Harvard Raises 2026-27 Attendance Cost 5% to $91,634, Outpacing Inflation
Updated
Updated · Harvard Crimson · Jun 29
Harvard Raises 2026-27 Attendance Cost 5% to $91,634, Outpacing Inflation
1 articles · Updated · Harvard Crimson · Jun 29
Summary
$91,634 is Harvard College’s new listed cost of attendance for 2026-27, up more than 5% and marking a fourth straight year of accelerating percentage increases.
A Crimson analysis found the price is about $3,300 above where it would land if it merely tracked inflation from 2025-26, implying roughly $22 million in extra listed costs across undergraduates before aid.
Harvard has not detailed the drivers, but economists and consultants pointed to post-2021 inflation, technology spending and campus upgrades; the university is also managing a $365 million structural deficit.
More than half of undergraduates receive need-based aid, with families under $100,000 expected to pay nothing and those under $200,000 attending tuition-free, though advisers said aid expansion has risen alongside sticker prices.
The increase comes as Ivy League sticker prices average above $90,000 and Washington scrutiny of elite-college tuition persists, though Harvard was not named in a related federal lawsuit targeting 32 institutions.