Is Harvard Still Worth It? The Value of an Ivy League Education in 2024

This fourth and final post in a series of informative articles with critical perspectives on Harvard brings us to the question behind all the others — Is Harvard still worth it? Is Harvard worth the ever-rising price tag? Is the school living up to its reputation for academic integrity, excellence, and rigor? Does Harvard really offer enough benefits and opportunities to outweigh the costs of attending?

Having examined these issues in the earlier posts, this final post is focused on a cost/benefit perspective and seeks to explain what evidence there is that Harvard really does offer unique educational value and benefits. As with all of the posts in this series, we hope it will help students critically evaluate whether Harvard truly deserves a spot on their college list.

Is Harvard Still Worth It: “from emphatic yeses, to equally adamant nos…”

As I write this, the deadline for applying to Harvard under Restrictive Early Action (REA) has just passed — with many young scholars around the world now eager to apply under Harvard’s Regular Decision deadline. Other young scholars earlier in their college journeys also have their sights on Harvard, no doubt because of the school's exceptional reputation, aura of academic rigor and refinement, and for the exceptional prestige that comes with earning a Harvard degree.

But if you’re weighing a decision about attending or applying to Harvard, you may be wondering, Is Harvard really worth it?

• Does Harvard still offer all the promises of a transformative undergraduate experience?
• Does Harvard’s reputation still really stand out among top schools, such as rivals Stanford, Princeton, Yale, MIT, and U Chicago?
• What about Harvard’s ever-rising price tag — is it really worth it?

I recently came across a joke — apparently popular back in 1990 or thereabouts — that goes:

“Harvard trains its graduates how to use MIT graduates.”

Perhaps not coincidentally, 1990 was also the year that US News and World Report started ranking graduate engineering programs and put MIT's at the top of that list (where it has remained ever since).

Despite MIT’s unrivaled engineering distinction, Harvard still has a unique mystique in the larger education landscape, and this joke still resonates today — a reminder that Harvard really does have an historic prominence and reputation that are virtually unrivaled, even in today's technology-centric state of affairs.

I don’t know if anyone was nonetheless asking the question “Is Harvard worth it?” as far back as 1990, or earlier. The first reference I could find to this question was many years later, in 2012. The questions was part of a forum under the headline “Is Harvard Education Worth the Price… And the Loans?” The moderator for the forum said:

You'll find that the answers range from emphatic yeses to equally adamant nos, and they come from not only the parents who have shelled out—or saved—big bucks, but also from students and alums who have had time to test out the fire-power of their assorted sheepskins.

Today, in 2024, the question is Harvard worth it? is as compelling as ever, as our series of blog posts on Harvard have shown, but it’s still hard to answer the question with a definitive “yes” or “no.”

Is Harvard Worth the Cost?...

What is more clear now is that the trend line for the rising costs of a Harvard education, which were already rising in 1990, has never stopped going up, begging the question how much is a Harvard education really worth?

The fact is that the price tag for attending Harvard has increased roughly 3–4% each year, well above the rate of inflation, as noted in the first post in this series.

But answering the question, is Harvard worth it? needs to factor in not just Harvard’s ever-rising price tag but a much larger perspective on what Harvard offers and its value for today’s undergraduates, and the opportunities, benefits, and longer-term financial earnings you might expect as your return on investment. To help you with your own decision making, this post will explore questions like these:

• What Is Harvard’s Price Tag vs. Your Real Cost of Attendance?
• What Are the Educational Opportunities and Benefits You Get at Harvard?
• Does a Harvard Degree Impact Your Earnings Potential?
• Does A Harvard Degree Really Open Doors to Transformative Opportunities?

And, in case you want to read any of the previous posts in this series on Harvard, you'll find links to all three below:

The Cost of Prestige: What’s Behind Harvard’s Ever-Rising Price Tag?

