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Harvard recently announced a return to standardized testing starting with the Class of 2029. High emphasis is placed on academic excellence, extracurricular leadership, and personal character.
Harvard University's endowment surged by over $11 billion to reach nearly $68 billion in fiscal year 2026, generating an exceptional 27.1 percent return that distributed $2.6 billion toward operations and student financial aid.
The test-optional era is rapidly ending across selective institutions, with 72 colleges and university systems requiring SAT or ACT scores for students entering in fall 2027 and another six setting future reinstatement dates.
Common App data reveals that test-submitting applicants now outnumber non-submitters for the first time since 2020, as admissions experts analyze why competitive SAT/ACT scores provide a crucial edge even at remaining test-optional institutions.
U.S. News & World Report announced the launch of U.S. News Direct Admissions, an innovative platform feature enabling higher education institutions to deliver instant, conditional admissions offers to qualified prospective students.
A new faculty committee report at Yale urges elite universities to publish transparent minimum academic thresholds, arguing that holistic admissions opacity fuels widespread applicant anxiety and distrust.
College Board reported that nearly 2 million students took the SAT as average scores increased for the second consecutive year, coinciding with reinstated testing mandates at top universities.
The College Board has officially opened the CSS Profile for the 2027–2028 academic year, unlocking access to over $14 billion in nonfederal institutional aid across hundreds of colleges with fee waivers available for families earning up to $100,000.
The U.S. Department of Education officially opened the 2027–28 FAFSA form to the general public on September 23, marking the earliest release in program history and enabling applicants to submit federal aid documents well before November 1 early application deadlines.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology claimed the No. 1 spot among National Universities in the 2027 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings, ending Princeton's 15-year reign following a major methodology revision that prioritizes postgraduate earnings by major.
The U.S. Department of Education expanded public Beta 2 testing for the 2027–28 FAFSA ahead of its October 1 nationwide release, with submitted forms processed as permanent financial aid applications.
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released its 2026 High School Benchmarks Report, highlighting modest enrollment growth and significant college persistence gains among graduates of high-poverty secondary schools.
A federal judge granted a nationwide preliminary injunction barring the Department of Homeland Security from imposing a four-year cap on student visas, protecting international undergraduates and graduate researchers from arbitrary extension denials.
Harvard University will require standardized test scores for admission starting next cycle, reversing a previous commitment to remain test-optional through the Class of 2030.
Harvard received a record $684 million in current-use gifts in fiscal year 2026, marking a second consecutive year of record philanthropic giving that accounts for nearly half of the university's operating budget alongside endowment support.
Harvard Executive Vice President Meredith Weenick and CFO Ritu Kalra discussed the University's fiscal 2026 financial report, emphasizing prudent resource management and protection of core teaching and financial aid amid federal policy pressures.
Comprehensive breakdown of the 2026–2027 Harvard College supplemental essay prompts, featuring writing strategies for the intellectual curiosity, community impact, and personal background prompts.
Federal financial aid guidelines confirm that unemployment compensation received in 2025 is imported directly into the 2027-28 FAFSA via IRS data exchange, raising the Student Aid Index and altering institutional aid calculations.
Admissions counselors warn that fragmented university AI policies and unstated expectations of 'AI literacy' in personal statements are creating a severe digital divide for low-income and first-generation applicants.
At NACAC's national convention in Minneapolis, admissions leaders addressed how over 50% of applicants now research universities via AI chatbots and discussed strategies to communicate degree ROI to families facing rising costs.
Federal Student Aid published its official 2027–28 Counselors and Mentors Handbook alongside updated Student Aid Index (SAI) guides to assist advisors and families following the early nationwide rollout of the federal aid form.
Harvard President Alan Garber revealed university legal expenses reached $126 million in FY2025 defending against federal inquiries, visa revocations, and admissions scrutiny, cautioning that Harvard's legal posture sets precedents for peer institutions.
Administrators and researchers from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, MIT, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Penn, and UChicago gathered to address systemic outreach gaps and trust barriers facing rural high school applicants.
Over 1,000 higher education institutions missed the Department of Education's October 1 reporting deadline for student outcomes data, triggering potential compliance reviews under federal financial value transparency rules.
Harvard performance and studio arts courses are overhauling grading metrics ahead of a mandatory FAS policy capping A grades at 20% plus 4 students per class, marking a major culture shift for incoming undergraduates.
Harvard College's Financial Aid Office launched the student-led Harvard Financial Literacy Program (HFLP), shifting from administrative seminars to peer education on budgeting, outside scholarships, and institutional grant aid.
Harvard professors convened to discuss classroom assessment overhauls amid widespread generative AI adoption and ongoing concerns over undergraduate grade compression.
