Financial Aid Rises, Tuition at Harvard College To Reach $52,650

Harvard College tuition and fees will climb 3.8 percent for the next academic year, reaching a total of $52,650.

The jump in price will be coupled with a $2 million increase in the financial aid budget, bringing the total cost of financial aid to a record high of more than $160 million. More than 60 percent of Harvard undergraduates receive some financial aid from the College.

At the same time that the College announced next year’s tuition price, it revealed plans to bring back the early action admissions program which was cut four years ago out of concern that it disadvantaged low-income students. Today’s announcement affirmed, however, that the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative—another hallmark of the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid’s recent pushes to increase college accessibility and affordability—remains on solid ground for the next year.

Under HFAI, families that earn less than $60,000 per year pay no tuition to send students to Harvard. Students whose families earn up to $180,000 are typically asked to pay no more than 10 percent of the family’s income.

Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 said he was thrilled that the Faculty of Arts and Sciences passed a larger financial aid budget.

“I’ve never been prouder of Harvard,” he said. “At a time like this, to have Harvard’s commitment to financial aid be loud and clear is something that I’m very proud of Harvard for doing.”

“We remain committed to need-blind admissions, in good financial times and bad,” Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael D. Smith said in a statement. “Our investment in financial aid will enable us to continue attracting the world’s most talented students, regardless of their economic circumstances.”

Last year, the College also increased tuition by 3.8 percent. The current academic year was the first year in which Harvard’s sticker price topped $50,000.

The new $52,650 price tag places Harvard’s fee second-to-lowest among the six Ivy League schools which have announced their tuition for the 2011-12 school year. Only Princeton—which raised costs just 1 percent this year and at $49,069 remains the only Ivy League education below $50,000 per year—will charge less than Harvard.

While Brown’s 3.5 percent leap, which brought its total cost to $53,136, was also a less dramatic spike than Harvard’s, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, and Yale all posted steeper increases—3.9, 4.5, and 5.8 percent, respectively.

The most expensive Ivy League university price announced so far is Cornell’s $54,645 fee. Columbia—which costs over $56,000 for tuition, room, and board during the current school year—and Dartmouth, which this year charged over $52,000, have yet to post their 2011-12 prices.

Peer institutions have also announced increases to their financial aid budgets over the past few months.

Yale announced in December that it would increase its aid budget from $108 million to $117 million while adjusting the way it allocates that aid. Beginning with students who will enter Yale as freshmen this fall, families earning between $130,000 and $200,000 will be asked to pay about 15 percent of their income rather than the former standard of 12 percent. At the same time, students whose family income falls below $65,000 annually—rather than the previous $60,000 cut-off which mirrored Harvard’s—will pay no tuition or fees.

The University of Pennsylvania expanded its financial aid budget by $10.7 million, to $161 million, while Stanford University will boost its aid allotment by about 1 percent to $122 million.

—Staff writer Julie M. Zauzmer can be reached at jzauzmer@college.harvard.edu.