Harvard College
Type | Private undergraduate college |
---|---|
Established | 1636 |
Parent institution | Harvard University |
Dean | Rakesh Khurana |
Students | 6,755[1] |
Location | , , United States |
Campus | Urban |
Website | college |
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard College is Harvard University's traditional undergraduate program, offering AB (Bachelor of Arts) and SB (Bachelor of Science) degrees. It is highly selective, with fewer than four percent of applicants being offered admission as of 2022.[2][3]
Harvard College students participate in over 450 extracurricular organizations[4] and nearly all live on campus. First-year students reside in or near Harvard Yard and upperclass students reside in other on-campus housing.
History
Harvard College was founded in 1636 by vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony prior to having a single building, instructor, or student. Two years later, the college became home to North America's first known printing press, carried by the ship John of London.[6][7] Three years after its founding, on March 13, 1639, the college was renamed in honor of deceased
Harvard's first Headmaster was Nathaniel Eaton (1610–1674); in 1639, he also became its first instructor to be dismissed, for overstrict discipline.[8] The school's first students were graduated in 1642.
The Harvard Indian College was established, with the capacity for four or five Native Americans, and in 1665 Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck (c. 1643–1666) "from the Wampanoag … did graduate from Harvard, the first Indian to do so in the colonial period."[9]
The
Harvard College is currently responsible for undergraduate admissions, advising, housing, student life, athletics, and other undergraduate matters except instruction, which is the purview of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The body known as the President and Fellows of Harvard College retains its traditional name despite having governance of the entire university. Radcliffe College, established in 1879, originally paid Harvard faculty to repeat their lectures for women.[10] Since the 1970s, Harvard has been responsible for undergraduate matters for women, though women's Harvard diplomas were countersigned by the President of Radcliffe until a final merger in 1999.[11]
Admissions
Admission is based on academic prowess, extracurricular activities, and personal qualities. For the undergraduate class of 2025, Harvard had 57,435 applications and accepted 1,968 (3.4% acceptance rate). For the undergraduate class of 2023, the middle 50% range of SAT scores of enrolled freshmen was 710–770 for reading and writing and 750–800 for math, while the middle 50% range of the ACT composite score was 33–35. The average high school grade point average (
Harvard College ended its early admissions program in 2007, but for the class of 2016 and beyond, an early action program was reintroduced.[14] The freshman class that entered in the fall of 2017 was the first to be majority (50.8%) nonwhite.[15]
A federal lawsuit alleges that Harvard's admissions policies discriminate against Asian Americans, who tend to be overrepresented among students with high academic achievement.[16][17]
A 2019 district court decision in the case (which has since been appealed) found no evidence of explicit racial bias but did not rule out a small amount of
The median family income of Harvard students is $168,800, with 53% of students coming from the top 10% highest-earning families and 20% from the bottom 60%.[24]
As of 2019, Harvard College tuition was about $48,000 and total costs about $70,000. However, Harvard offers one of the most generous financial aid programs in the United States, with need-blind admission and 100% of financial need met for all students. Families with incomes below $85,000 pay nothing for their children to attend, while families earning up to $150,000 pay no more than 10% of their annual incomes. Financial aid is solely based on need; no merit or athletic scholarships are offered.[25]
Academics
The four-year, full-time undergraduate program has a liberal arts and sciences focus.[26][27] To graduate in the usual four years, undergraduates normally take four courses per semester.[28]
Midway through the second year, most undergraduates join one of fifty academic majors; many also declare a minor (secondary field). Joint majors (combining the requirements of two majors) and special majors (of the student's own design) are also possible.[27] Most majors lead to the Artium Baccalaureus (AB). Some award the Scientiae Baccalaureus (SB). There are also dual degree programs permitting students to earn both a Harvard AB and a Master of Music (MM) from either the New England Conservatory of Music or the Berklee College of Music over five years.[29]
In most majors, an honors degree requires advanced coursework and/or a senior thesis.[30]
Harvard College students must take a course in each of four General Education categories (Aesthetics and Culture; Ethics and Civics; Histories, Societies, Individuals; Science and Technology in Society)[31] as well as a course in each of three academic divisions (Arts and Humanities; Social Sciences; Science and Engineering and Applied Science). They must also fulfill foreign language, expository writing, and quantitative reasoning with data requirements.[31] Exposure to a range of intellectual areas in parallel with pursuit of a chosen major in depth fulfills the injunction of former Harvard president
Some introductory courses have large enrollments, but most courses are small: the median class size is 12 students.[33] Funding and faculty mentorship for research is available in all disciplines for undergraduates at all levels.[34]
Student life
House system
Nearly all undergraduates live on campus, for the first year in dormitories in or near Harvard Yard and later in the upperclass houses—administrative subdivisions of the college as well as living quarters, providing a sense of community in what might otherwise be a socially incohesive and administratively daunting university environment. Each house is presided over by two faculty deans, while its Allston Burr Resident Dean—usually a junior faculty member—supervises undergraduates' day-to-day academic and disciplinary well-being.
