Applicant – prospective students
Those seeking funding must complete the Harvard Chan financial aid application process, as academic departments and programs rely heavily on the information you provide the Office of Financial Aid.
Am I eligible for grant/scholarship aid?
We encourage all applicants (domestic, international, and undocumented) in eligible degree programs to complete our grant/scholarship application regardless of their level of financial need. However, if you are a Harvard employee and plan to use the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) for your studies at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health, you are ineligible for grant/scholarship.
International and domestic students are eligible for the same types of Harvard Chan grant/scholarship funding.
Applicants in the following programs are not eligible to apply for institutional grants/scholarships.
PhD and Harvard Chan Dual/Joint Degree Applicants, please visit our website for more information.
How can I apply to the Harvard Chan Grant/Scholarship Application?
The Harvard Chan Grant/Scholarship Application will be available early December. If you have not yet received an email with instructions on how to log in to MyFinaid and complete your Harvard Chan Grant/Scholarship application, first make sure that your SOPHAS application is complete.
If your SOPHAS application is complete, check for an email from Admissions Office with the subject line: Action Required: Harvard Chan School Applicant Credentials and an email from the Financial Aid Office with subject line: Harvard Chan – OFA – MyFinaid Access. Please contact our office if you have not received this email by December 15, 2023
If your SOPHAS application is complete and you still have not received either email, you can expect to receive both of these emails on January 2nd, 2024.
When is your application deadline? Is it flexible?
The application deadline is on January 8, 2024, and there is no flexibility.
This will be your only opportunity to apply for Harvard Chan School grant/scholarship aid, even if you are applying to a multi-year program.
I am unable to submit the application
If you are trying to submit the Harvard Chan Grant/Scholarship Application and are getting the following error message: “System Error, contact your IT department for help… We apologize for the inconvenience. Contact the financial aid office if you still have problems using this application. Thank you for visiting our site. Error Message: Object reference not set to an instance of an object” please see below:
The most common reason is that you did not fill out a required (*) question. Even if the answer is “0” you will have to enter that into the form to submit. Please double check that all questions are answered.
If you are still having issues, please send a screenshot of the error you are experiencing to our office at, financialaid@hsph.harvard.edu and we will be sure to resolve it prior to the deadline.
I am experiencing Harvard Key Issue
If you receive the following error message when trying to log in: “Your MFA provider has denied your attempt at second-factor authentication. Contact your system administrator for help in restoring your account” and need help claiming your HarvardKey or are entering invalid login ID and/or password, please contact the IT Helpdesk at helpdesk@hsph.harvard.edu or (617) 432-4357(HELP).
What information do I need to complete the Harvard Chan Grant/Scholarship Application?
The Harvard Chan Grant/Scholarship Application is a short application that will collect some general, income, savings, and assets information from you. You will need to provide information on your 2023 income. It does not allow for the submission of documents or long text responses.
In addition, if you are a domestic student (except MPH-EPI applicants), in order to provide a complete financial aid package at the time of admission, we strongly encourage applicants to complete FAFSA by the January 8th deadline.
How do I submit my statement for the overcoming disadvantage and adversity (Louis & Ida Tatelman) Award?
If you plan to submit a statement on overcoming disadvantage and adversity, you will be able to upload a 1–2-page essay through MyFinaid. After you submit your application, refresh your webpage, or log out and log back in. The upload feature will be located under your main page or by navigating your menu bar to documents and messages.
Am I eligible for federal aid? Do I need to complete the FAFSA?
Domestic students in eligible programs can complete the 2024-2025 FAFSA to be evaluated for federal aid (unsubsidized loans and/or Federal Work Study).
International students are not eligible for federal aid and do not need to complete the FAFSA.
Other Scholarship Opportunities? External Aid?
Our office has information on other Harvard Funding Opportunities with separate applications and External Scholarship Resources. The page on external scholarship also includes tips from a former student on how to go about searching. We have compiled the resources we are aware of and encourage applicants to do their own searches.
I submitted my FAFSA, but it is still showing as “Not Received” in MyFinaid?