Grade Inflation at Harvard: What Does It Mean for Academic Rigor

Harvard in Focus: The Importance of Free Speech and Academic Freedom

Harvard's Price Tag vs. Your Real Cost of Attendance

Harvard’s Price Tag

The price tag of a Harvard education is, and has been for years, steadily increasing, even outpacing inflation on a consistent basis, year after year. Today, going to Harvard as an undergraduate — which means attending Harvard College — will have a total price tag estimated to exceed $82,000.

Considering that each year, over the past ten years at least, Harvard students have experienced an increase of approximately 3–4% in the cost of attendance each year, the following is a rough estimation of what it might cost to attend Harvard for four years, assuming a fixed 3.5% increase in cost to attend each year:

Year 1: $82,866

Year 2: $85,766

Year 3: $88,767

Year 4: $91,873

Four Year Total = $349,272

The Actual Cost of Attending Harvard

Before you dash Harvard from your list of prospective schools or accuse me of crushing your dream of attending Harvard... It's important to realize that the price tag for Harvard is not necessarily what it will cost you to attend.

If your family has exceptional financial resources, then the price tag we guesstimated for four years at Harvard may indeed reflect what it will cost you.

The good news for many students and families, however, is that the real cost of going to Harvard is often less than the sticker price, much less even — depending on your financial position.

Not only is Harvard's price tag on a steady upward trend, but the school's endowment has also been on a long growth trajectory, making it easier for Harvard's leaders to commit larger and larger sums to need-based scholarships.

The school’s commitment to providing need-based financial aid is good news for prospective Harvard students and their families, as these scholarships can dramatically lower the real cost of attending Harvard.

Harvard admissions is need blind...

Harvard’s admissions process is “need blind,” meaning your level of financial need won’t affect your chances for admission. In addition, Harvard pledges to meet 100% of your demonstrated financial need. This determination is based on a detailed review of your family’s financial information, typically gathered through the FAFSA as part of the standard financial aid application process.

In other words, you need to realize that Harvard’s price tag is not necessarily how much Harvard will cost you. Your costs will really depend on how Harvard assesses your financial circumstances and calculates your family’s expected contribution.

According to Harvard’s own numbers...

• the average parent contribution (as of 2024) is $13,000
• 25% of Harvard families pay nothing
• 55% of Harvard families are recipients of need-based Harvard scholarships.

Even without putting these numbers to scrutiny, it’s clear enough that the cost of attending Harvard can be a far cry from the apparent price tag!

Estimating Your Own Cost To Attend Harvard

Even though it’s hard to know how much financial aid you’re actually going to be offered, there is a way you can get an estimate of what it might cost to attend Harvard based on your own family’s income, assets, and overall financial situation. 

Harvard offers its own Net Price Calculator, an online tool you can use to estimate how much your family would be expected to contribute for one year of attendance.

Another tool you can try out is the MyInTuition Quick College Cost Estimator. You can use this tool for estimating your expected contribution to Harvard and for a number of other popular and highly-rated colleges and universities.

How Much Is a Harvard Degree Really Worth?

If you've read the first three posts in this series on Harvard, you know there are many factors impacting learning and campus climate at Harvard — from grade inflation and questions about a decline in academic rigor and academic freedom, to concerns about freedom of expression, in addition to the ever-rising cost of attendance...

In light of these concerns, is a Harvard education worth it in 2024?

The simple answer is probably, yes. While it's certainly possible to point to some considerable concerns about Harvard's commitments to academic rigor, academic freedom, integrity, and excellence — serious concerns — it's also important to remember that the potential benefits of an Ivy League education can be substantial.

Here are a few of the key opportunities and benefits to keep in mind:

1. Educational Offerings

For those considering applying to Harvard, it's important not to focus on the price tag alone but weigh the value of Harvard’s educational offerings in the larger context of your individual preferences, goals, and aspirations.

Are there exceptional faculty teaching in your chosen major?

How might your peer networks at Harvard compare to those at other universities?

Does Harvard’s proximity to Boston's bustling cultural scene, business hub, and prominent medical research facilities offer you exceptional networking and internship opportunities?