The faculty deans and resident dean are assisted by other members of the Senior
The houses were created by President Lowell in the 1930s to combat what he saw as pernicious social stratification engendered by the private, off-campus living arrangements of many undergraduates at that time. Lowell's solution was to provide every man—Harvard was male-only at the time—with on-campus accommodations throughout his time at the college; Lowell also saw great benefits in other features of the house system, such as the relaxed discussions—academic or otherwise—which he hoped would take place among undergraduates and members of the Senior Common Room over meals in each house's dining hall.[36]
How students come to live in particular houses has changed greatly over time. Under the original "draft" system, masters (now called "faculty deans") negotiated privately over the assignment of students.[citation needed] From the 1960s to the mid-1990s, each student ranked the houses according to personal preference, with a lottery resolving the oversubscription of more popular houses. Today, groups of one to eight freshmen form a block which is then assigned, essentially at random, to an upperclass house.
The nine "River Houses" are south of Harvard Yard, near the
Construction of the first houses began in 1929,[37] but the land on which they were built had been assembled decades before. After graduating from Harvard in 1895, Edward W. Forbes found himself inspired by the Oxford and Cambridge systems during two years of study in England; on returning to the United States he set out to acquire the land between Harvard Yard and the Charles River that was not already owned by Harvard or an associated entity. By 1918, that ambition had been largely fulfilled and the assembled land transferred to Harvard.[41][42]
The three
Student government
The Harvard Undergraduate Council (UC) was the student government of Harvard College until it was abolished by a student referendum in 2022.[44] It was replaced by the Harvard Undergraduate Association (HUA).[45]
Athletics
The
Harvard's athletic rivalry with Yale is intense in every sport in which they meet, coming to a climax each fall in the annual football meeting, which dates back to 1875 and is usually called simply "The Game". While Harvard's football team is no longer one of the best as it was in football's early days, both Harvard and Yale have influenced the way the game is played. In 1903, Harvard Stadium introduced a new era into football with the first permanent reinforced concrete stadium of its kind in the country.[49][50]
Even older than Harvard–Yale football rivalry, the Harvard–Yale Regatta is held each June on the
The school color is crimson, which is also the name of Harvard's sports teams and the student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson. The color was unofficially adopted (in preference to magenta) by an 1875 vote of the student body, although the association with some form of red can be traced back to 1858, when Charles William Eliot, a young graduate student who would later become Harvard's 21st and longest-serving president (1869–1909), bought red bandanas for his crew so they could more easily be distinguished by spectators at a regatta.[52]
Fight songs
Harvard has several fight songs, the most played of which, especially at football, are "
Athletics history
By the late 19th century, critics of intercollegiate athletics, including Harvard president Charles William Eliot, believed that sports had become over-commercialized and took students away from their studies. They called for limitations on all sports. This opposition prompted Harvard's athletic committee to target "minor" sports—basketball and hockey—for reform in order to deflect attention from the major sports: football, baseball, track, and crew. The committee made it difficult for the basketball team to operate by denying financial assistance and limiting the number of overnight away games in which the team could participate.
Student organizations
Harvard has more than 450 undergraduate student organizations.[4][53] The Phillips Brooks House Association acts as an umbrella service organization.
