Data Set 2025-2026. The figure many sites still show, 3.65%, describes the previous class. Testing is required again: the middle half of enrolled students who sent the SAT scored 1,450 to 1,560, the ACT 33 to 35. The sticker price for 2026-27 is $95,134 before travel, yet families on federal aid paid far less: in 2023-24 the average net price was $8,697 for incomes under $30,000 and $2,091 for incomes between $48,001 and $75,000. Since 2025-26, parents earning under $100,000 are expected to contribute nothing, and aid covers at least full tuition up to $200,000.
Why the 2029 figure is higher than the 2028 one
Harvard's rate went up, not down: from 3.65% for the fall 2024 class to 4.18% for fall 2025. The cause is the applicant count, which fell to 47,893 the first year scores were required again, while the number of offers barely moved, to 2,003. Fewer students applied without a score to show. For a student with a strong SAT this changes little, since the competition inside the pool did not soften. Harvard published no Class of 2030 counts in the spring of 2026, so the 2025-26 Common Data Set is the newest official figure.
Harvard: where your SAT score lands
Enrolled students scoring below you (approx.)
52%
| Middle 50% | 1,450 to 1,560 |
| Your score is | inside the middle 50% |
Fall 2025 entering class (Class of 2029), sum of section percentiles (CDS 2025-2026, C9 (1,325 SAT submitters, 450 ACT submitters)). Normal curve fitted to the two published percentiles.
Reading the score range at Harvard
A middle 50% of 1,450 to 1,560 means a quarter of the enrolled class scored below its lower end. On our fitted curve a 1,500 sits at about 48% of the class, inside the range and still competitive on paper. With an admit rate this low the label stays "reach" for every applicant, including those at 1,600: with about 24 applicants for every offer, far more students with scores inside this range are turned down than admitted, and the reader of an application spends more time on courses, recommendations and essays than on the score. The score is a threshold to clear, not a ticket.
What families actually paid
The price that matters is the one after grants. Harvard gives need-based aid only, meets the full demonstrated need of every admitted student, international students included, and never requires a loan. The federal Scorecard shows the result: an average of $2,991 for families between $30,001 and $48,000 and $9,941 between $75,001 and $110,000 in 2023-24, against a federal cost of attendance of $85,540 that year. Above $110,000 the average climbs to $53,337, because that band runs from comfortable to very high incomes.
The 2026-27 budget published by the financial aid office adds up tuition, fees, housing and food ($91,634 billed by the university), then books and personal costs, for $95,134. Travel of zero to $5,000 comes on top, and the student health insurance plan is billed unless a family plan already covers the student. Harvard's own calculator, linked under the tool above, gives a figure for your household's assets and siblings, which the federal averages cannot.
Harvard: net price for your family income
Average net price, 2023-24
$2,091
| Income band | $48,001-$75,000 |
| Share of the 2023-24 cost | 2% |
Federal figure for first-year students on federal aid.
Applying early
Harvard has no binding Early Decision. Its early round is Restrictive Early Action, due November 1, which forbids applying early to other private colleges but leaves the final choice open until May. Regular decision applications are due January 1. Compare the price and the odds with Yale, Princeton and Stanford, or put the three side by side in the comparison tool.
From Harvard University’s own documents
- Families earning under $100,000 a year have an expected parent contribution of zero, and families earning up to $200,000 have at least full tuition covered by aid. source
- Billed costs (tuition, fees, housing, food) rise from $86,926 in 2025-26 to $91,634 in 2026-27, and required health insurance adds $4,954 unless the student has family coverage. source
- Harvard has no binding Early Decision: its early plan is Restrictive Early Action (November 1, decisions mid-December; 12/16 for the fall 2025 cycle), which limits applying early to other private schools. source
- For fall 2025, 2,003 of 47,893 applicants were admitted and 1,675 enrolled; 75 students were admitted from the waiting list. source
- Testing is mandatory again since the fall 2025 entering class, ending the test-optional period that began in June 2020. source
Net price at Harvard University by family income
| Family income | Average net price 2023-24 | Share of the 2023-24 cost |
|---|---|---|
| $0-$30,000 | $8,697 | 10% |
| $30,001-$48,000 | $2,991 | 3% |
| $48,001-$75,000 | $2,091 | 2% |
| $75,001-$110,000 | $9,941 | 12% |
| $110,001 and up | $53,337 | 62% |
| All aided students | $19,066 | 22% |
Cost of attendance at Harvard University, 2026-27
| Item | Amount | |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition | $62,226 | |
| Fees | $6,216 | |
| Housing and food | $23,192 | |
| Books and supplies | $1,000 | |
| Personal | $2,500 | |
| Total | $95,134 |
Harvard University admissions by cycle
| Entering class | Applicants | Admitted | Enrolled | Admit rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2025 entering class (Class of 2029) | 47,893 | 2,003 | 1,675 | 4.18% |
| Fall 2024 (federal IPEDS figure) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 3.65% |
SAT and ACT scores at Harvard University
| Score | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT total (Fall 2025 entering class (Class of 2029), sum of section percentiles (CDS 2025-2026, C9 (1,325 SAT submitters, 450 ACT submitters))) | 1,450 | 1,520 | 1,560 |
| ACT composite (Fall 2025 entering class (Class of 2029) (CDS 2025-2026, C9 (1,325 SAT submitters, 450 ACT submitters))) | 33 | 35 | 35 |
| SAT sections, fall 2024 (Scorecard) | 740 + 770 | n/a | 780 + 800 |
Outcomes at Harvard University
| Measure | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Graduated within 6 years | 98% | fall 2018 entering cohort |
| Returned for a second year | 98% | fall 2023 entering cohort |
| Median earnings 10 years after entry | $101,817 | measured 2020-2021, 10 years after entry, 2022 dollars |
| Median federal debt of graduates | $14,000 | students who finished in 2019-20 and 2020-21 |
| Undergraduates | 7,601 | fall 2024 |
| Students with a Pell Grant | 16% | 2023-24 |