Exceptional Faculty Talent and Qualifications

No single university has a monopoly on faculty talent, but with its truly preeminent status around the world, let alone in the US, Harvard is certain to be an attractive destination for outstanding faculty scholars.

Harvard also can attract top scholars with its salaries. In fact, Harvard ranked fourth in the US for paying top salaries to faculty, behind only Columbia, Stanford, and Princeton.

Even undergraduates benefit tangibly thanks to Harvard's impressive faculty and exceptional research initiatives. For example, did you know that Harvard has a stellar track record when it comes to undergraduates who go on to become Nobel laureates?

When researchers set out to find which schools were most transformative in this way — educating undergraduates who go on to become Nobel Prize winners — Harvard ranked 3rd in the world.

Exceptional Peer Networks

Harvard offers you a chance to learn alongside and connect with highly motivated and accomplished young scholars from around the world. In fact, Harvard might be more diverse than you think, with 53% minority enrollment and international students making up 14% of the student body.

Furthermore, Harvard’s house system offers a great way to find and enjoy a more intimate academic community and forge rewarding peer networks.

While similar to other residential settings, such as Yale’s residential college system, Harvard’s twelve residential houses, accommodate some 300 to 500 students each, offering opportunities to connect with a truly diverse network of peers.

Houses provide you a focal point for activities that can multiply opportunities for cultivating intellectual, social, and recreational friendships and networks. For academic enrichment and intellectual stimulation, each house hosts unique lectures and seminars and offers weekly language and interest tables that help students connect, learn, or exchange ideas.

Houses also promote many cultural and social events, provide resources students use to create events or stage performances, and host a range of formal and informal social functions.

A Dynamic Urban Environment

Attending Harvard also offers you ready access to a dynamic urban setting. In addition to the array of cultural offerings a big city like Boston offers, you can also take advantage of outstanding internship opportunities, especially in fields such as management, marketing, finance, medicine, and technology. High-profile firms with offices in Boston include Apple, Boston Scientific, Goldman Sachs, HubSpot, Accenture, and more.

2. Return on Investment

Another way to weigh the value of a Harvard education is in terms of post-graduation opportunities and benefits.

Are popular majors at Harvard aligned with your own academic and career interests?

What can you anticipate your earnings power might be after graduation?

According to Data USA, some of the concentrations that are most prominent at Harvard are applied sciences, legal studies, and history.

The most popular bachelor degree programs were in social sciences, including economics, political science, and government; followed by mathematics and computer science.

Life sciences and history are other popular degree programs for undergraduates there.

Here are some additional insights, into the kinds of careers students pursue after graduating from Harvard, and into the fields where Harvard students have earned the highest pay:

Most Common Occupations

• Social Workers
• Lawyers, judges
• Teachers
• Other managers

Highest Paying Occupations

• Surgeons ($350k to $450k)
• Cardiovascular technologists ($200k to $380k)
• Securities and financial services and sales ($200k to $300k)
• Diagnostic medical sonographers and medical imaging technologists ($100k to $300k)

Average Earnings After Graduation

Another way to think about the value of a Harvard education is in more quantitative economic terms: the cost of your 4-year education at Harvard vs. the earnings you make after graduation.

As a sign of the value of a Harvard degree, the majority of graduates who take jobs after graduation earn $70,000 or more.

Here are some additional stats on earnings after graduation for Harvard’s Class of 2023 (source: The Harvard Crimson):

• Nearly 50% of seniors planning to work after graduation will earn $100,000 or more
• 41% will earn at least $110,000
• Over two-thirds of graduates will make more than $70,000 (about $10,000 more than the national median for college graduates)

Another interesting fact is that Harvard students who received no financial aid often earned more on average after graduation compared to students receiving partial or no financial aid:

3. The Prestige Factor: Access to Top Incomes and Leadership Roles

One thing students often ask about is if there is evidence that attending a school like Harvard really translates into opportunities or benefits that you wouldn't get attending any number of selective, high quality non-Ivies?