Notable alumni
-
Minister, author, and pamphleteer Cotton Mather (AB, 1678)
-
Philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson (AB, 1821)
-
Naturalist, poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau (AB, 1837)
-
US supreme court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (AB, 1861)
-
Philosopher and mathematician Charles Sanders Peirce (AB, 1862)
-
Author, political activist, and lecturer Helen Keller (AB, 1904, Radcliffe College)
-
Poet and Nobel laureate in literature T. S. Eliot (AB, 1909)
-
Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (AB, 1925)
-
Composer Leonard Bernstein (AB, 1939)
-
US secretary of state and Nobel laureate in peace Henry Kissinger (AB, 1950)
-
US vice president and Nobel laureate in peace Al Gore (AB, 1969)
-
US senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (AB, 1971)
-
11th and 13th Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto (AB, 1973, Radcliffe College)
-
Philosopher, political activist, and social critic Cornel West (AB, 1973)
-
US attorney general Merrick Garland (AB, 1974)
-
Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke (AB, 1975)
-
US supreme court chief justice John Roberts (AB, 1976)
-
Microsoft founder Bill Gates (1977)[b]
-
US secretary of state Antony Blinken (AB, 1984)
-
Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg (2006)[b]
-
Basketball player Jeremy Lin (AB, 2010)
Footnotes
References
- ^ a b "Common Data Set 2019–2020" (PDF). Office of Institutional Research. Harvard University. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
- ^ "Record-Low 4.59 Percent of Applicants Accepted to Harvard Class of 2022". The Harvard Crimson. March 29, 2018. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
- ^ "Record-Low 4.5 Percent of Harvard College Applicants Accepted to Class of 2023". The Harvard Crimson. March 29, 2019. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
- ^ a b "Student Activities". Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
- ^ Clipping from The Harvard Bulletin, on discovery of southeast corner of original Harvard College building during subway excavations, 1910. Records of early Harvard buildings, 1710-1969, UAI 15.10.5, Box: 1, Folder: 8. Harvard University Archives
- ^ "The instrument behind New England's first literary flowering". Harvard University. March 8, 2012. Archived from the original on July 11, 2016. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
- ^ "Rowley and Ezekiel Rogers, The First North American Printing Press" (PDF). Maritime Historical Studies Centre, University of Hull. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
- ^ Samuel Eliot Morison, Three Centuries of Harvard, 1636–1936 (1986)
- ^ Monaghan, E. J., 2005, p. 55, 59
- ISBN 1403960984.
- ^ Radcliffe Enters Historic Merger With Harvard. The Harvard Crimson (Report). Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
- ^ Menz, Petey. "The Real 1%: Harvard Admits 15 Transfer Students". The Harvard Crimson. Archived from the original on April 9, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
- ^ "NMSC 2018–2019 Annual Report" (PDF). National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
- ^ Finder, Alan; Arenson, Karen W. (September 12, 2006). "Harvard Ends Early Admission". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
- ^ Fernandes, Deirdre (August 3, 2017). "The majority of Harvard's incoming class is nonwhite". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
- ^ "Harvard's Ongoing Anti-Asian-American Micro-Aggression". National Review. June 19, 2018. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
- ^ "A lawsuit reveals how peculiar Harvard's definition of merit is". The Economist. Archived from the original on July 17, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
- ^ "Harvard Won a Key Affirmative Action Battle. But the War's Not Over". The New York Times. October 2, 2019. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
- ^ "Local Reaction To The Ruling In The Harvard Admission's Case". Archived from the original on December 29, 2019. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
- ^ "In Wake of Admissions Lawsuit Decision, Khurana Agrees Harvard Must Become Aware of Biases". The Crimson. October 23, 2019. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
- ^ Golden, Daniel (January 15, 2003). "Admissions Preferences Given to Alumni Children Draws Fire". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on August 12, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
- ISBN 1-4000-9796-7.
