Harvard University Computer Science Programs

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.

Harvard University Rankings

According to our 2023 analysis, Harvard is ranked #10 out of 758 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation. It is also ranked #2 out of 29 schools in Massachusetts.

Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.

Harvard has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#1	Best Computer Science Graduate Certificate Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#13	Best Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#13	Best Computer Science Doctor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#21	Best Computer Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Harvard.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#1	Best Computer Programming Graduate Certificate Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#1	Best Information Technology Graduate Certificate Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#1	Most Popular Computer Programming Graduate Certificate Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#1	Most Popular Online Computer Programming Graduate Certificate Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#5	Best Information Science Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#5	Most Popular Information Technology Graduate Certificate Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#8	Best Computer Information Systems Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#8	Best Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#14	Most Popular Computer Information Systems Graduate Certificate Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#77	Most Popular Computer Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards Harvard has earned from around the web.

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#1	Best Information Technology Graduate Degree Schools	College Factual
#1	Best Computer Programming Graduate Degree Schools	College Factual
#9	Best Computer Science Schools	College Factual
#15	Best Computer & Information Sciences Schools	College Factual
#17	Best Computer Information Systems Schools	College Factual
#24	Best Schools	Course Advisor

Where Is 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

How Do I Get Into Harvard?

You can apply to Harvard online at: college.harvard.edu/admissions/apply/application-requirements

Admission Requirements for Harvard

Submission	Required?
High School GPA	recommended
High School Rank	recommended
High School Transcript	required
College Prep Program	neither required nor recommended
Recommendations	required
SAT or ACT Scores	required
TOEFL	neither required nor recommended

How Hard Is It To Get Into Harvard?

If you plan to apply to Harvard, make sure you don't wait until the last minute to fill out your application. The school is one of the most selective in the United States and has a low acceptance rate of 5%. If you are admitted, that's something to brag about!

Approximately 48% of accepted students are men and 52% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 5%, and the acceptance rate for women is 5%.

Average Test Scores

About 72% 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 720 and 780. Math scores were between 740 and 800.

Harvard received ACT scores from 45% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 35 and 36. Math scores were between 31 and 35. Composite scores were between 33 and 35.

Can I Afford Harvard University?

The overall average net price of Harvard is $54,133. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Harvard, approximately 7% of students took out student loans averaging $10,464 a year. That adds up to $41,856 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Harvard is 0.9%. 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.

Harvard University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are 8,527 undergraduate students at Harvard, with 5,699 being full-time and 2,828 being part-time.

There are also 21,864 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 5,699 full-time undergraduates at Harvard, 49% are male and 51% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Harvard University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1,230
Black or African American	626
Hispanic or Latino	700
White	1,947
International Students	665
Other Races/Ethnicities	531

Geographic Diversity

Massachusetts students aren't the only ones who study at Harvard University. At this time, all 50 states are represented by the student population at the school.

At this time, 50 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 151 countries are represented at Harvard. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, Canada, and India.

Online Learning at Harvard University

In 2019-2020, 29,581 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at Harvard has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 3rd most popular in Massachusetts for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.

Online Affordability Rankings of Harvard

During the most recent year for which we have data, the full-time undergraduate tuition at Harvard University was $54,002 for both in-state and out-of-state students. The following table shows how Harvard is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.

Major	Tuition for In-State Students	Tuition for Out-of-State Students
Computer Science	#61	#61
Computer Science	#61	#61
General Computer & Information Sciences	#74	#74

Online Growth Rankings of Harvard

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Harvard University was 154.0%. This is the #243 largest growth rate of all schools that are mostly online. This refers to all students at Harvard regardless of major.

The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Harvard ranks compared to all other mostly online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Harvard.

Major	Growth Rate Rank
Web/Multimedia Management & Webmaster	#7
General Computer Programming	#9
Computer Programming	#13
General Computer & Information Sciences	#22
Computer & IS Security	#26
Information Technology	#36
Computer Information Systems	#47

When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.

Harvard University Computer Science Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major	Basic Certificate	Bachelor’s	Graduate Certificate	Master’s	Doctor’s	TOTAL
Computer Science	0	138	0	35	14	187
General Computer & Information Sciences	0	0	16	77	0	93
Web/Multimedia Management & Webmaster	1	0	62	0	0	63
Computer & IS Security	0	0	52	0	0	52
General Computer Programming	2	0	39	0	0	41
General Information Science	0	0	0	11	0	11
TOTAL	3	138	169	123	14	447

References

*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.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• Image Credit: By Elisa.rolle under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.