Prospective Students
Prospective Graduate Students

Funding & Scholarship: Graduate Programs

Financial support for Ph.D. students

  • All students admitted into our Ph.D. program receive full financial support.

  • This support includes tuition, fees, $1,004 in transportation and dental subsidies (as of AY24-25), and a cost-of-living stipend ($3655 per month in AY23-24 and $4083 per month before taxes in AY24-25).

Support is independent of need provided a student remains in good academic standing and is making satisfactory progress towards his/her Ph.D. degree. Students are expected to complete their Ph.D. requirements in four to six years.

Financial support takes several forms: fellowships, teaching fellowships, and research assistantships. Ordinarily, first-year Ph.D. students are supported with full fellowships so that they can devote their time to coursework.

For the classes entering in Fall 2024 and beyond: SEAS PhD students are expected to complete two sections of teaching in SEAS in their second year or spread across their second and third years. Both sections may be completed concurrently in a single course. Their research assistantship will be adjusted accordingly during the semester(s) in which they are teaching fellow (TF). The academic requirement for the PhD degree is one section of teaching in SEAS. The student and their research advisor may arrange to replace the second section of teaching with a research assistantship.

Beyond the first year, when students are in a better position to teach and assist in research, support is ordinarily provided through research assistantships, or a combination of a teaching fellowship and a research assistantship.

For more detailed information, please visit the following pages:
GSAS Tuition and Fees 
GSAS Financial Support for PhD Students

External financial support for Ph.D. students

Applicants and current students are encouraged and expected to apply for all non-Harvard scholarships for which they are eligible, especially those offered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program and National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG). 

Each year, many SEAS students secure fellowships from external agencies.  Should an incoming student be awarded and accept any fellowship external to Harvard, it is the expectation that the student will utilize these funds in the first year of study in place of Harvard funding.   In advanced (G2+) years in the graduate program, students with external fellowships are advised to have a discussion with their financial aid officers from Harvard Griffin GSAS and SEAS about how to best utilize the remaining years of funding based on their activities and academic requirements.

To ensure equitable treatment of all students, the coordination of external award benefits with a student’s existing funding package is determined by the Harvard Griffin GSAS financial aid officer in consultation with SEAS.

Currently, PhD students with external support are eligible for a SEAS-sponsored academic incentive.  PhD students who bring in open, competitive external fellowships that are equal to 50% or more of total their support (tuition/fees + stipend) will receive a supplemental award of $3,000 in the first year of the external fellowship.  PhD students who bring in open external competitive external fellowships that are not 50% or more of their total support and are at least $10,000 (tuition/fees + stipend or salary) will receive a supplemental award of $1,000.  The full $3,000 bonus may also be awarded in certain cases of multi-year fellowships depending on the total amount of support provided.This policy is subject to review and change.

Financial support for terminal masters students (M.E. & S.M.)

While financial aid is not available for master’s students in our M.E. and S.M. programs, there are a variety of funding opportunities available. Prospective students are encouraged to apply for independent grants and fellowships to fund their studies. 

Information about tuition and fees can be found here. Students in our Computational Science & Engineering or Data Science programs-should visit this page and also may contact the GSAS Financial Aid Office to learn more.

Students in the MS/MBA:Engineering Sciences program are eligible to apply for need-based HBS Fellowships and student loans in both years of the program.