If you submitted your 2024-2025 FAFSA in the last 3-5 business days, it is likely that our office has not received it yet. In the meantime, you can log in to your Federal Student Aid account to check the status of your submission and verify that you included the correct school code (E00214 – Harvard School of Public Health).
Please be aware that our office is closed for Winter Break from 5pm ET (Eastern Time) on December 21st through 9am ET on January 2nd. No FAFSAs (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) are going to be received during that time. We recommend following the step above to verify that you selected the correct school code.
When will I know if I received scholarship support from the program?
Notifications can be expected at the time of admission.
Admitted – incoming students
Scholarship and Fellowship opportunities at Harvard Chan are regretfully limited. We recognize many students have financial needs which we are not able to meet. At Harvard, each school has its own independent endowment. While some Harvard schools have been in existence for centuries, others like Harvard Chan were established recently and have limited endowments and thus modest resources for providing scholarships and fellowships.
If you’ve received your admissions decision and are having difficulty finding your financial aid letter, we encourage you to watch our instructional video for guidance on the process and/or refer to the following:
After viewing your Admissions decision letter, there should be a “Next” button at the bottom that will take you to your Admitted Student Portal. Once there, you should see a section for Financial Aid with a button that says “View Your Financial Aid Letter”. That button should take you to your financial aid decision. If you are still unable to view your financial aid information, please contact the Office of Financial Aid at financialaid@hsph.harvard.edu.
Is my financial aid offer final?
Yes, the notification you have received reflects your final offer.
Can I appeal my financial aid offer?
No, we do not have an appeal process. Regrettably, due to limited resources, we are unable to provide funding to many qualified candidates and are unable to match offers made by other institutions; funding at our school is extremely limited.
Why does my financial aid offer only include loans?
As scholarship funding is limited, we are unable to provide grant assistance to many applicants. Federal loans represent one option for assisting with your educational expenses.
For international students, information on educational loan borrowing options is available separately. If you would like to pursue that option, our office can guide you through the process. We highly recommend exploring external funding opportunities in general, and in your home country to see what options are available.
Why does my financial aid offer not cover my full cost of attendance?
If you are a domestic student who completed the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), we have only included your eligibility for Direct Unsubsidized Loans and Federal Work Study (if applicable). You can apply for a Federal Direct GradPLUS loan through StudentAid.gov to cover the remaining cost. The application for 2024-2025 academic year will be available in late May.
If you are an international student, if you are interested in borrowing educational loans, you will need to first apply and then notify our office. Please note that private student loans for international students have annual limits that may be significantly lower than the total cost of attendance. If you plan to borrow through multiple lenders, you must notify each lender as it may impact your eligibility to borrow.
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Programs
Master of Public Health
All financial aid decisions are final; if you wish to discuss your personal circumstances, please contact the Office of Financial Aid at financialaid@hsph.harvard.edu.
Master of Science
All financial aid decisions are final; if you wish to discuss your personal circumstances, please contact your departmental administrator.
Biostatistics – Jelena T. Follweiler at jtillots@hsph.harvard.edu
Environmental Health – Bianca Quinones at envhlth@hsph.harvard.edu.
Epidemiology – Caroline Huntington at chunting@hsph.harvard.edu
Global Health and Population – Barbara Heil or Allison Conary at ghp@hsph.harvard.edu
Health Policy and Management – Jennifer Moltoni at hpm@hsph.harvard.edu
Nutrition – Stefanie Dean at nutritionprograms@hsph.harvard.edu
Social and Behavioral Sciences – Elizabeth Solomon or Whitney Waddell at sbs@hsph.harvard.edu
Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)
Students with financial need (as determined by Harvard Chan School of Public Health) are eligible to receive 50% tuition awards for the first two years of their program. There is no merit-based aid offered.
Important Considerations
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- Applicants given verbal offers of funding by academic departments or programs should request confirmation in writing
- Unless otherwise specified, renewals of funding for subsequent years may not be guaranteed
- Funding may not be guaranteed if a student changes their program, degree, or department
- Changes in enrollment status (i.e., full- to part-time), may result in adjusted funding levels
