Harvard at a Glance
General information »
Established
1636
Faculty
About 2,100 faculty members and more than 10,000 academic appointments in affiliated teaching hospitals
Students
Harvard College — About 6,700
Graduate and professional students — About 13,600
Total — About 20,000
School color
Crimson
Living alumni
More than 320,000, over 270,000 in the U.S., nearly 50,000 in some 191 other countries
Nobel laureates
43 current and former faculty members
Motto
Veritas (Latin for “truth”)
Real estate holdings
4,979 acres
Library collection
About 16.2 million volumes
Faculties, schools, and an institute
Harvard University is made up of 11 principal academic units — ten faculties and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. The ten faculties oversee schools and divisions that offer courses and award academic degrees.
Undergraduate Cost (2009-10 academic year)
Tuition — $33,696
Total including room, board, student service fees — $48,868
Financial aid (2009-10 academic year)
Nearly $41,000 average total aid package
University Professors
22 ‘individuals of distinction’ »
Harvard University President
Drew Gilpin Faust
University income (Fiscal Year 2008)
$3,482,317,000
University expenses (Fiscal Year 2008)
$3,464,893,000
Endowment (Fiscal Year 2008)
$36.9 billion
Harvard seal
Naming
The name Harvard comes from the college’s first benefactor, the young minister John Harvard of Charlestown. Upon his death in 1638, he left half his estate to the institution established in 1636 by vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
More Information
These numbers come from many sources, including the Harvard University Fact Book and the Annual Financial Report to the Board of Overseers of Harvard College. The Frequently Asked Question about numbers and statistics links to additional sources.