- ^ Todd, Sarah (September 24, 2019). "A new statistic reveals the startling privilege of white kids admitted to Harvard". Quartz. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
- ^ Aisch, Gregor; Buchanan, Larry; Cox, Amanda; Quealy, Kevin (January 18, 2017). "Economic diversity and student outcomes at Harvard". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 9, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ^ "How Aid Works". Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
- ^ "Carnegie Classifications – Harvard University". The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Archived from the original on August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
- ^ a b "Liberal Arts & Sciences". Harvard College. Archived from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
- ^ "The Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science Degrees". Harvard College. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
- ^ "Dual Degree Music Programs". Harvard College. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
- ^ "Academic Information: The Concentration Requirement". Handbook for Students. Harvard College. Archived from the original on December 5, 2010. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
- ^ a b "Requirements". Archived from the original on December 13, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
- ISBN 9781586485375.
- ^ "How large are classes?". Harvard College. Archived from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
- ^ "Research". Harvard College. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
- ^ Harvard College Office of Residential Life (2008). "History of the House System". Retrieved April 20, 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Morison, Samuel Eliot (1936). Three Centuries of Harvard: 1636–1936. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press. pp. 476–478.
- ^ ISBN 9780674377332.
- ^ "Gifts – 1928–1929" (Press release). Harvard University News Office. June 20, 1929. HU 37.5, Harvard University Archives, Cambridge, Massachusetts "This figure [of gifts and legacies received during the year] includes $5,444,000 received from E. S. Harkness to defray the expenses of constructing the first Harvard houses."
- ^ John B. Fox Jr. (2007). The Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, 1686–1933. President and Fellows of Harvard College. p. 142.
- ^ "Harkness and History". Harvard Magazine. November 2013. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
- ^ Lowe, Charles U. "The Forbes Story of the Harvard Riverside Associates: How Harvard Acquired the Land on which Lowell House was Built", February 20, 2002.lowell.harvard.edu Archived 2010-04-09 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Sacks, Benjamin J. "Harvard's 'Constructed Utopia' and the Culture of Deception: the Expansion toward the Charles River, 1902–1932", The New England Quarterly 84.2 (June 2011): 286–317.[1] Archived 2019-04-18 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Sofen, Adam A. "Radcliffe Enters Historic Merger With Harvard, April 21, 1999.[2] Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Harvard Students Vote Overwhelmingly to Dissolve Undergraduate Council in Favor of New Student Government | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
- ^ "Estabine and Johnson Elected as First Co-Presidents of the Harvard Undergraduate Association | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
- ^ "Harvard : Women's Rugby Becomes 42nd Varsity Sport at Harvard University". Gocrimson.com. August 9, 2012. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
- ^ "Yale and Harvard Defeat Oxford/Cambridge Team". Yale University Athletics. Archived from the original on October 13, 2011. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
- ^ "The Harvard Guide: Financial Aid at Harvard". Harvard University. September 2, 2006. Archived from the original on September 2, 2006. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
- ^ "History of American Football". Newsdial.com. Archived from the original on September 25, 2010. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
- ^ Nelson, David M., Anatomy of a Game: Football, the Rules, and the Men Who Made the Game, 1994, pp. 127–128
- ^ "Teammates for Life". Harvard Magazine. June 5, 2015. Archived from the original on December 15, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
- ^ https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2002/4/11/harvard-explained-why-is-crimson-harvards/
- The President and Fellows of Harvard College. Harvard College. Archivedfrom the original on January 12, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
- ^ Barzilay, Karen N. "The Education of John Adams". Massachusetts Historical Society. Archived from the original on July 26, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
- ^ "John Quincy Adams". The White House. Archived from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
- ^ Hogan, Margaret A. (October 4, 2016). "John Quincy Adams: Life Before the Presidency". Miller Center. Archived from the original on August 12, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
- ^ "Theodore Roosevelt - Biographical". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on September 5, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
- ^ Leuchtenburg, William E. (October 4, 2016). "Franklin D. Roosevelt: Life Before the Presidency". Miller Center. Archived from the original on August 13, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
- ^ J. Selverstone, Marc (October 4, 2016). "John F. Kennedy: Life Before the Presidency". Miller Center. Archived from the original on August 12, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
Further reading
- King, M. (1884). Harvard and Its Surroundings. Cambridge: Moses King.
- Monaghan, E. J. (2005). Learning to Read and Write in Colonial America. Boston: UMass Press.