Harvard Business School Expands Financial Aid

Ten percent of MBA students to receive full tuition scholarships

Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School

Photograph by Niko Yaitanes/Harvard Magazine

Harvard Business School (HBS) announced Tuesday that, effective immediately, it would begin providing scholarships that cover the total cost of tuition and course fees ($75,990) to MBA students “with the greatest financial need”—a group that includes roughly 10 percent of the degree program’s current student body. In addition, HBS will offer need-based scholarships to a larger number of students from middle-income backgrounds by expanding eligibility; currently about half of MBA students already receive need-based support, with awards ranging from $2,500 to $76,000 per year (the average for 2021-22 was $42,000). 

These changes are the most recent in a series of steps the school has taken during the past few years to make its two-year MBA program more affordable. Since 2019, HBS has held its tuition flat, and in 2020 the school revised its need-based formula to factor in socioeconomic background, along with personal income, assets, and undergraduate debt. In 2018, HBS created the Forward Fellowships, which provide $15,000 annually to lower-income MBA students who give financial support to family members while attending business school. In addition, HBS offers a need-based waiver of its $250 application fee. 

MBA students who qualify for need-based scholarships for tuition and fees will still have to pay their own living expenses, which average about $32,000 per year for single students in the Boston area. Between need-based and merit-based scholarships, HBS distributes about $43 million per year in aid. It’s need-based aid is the largest of any MBA program in the world. 

“Harvard Business School should be a place where the most talented future leaders can come to realize their potential,” said HBS Dean Srikant Datar in a press release announcing the aid expansion. “We know that talent is much more evenly distributed than opportunity.”

Read more articles by Lydialyle Gibson

You might also like

Harvard in the News

University layoffs, professors in court, and a new Law School dean

The Latest In Harvard’s Fight with the Trump Administration

Back-and-forth reports on settlement talks, new accusations from the government, and a reshuffling of two federal compliance offices

Harvard’s Summer in Court

What Columbia’s settlement means for the University

Most popular

How MAGA Went Mainstream at Harvard

Trump, TikTok, and the pandemic are reshaping Gen Z politics. 

Two Years of Doxxing at Harvard

What happens when students are publicly named and shamed for their views?

Why Harvard Needs International Students

An ed school professor on why global challenges demand global experiences

Explore More From Current Issue

Man splashing water on his face at outdoor fountain beside woman holding cup near stone building.

Why Heat Waves Make You Miserable

Scientists are studying how much heat and humidity the human body can take.

People sit in lawn chairs near a rustic barn at Cider Garden in New Salem on a sunny day.

CiderDays Festival Celebrates All Things Apple

Visiting small-batch cideries and orchards in Massachusetts

Man in gray sweater standing in hallway with colorful abstract art on wall.

How Do Single-Celled Organisms Learn and Remember?

A Harvard neuroscientist’s quest to model memory