Overview
Harvard University is a complex of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and nine other professional and graduate faculties. The FAS comprises Harvard College and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the oldest college in the United States. Founded in 1872, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is the largest graduate institution in the University.

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences has an enrollment of nearly 3600. The student body is extremely diverse. Approximately 28 percent of the students are international; 44 percent are women. Approximately 24 percent are in humanities programs, while some 45 percent are in natural sciences and 31 percent in social sciences. Asian Americans constitute more than 4 percent of the student body, while the underrepresented minority community is nearly 10 percent. The wide range of interests of the students is reflected in a variety of organizations and activities.

The Location and Community
Most facilities of the University are located in Cambridge, adjacent to Boston. The two cities and their environs offer wide cultural and recreational opportunities. The University itself has excellent athletic facilities and sponsors numerous arts and public affairs activities. Within the area are many opportunities for public service. Other resources include museums, music, drama, dance, and sports. Recreational areas on the Atlantic coast and in the mountains and forests of New England are easily accessible.

Programs of Study and Degree Requirements
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences offers master’s and Ph.D. degrees under fifty-five departments, committees, and divisions within the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS). It also offers a joint M.D./Ph.D. program in cooperation with the Harvard Medical School and a special program in Health Science and Technology with the Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A list of departments is presented on the following page. In many departments, the master’s degree is awarded only in progress to the doctorate, and applications for the master’s degree only are not accepted. Common to all programs are a residence requirement, a tuition requirement, and a requirement of continuous registration from admission until completion of the degree program. Candidates for a master’s degree must complete a minimum of one year of full-time study in residence at full tuition (see below). The requirements for the Ph.D. vary considerably from subject to subject, but in all departments a minimum of two years of full-time study in residence at full tuition is required. Candidates for the Ph.D. are normally expected to demonstrate language proficiency, pass general or qualifying examinations, and write a thesis based on original research. Application forms and pamphlets describing the requirements and programs of particular departments may be obtained from the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid.

Facilities & Resources
The University offers outstanding resources for study and research. The University library system has holdings of more than 11 million volumes and is composed of three main libraries—Widener Memorial, Lamont, and Hilles—and more than ninety other collections. These include special libraries in rare books and manuscripts, art, science, geology, Asian studies, government, music, and anthropology, and separate libraries in many departments and research institutes. Several computing facilities with DEC and IBM mainframes and microcomputers are available for research, computing, thesis work, and word processing. Special research facilities in the sciences include the Center for Astrophysics, which combines the Harvard Observatory and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory; the Center for Earth and Planetary Sciences; the Harvard Forest; the University Herbaria; and laboratories in chemistry, biology, biochemistry, physics, applied sciences, anthropology, and medical sciences. Facilities and institutes in the social sciences and humanities include the Harvard-Yenching Institute, the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute for Japanese Studies, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the Center for Jewish Studies, the Center for the Study of World Religions, the Center for European Studies, the Ukrainian Research Institute, the Russian Research Center, the Committee on Latin American and Iberian Studies, the Committee on African Studies, the Harvard Institute for International Development, the Center for International Affairs, the Center for American Political Studies, the W. E. B. DuBois Institute for Afro-American Studies, the Center for Urban Studies, the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, and the Loeb Drama Center. The University museums are also available for research and study: these include the Fogg and Arthur M. Sackler art museums, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, the Semitic Museum, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, the Botanical Museum, and the Mineralogical Museum. Research affiliations are maintained with a variety of other institutions, including the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, the Arnold Arboretum, Dumbarton Oaks Library, the Center for Hellenic Studies, and Villa i Tatti.

Expenses and Aid
All students must register for full-time study. For the academic year, tuition and fees are approximately $34,280 for those in the first two years of study. Reduced tuition of $12,000 is charged to students in the third and fourth years. Those in later years pay a facilities fee of $4,430 per year if they are in residence. A health insurance fee of $1,370 per year is included in the cost for students in residence. Students on leave to conduct research and advanced students living outside the Cambridge area pay an active file fee of $300 per year.

Financial Aid:
Assistance is available through Harvard and outside fellowships, assistantships, federal work-study, and loans. Financial aid is awarded based on both merit and need, as determined by the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid. Most admitted students are guaranteed full support for two or more years of study. In the third and following years, most students can support themselves through teaching and research. If necessary, loan funds are usually available to supplement these sources.

Housing/Living Expenses:
The standard student budget reflects the cost of living in the Boston area. The average ten-month budget for a single student is approximately $19,800. Dormitory rooms rent for $4,956 to $8003 per year; board is available at an additional cost in some cases. Rents for University-owned apartments range from $977 to $2,873 per month.

How to Apply / Application
Students are admitted to graduate study only at the beginning of the academic year; there are no admissions for the spring term. The application deadlines are: most natural sciences, December 8 or December 15; most social sciences and humanities, December 15 or January 3. The application fee is $90.

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