Harvard University

Undergraduate and graduate funding at Harvard run on completely different logic, and mixing them up is the most common mistake applicants make. For Harvard College, the model is need-based aid rather than merit scholarships. The university commits to meeting the full demonstrated need of every admitted undergraduate, including international students, which means the award is built from your family's finances, not from an essay or a separate scholarship application.

Graduate study works the other way. Doctoral programs across Harvard's schools typically fund their students through a combination of teaching and research appointments and fellowship support, and the school or department is the one that decides. Professional and master's degrees are less predictable: some have named scholarships, some offer partial awards, and some expect students to fund themselves or use external scholarships. The records below sit mostly in that graduate and named-award space, so the funding type on each card matters more than the university's general reputation.

If you are comparing several awards, check two things on each record: who the provider is, since that tells you whether the money comes from a school, a department or an outside foundation, and whether the card says fully funded or partial. Harvard's own financial aid and school websites are where you confirm the numbers, because they change more often than the stories about them.