College Admits 7.5 Percent of Early Applicants

The class of 2027 begins to take shape.

Memorial Church in Harvard Yard

Memorial Church in Harvard Yard | Photograph by Niko Yaitanes/Harvard Magazine

Today, 722 of 9,553 early-action applicants were admitted to the College class of 2027. This 7.5 percent acceptance rate is slightly lower than last year’s 7.9 percent.

Of the admitted cohort, 14 percent come from first-generation college backgrounds, up from the nearly 12 percent last year, and 10.8 percent are eligible for federal Pell Grants—for which lower-income families qualify. African Americans comprised 14.4 percent of the class (up from 13.9 percent last year), Asian Americans 29.1 percent (up from 25.9 percent last year), Latinx 8.4 percent (down from 10.5 percent last year), and Native Americans and Native Hawaiians 1.7 percent (down from 3.7 percent last year). International students comprised 14.1 percent of those admitted today—an increase from last year’s 12.6 percent.

This is the third admissions cycle for which Harvard has not required SAT or ACT standardized test scores in its application, due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s continued effect on access to testing for high-school students. The College will continue to make score-reporting optional for the admitted classes through 2030.

The class of 2027 is the second admitted cohort to receive expanded financial aid packages under the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative (HFAI) for low- and middle-income families. The full cost of attending Harvard—including tuition, housing and food, and all fees—is free for international and domestic families with annual incomes below $75,000, increased from the $65,000 threshold of previous years. 

Students were notified of early action decisions at 7 p.m. today, and those admitted are not obligated to attend. They have until May 1 to make their final decision. All students deferred in early action will be reconsidered during the regular action cycle, with those decisions slated for March 30, 2023.

The College plans to welcome admitted students for an in-person Visitas weekend this spring, April 23-24.

Read more articles by Nancy Walecki

You might also like

Graduate Student Union Schedules Strike

The work stoppage will begin October 27, unless a final bargaining session next week yields an agreement.

Harvard Stabilizes Finances With Strong Endowment Returns, Philanthropy

Small operating surplus is dwarfed by reduced federal research support and endowment tax liabilities.

Harvard Graduate Student Union Authorizes Another Strike

The University warns this walkout may not be protected by labor law, an assertion the union disputes.

Most popular

Three Harvard Unions Move Toward Strikes

Dining employees, academic workers unions join graduate students in threatening a walkout.

To Promote Healthy Habits in Patients, Start With the Doctors

Why Harvard Medical School is training physicians to think more like coaches

Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College?

Historian Alexander Keyssar on why the unpopular institution has prevailed 

Explore More From Current Issue

Two fans celebrate in front of a TV showing a football game.

A new Harvard Kennedy School project aims to harness the power of feral fandom.

Illuminated hanging sculptures resembling organic forms, casting warm light in a dim space.

Artists Enzo Camacho and Ami Lien turn a colonial symbol from Cambodia inside out.

Ancient Egyptian painted sarcophagus with detailed hieroglyphs and a woman's face.

A rare Egyptian mummy case is on display at the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East.