A national data study examines the impact of ending legacy admissions across selective institutions, showing alumni children representation dropped by more than 50% at Johns Hopkins and Amherst alongside record gains in first-generation enrollment.
Stanford, Harvard, Yale, MIT, Caltech, and Brown have been issued federal subpoenas in a broad Department of Labor probe into J-1 visa staffing and foreign scholar appointments on federally funded research.
A Justice Department attorney informed the First Circuit Court of Appeals that Donald Trump would likely reissue a presidential proclamation barring international students from Harvard if judicial injunctions are vacated.
Admissions strategists outline how elite universities evaluate arts portfolios, how faculty reviews serve as admissions tip factors, and what dual-degree programs like Harvard-NEC and Columbia-Juilliard require.
An in-depth analysis of 2026 admissions trends reveals that 42% of U.S. News Top 25 national universities now require standardized test scores—up from roughly 8% in 2023—alongside surging major-specific competition and students submitting an average of seven applications.
Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences has authorized 25 new tenure-track faculty searches for the 2026-2027 academic year, signaling a gradual easing of recent fiscal hiring constraints.
Admissions counselors outline a structured roadmap for high school seniors balancing early deadlines while building compelling Regular Decision applications for selective colleges.
Harvard College launched a new financial aid initiative focused on financial literacy, aimed at helping students and families understand aid packages, borrowing and budgeting. The Harvard Crimson reports on the program and how it will be delivered to undergraduates.
An October 2026 survey of 133 selective colleges confirms that virtually no top institution requires the optional ACT Science section for fall 2027 admissions, with all Ivy League universities, MIT, and Stanford leaving it optional.
A federal district court granted an emergency injunction halting a Department of Education mandate that would force universities like Penn to publicly disclose foreign donor identities, protecting institutional philanthropic endowments.
A new Gallup poll finds just 31% of American adults consider a four-year college degree very important, down sharply amid rising tuition costs and student debt concerns.
Learn what a Harvard admissions consultant does, why Harvard's process demands specialized help, and how to tell credible consultants from ones trading on the Ivy League name.
Harvard University requires five 150-word supplemental essays for the 2026–27 admissions cycle, emphasizing life perspectives, intellectual disagreement, extracurricular growth, future aspirations, and roommate personality.
Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences will restore graduate admissions targets to approximately 80 percent of historical cohorts after severe post-pandemic financial restrictions.
Harvard Kennedy School has introduced a mandatory timed video essay requirement for non-native English speakers, emphasizing unscripted responses and verbal proficiency.
Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences is initiating five thematic faculty searches across eight science departments to hire professors applying artificial intelligence to research and undergraduate teaching.
Following administrative restructuring within Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Harvard College Writing Center has restored drop-in tutoring and decentralized peer writing support across residential houses.
The College Board reported a second consecutive year of mean SAT score increases across all demographic groups for the Class of 2026, with 42% meeting college readiness benchmarks on the digital exam.
Harvard College Dean David J. Deming told the undergraduate association that upcoming College-wide generative AI guidance will offer advisory frameworks rather than mandatory rules, while defending the faculty's cap on A grades to curb grade inflation.
Harvard urged a federal judge Thursday to dismiss the Justice Department's lawsuit seeking individual applicant data, arguing the government failed to follow required procedures before suing the University in February. U.S. District Judge Myong J.
A federal judge in Boston expressed skepticism that the Trump administration should be allowed to proceed with its lawsuit seeking to force Harvard University to turn over individual applicant admissions records. U.S.
Students who took the September 12 digital SAT will receive their scores on September 25, delivering crucial standardized testing benchmarks for seniors preparing November 1 early admissions packages for test-mandatory T20 universities.
Stanford University slipped to fifth place in the 2027 U.S. News & World Report national university rankings—tied with Caltech and trailing MIT, Princeton, Harvard, and Yale—amid updated methodology weighing post-graduate earnings by major.
Following Harvard's elimination of dedicated pre-concentration advisors for incoming freshmen, members of the Class of 2030 are calling for more individual academic support after navigating course selection through peer mentors and a newly decentralized advising network.
Harvard College Admissions has reaffirmed guidelines prohibiting alumni interviewers from inquiring about or mentioning an applicant's race, ethnicity, or nationality in interview reports for the 2026–2027 cycle, despite a petition signed by over 1,600 alumni.
A comprehensive report from Class Action finds that while legacy admissions preferences dropped nationwide to 23 percent of institutions, 57 percent of top colleges with sub-25 percent acceptance rates continue giving admissions boosts to alumni children.
Harvard runs Restrictive Early Action (REA) rather than Early Decision, and has stopped publishing the numbers entirely. The last verified rates show an 83% deferral rate for early applicants.
Harvard's acceptance rate for the Class of 2030 dipped to 3.2%, a notable decline from 4.2% for the Class of 2029. Harvard did not publish official applicant totals.
