According to online sources, the undergraduate tuition of $49,653 will stay the same.
Does this change your plans of attending Harvard in the fall? If yes, what options are you considering? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Looking at Harvard’s website it appears that the only on campus courses in the Fall are at Harvard Business School and they will be offered synchronously online for those not on campus. 2nd, 3rd and 4th year medical and dental students will be on campus for clinical courses.
As depressing as it is, Harvard probably made the right decision.
Having said that, is there any word - from all the colleges out there – will here still be “roommate situations” ? Or will they start giving single rooms to these kids?
And, honestly, the whole sheep mentality that the Ivy League takes…please correct me i’m wrong (and @TomSrOfBoston will) but to my outsider eye, all of the schools wait for Harvard to come up with their plan…and then they all fall into place with a similar plan…all frightened, i suppose, to break away from the herd mentality.
In any case, if i had a child entering college this fall, I would strongly encourage a gap year.
Tuition - “staying the same” does not mean “same as 2019-2020”. It means staying the same as previously announced for 2020-2021. H wants to make sure no one holds the fantasy of reduced tuition now that everything is moved online with no chance of face2face meetings with profs and TAs. Letter grades will come back though, that must be worth thousands…
Housing - yes, they did announce students will have single rooms.
International - first years living here will be welcomed back no matter the cohort. They don’t have anywhere to stay. Those having issues with visa or travel ban will take Harvard Online like everyone else. So for a Japanese kid, daily 3am or 4am sections. Sounds like all 600 international upperclassmen will have to leave before September. If already home, they won’t be allowed in until in-person cohorts happen.
Leave of absence applications - I predict a lot. Great for transfer students on wait lists. “Nearly 45 percent of surveyed students reported they were very likely to take a leave in the case of a virtual semester, according to an Undergraduate Council poll run in April.”
Gap year application deadline is extended to July 24. I predict very few because most kids are fearless about this second COVID wave with high morbidity but low mortality (just look at malls and beaches everywhere). They are more willing to risk taking online classes in a singles dorm with no social life than staying home next to parents and siblings. If the parents are not paying for tuition and housing, they won’t even have a say.
@SouthernHope Actually this year, Harvard was one of the last Ivies to announce their plans. As far as I know, Princeton announced today as well (and they’re cutting tuition by 10%), and Yale, Penn, Cornell, Stanford and more had announced their plans earlier.
@waitlistedsenior Yes, my daughter will be a freshman at Stanford and we found out a while ago that mostl likely, all courses will be online. Per Stanford, “ To ensure that all students have access to the necessary classes for their academic progress, we expect most, if not all, courses to be online for the 2020-2021 academic year.
@waitlistedsenior is right, Harvard just announced today 7/6. Together with Princeton, H is the last and the most indecisive among all Ivy+ colleges. Quite obvious who is leading whom in this case.
Yale 7/1
Princeton 7/6
Stanford 6/3
Penn 6/25
Columbia 6/17
Dartmoth 6/29
Cornell 6/30
MIT 6/25
Chicago 6/30
Williams announced at 15 percent tuition reduction. The Penn student newspaper cited the Williams reduction as evidence that it can and should be done given the COVID circumstances. Will be interesting to see if others will follow the Harvard or Williams approach. Students are outraged at the cost for just an online education.
I posted this on my Facebook page and a lot of people, including parents of college students, are defending schools that are not reducing tuition. I was surprised.
If Williams can reduce tuition by 15 percent and also increase the fin aid family contribution by 15 percent, other schools such as Harvard and Stanford should be able to do the same, I think this is a moment where students and parents should push back on the tuition levels.
Think Williams is far more nimble at 2,100 enrolled students. Harvard and Stanford enroll about 7,000 each. Easier to change direction with a sports car than a family van.
Hey. On 6/22, Bowdoin announced all classes online and just freshmen and those who have difficult family situations on campus for fall. Same as Harvard. Beat all of the Ivies to the punch. Lol.
But Williams is highly suggesting that kids take three classes instead of four and also did away with their Jan term. So, in those ways, they are offering less.
They also increased room and board (for the 40% of the undergrads who will actually be on campus) and “fees”!
The year over year increase in tuition, room & board, and “fees” is around 4.0%.
2019/2020 = $69,607 vs.
2020/2021 = $72,356.
Note this total does not include books, heath insurance, and transportation costs.
Shameful and unconscionable in my opinion. Somehow Princeton can lower tuition by 10% across the board but Harvard with a $40 billion endowment cannot manage to at least keep tuition, R&B, and fees the same as last year?
If you are going to raise tuition for this year then you better be able to deliver…