Where the Students Are

At each Commencement, Harvard confers 6,500 or so degrees, on everyone from College students who have navigated their undergraduate years to...

At each Commencement, Harvard confers 6,500 or so degrees, on everyone from College students who have navigated their undergraduate years to those who have mastered architecture, medicine, law, or business. But the Univeristy consists, famously, of separate “tubs” devoted to distinct kinds of teaching and research. As if one could not tell from the relative amount of noise the graduates make or the flurries of totems they wield in Tercentenary Theatre (toothbrushes, school books, sharks, condom balloons, currency), Harvard’s schools vary widely in enrollment. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences, acting as College and Graduate School, accounts for about half of the University’s student body. Dental Medicine is the smallest school. Taken as a whole, the Extension School ranks right in the middle.

Illustrated chart by Stephen Anderson

Most popular

Harvard Faculty Approve a Cap on A Grades

Reforms to reduce grade inflation will take effect in the fall of 2027.

Harvard Alumni and Faculty Win Six Pulitzer Prizes

Winners include Jill Lepore, Bess Wohl, Pablo Torre, and Hannah Natanson.

Meet Harvard’s 2026 Student Commencement Speakers

Two undergraduates and a Ph.D. candidate will address the graduating class on May 28.

Explore More From Current Issue

A colorful hummingbird hovering by vibrant flowers.

Discoveries

Short takes on cutting-edge research

A woman with long hair leans on a table, looking out a large window with rain-streaked glass.

A Harvard Economist Probes the Affordable Housing Crisis

From understanding gender pay gaps to the housing crisis, Rebecca Diamond’s research aims to improve lives.

Historical battle scene with soldiers in red and blue uniforms, flags waving, chaotic action.

The Harvard-Trained Doctor Who Urged a Revolution

Before his heroic death, General Joseph Warren was dubbed “the greatest incendiary in all of America.”