This guide covers every Harvard application deadline for the 2026-2027 cycle, including Restrictive Early Action, Regular Decision, transfer, and financial aid dates.
This guide covers when Harvard decisions come out for Restrictive Early Action and Regular Decision, including release dates, decision types, and next steps after you hear back.
A successful Harvard application requires far more than exceptional grades and test scores. Harvard is dedicated to nurturing thoughtful, engaged leaders who go on to make a genuine difference in research, public service, business, medicine, and the arts.
When applying to a school like the University of Southern California, it is important to grasp that their recent acceptance rate is lower than Harvard’s back in the late...
![Harvard Supplemental Essays 2026-27 – Prompts & Advice
Harvard Supplemental Essays 2026-27 – Prompts & Advice
Harvard’s most recently confirmed acceptance rate, 4.2% for the Class of 2029, gives you a pretty informative introduction to the ultra-competitive admissions process in Cambridge. To dive deeper, Harvard...
With a most recently confirmed acceptance rate of 3.8%, Stanford University is in a league of selectivity with only a handful of other schools including Harvard, MIT, and Princeton....
Harvard has withheld its Restrictive Early Action figures for two consecutive cycles. The last verified Harvard early action acceptance rate is 8.7% for the Class of 2028, with 692 students admitted from 7,921 applications and an 83.1% deferral rate.
Harvard has withheld its Restrictive Early Action figures for two consecutive cycles, moving to a single annual admissions data release each fall. The last verified EA rate was 8.7% for the Class of 2028. Class of 2029 overall rate was 4.2%.
Harvard has withheld its Restrictive Early Action figures for two consecutive cycles. The last verified rate is 8.7% for the Class of 2028 (692 admitted from 7,921 applications, 83.1% deferral rate).
Harvard received 47,893 applications for the class that entered in Fall 2025. Three cycles earlier, for the class that entered in Fall 2022, it received 61,221. The gap between...
Harvard is no longer releasing data after early and regular action cycles. The university will now provide a single annual admissions data release each fall for the most complete view of the newly enrolled class.
Harvard University's acceptance rate for the Class of 2030 has dipped to 3.2 percent, marking a notable decline from the 4.2 percent recorded for the Class of 2029. Harvard now shares annual admissions data in the October/November timeframe.
The Justice Department opened a Title VI investigation into whether Harvard's China-funded financial aid programs discriminate against American students. The post DOJ Opens Civil Rights Investigation Into Harvard’s $630 Million In China-Based Funding appeared first on The College Investor.
Harvard's Class of 2030 acceptance rate dipped to 3.2%, down from 4.2% for Class of 2029. Harvard no longer publishes applicant totals at decision release, now shares data in October/November following federal reporting.
Harvard announced it will no longer release admissions data after each early action and regular action cycle. Instead, the university will provide a single, annual admissions data release each fall to offer the most complete view of the newly enrolled class and reduce confusion.
Harvard University's acceptance rate for the Class of 2030 has dipped to 3.2 percent, marking a notable decline from the 4.2 percent recorded for the Class of 2029. Harvard remains one of the most selective universities in the world.
Williams runs a peculiar economy. A college of 2,100 undergraduates in a small Berkshires town competes annually for cross-admits against Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, sits at or near the...
Harvard has shifted to releasing admissions data only once per year in the fall, rather than separately after Early Action and Regular Action rounds. The university says this provides 'the most complete view of the newly enrolled class' and reduces confusion.
Harvard University's acceptance rate for the Class of 2030 dipped to 3.2%, down from 4.2% for Class of 2029. Harvard now shares annual admissions data in October/November following mandatory reporting to the U.S. Department of Education, having stopped Ivy Day data releases.
Harvard's Class of 2029 admitted 2,003 students from 47,893 applicants for a 4.2% acceptance rate, with an 83.6% yield rate. Harvard has not released Ivy Day stats since the Class of 2029 cycle.
Harvard released Class of 2030 decisions on March 26, 2026 but did not publish applicant totals or an official acceptance rate, marking the second year Harvard chose not to release Ivy Day admissions statistics.
Harvard's acceptance rate for the 2026 entry cycle is approximately 3.2%. Harvard does not offer merit-based scholarships; all financial aid is need-based and the university meets 100% of demonstrated financial need.
Harvard admitted approximately 3.65% of applicants, the lowest acceptance rate in Harvard's history and one of the lowest among all U.S. colleges. Uses Common Application; most admitted students rank in top 5% of class with SAT 1480-1580.
Harvard University – 4.18%
Every admissions cycle, families search for shorthand ways to understand prestige.
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s dismantling of affirmative action programs, many wondered just what colleges would do to try to achieve racial diversity in their student bodies.