It's a great question.

When I asked Harvard alumnus and US admissions strategist João Paulo Krug Paiva about this, he put it this way:

One benefit of having a Harvard Education is that you become someone whose ideas folks want to hear. Now, no one will give you a SECOND glimpse if your ideas aren't good, because people never do, but they WILL give you a first. That is a privilege. That is, I think it gets thrown around that Harvard opens doors for you but I don't quite agree. The door stays shut and you have to convince them to let you through, so Harvard doesn't get you THROUGH the door, but it does get you TO THE DOOR with a chance to ring the bell and have your piece heard.

The simple fact is that having a degree from Harvard can attract recruiters and employment prospects that degrees from non-Ivies won't. Due to Harvard's stature and renown, to the sheer difficulty of getting into Harvard thanks to its very low acceptance rate, and because of the industry and alumni networks you can connect with, that Harvard degree you earned and paid for is likely to open doors to more and better career opportunities and graduate school offers.

Elite Earnings, Prestigious Firms, and Top Leadership Roles...

Researchers from Harvard and Brown with the National Bureau of Economic Research have made a similar case using more empirical research and modeling to really home in on the unique value a Harvard degree can offer after you graduate.

The researchers' finding showed that having a degree from one of the top twelve US Universities — the eight Ivy League Schools and the four Ivy Plus Schools (Stanford, MIT, Duke, and U Chicago) —  can have a narrow but powerful impact on students' potential for high-level success.

Here’s what the researchers found:

• Having a degree from Harvard or a similar very selective school, was not a big differentiator when it came to getting jobs in middle income ranges.
• Having a degree from an elite school — Ivy League or Ivy-Plus school — does significantly increase your chances for attaining elite roles and salaries after graduation.

In essence, the researchers found that Ivy League and Ivy-Plus graduates, compared to students who attended flagship public institutions, were far more likely to enjoy the following rewards:

• access to the most prominent leadership roles in industry and government alike
• jobs in the most prestigious firms
• compensation that reaches the top 1% of the income distribution
• offers from top-flight grad school programs

Leveling the Playing Field

The researchers also found that your status as an applicant — such as your social and economic status before attending and graduating — was not a big determinant in your chances for success after graduation.

In other words, for students who got into Harvard, the biggest determinant for levels of success after graduation were not correlated to your background or individual and family social status. Instead, the opportunities and benefits were fairly well distributed to all Harvard applicants after they graduated — even for the "marginal" applicants (those marginally qualified to be competitive in such a stringent and selective admissions process).

Final Thoughts

From its ever-rising price tag and soaring grade inflation, to its tattered reputation with regards to academic rigor, free speech, and academic freedom, we’ve been putting Harvard under the microscope. As students weigh all of these factors, many will likely conclude that Harvard isn’t really living up to its reputation for academic excellence, nor demonstrating exceptional commitments to academic integrity, nor achieving its fullest potential as a standard-bearer of academic excellence and in keeping with its renown, resources, and prestige.

All of that said, context and perspective matter. While Harvard may be an overachiever of sorts when it comes to tuition increases, grade inflation, or declines in academic freedom or academic rigor, Harvard remains an educational powerhouse and it can be more affordable for a wide cross-section of students — including international students — than most people realize. Finally, we've seen recent research a Harvard degree really can impact your chances for getting into the best firms, top graduate school programs, and into top leadership roles — from CEO, to US senator, to supreme court judge...

What we also know from the experiences of many of our Crimson Education team members, from the CEO’s own college journey, and from the testimonies we receive from Crimson Education students who get into Harvard each year, is that attending Harvard is often life-changing.

Feel free to contact an admissions expert at Crimson Education if you have questions about any of the next steps of your college journey, especially if you’re up to the challenge of being a top applicant to Harvard. You can do this by scheduling a free feedback session. A friendly strategist will be happy to discuss your next steps with you and explain the benefits of Crimson’s personalized approach.

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