Quad

Head-to-head

Penn
Harvard

Key differences

The biggest gaps between these schools, largest first.

  1. 1

    Harvard's yield is 16 pts higher than Penn's

    Yield rate
  2. 2

    Harvard costs about $7.2K less per year on average than Penn ($48,312 vs. $55,554, all students)

    Average cost, all students
  3. 3

    Penn grads earn $9.6K more ten years out than Harvard's ($111,371 vs. $101,817)

    Median earnings, 10 yrs
  4. 4

    Harvard has 7 pts more first-gen students than Penn (26% vs. 19%)

    First-generation students
  5. 5

    Harvard's grants cover 44% of its full price on average, vs. 38% at Penn

    Aid generosity
  6. 6

    Penn is a bit larger (10,650 vs. 7,601)

    Undergrads

The shape of each school

Each axis is a national rank among 4-year colleges; further out = more of it.

SelectivityTest scoresSizePell shareFirst-genDiversity

Who's hardest to get into

Harvard admits 4.2%, Penn 5.4%; Harvard's yield is higher, at 84%.

Acceptance rate
Penn5.4%
Harvard4.2%
Quad's selectivity
  • PennUltra selective
  • HarvardUltra selective
SAT middle 50%Axis 1300–1600
Penn
1510–1570
Harvard
1450–1560
How they read a recordfirst-years at 3.75+
  • PennGPA and school record required
  • HarvardRigor, GPA, and tests consideredweighted GPAs

Who's on each campus

Penn is a bit larger than Harvard (10,650 vs. 7,601 undergrads) and has the larger Pell share.

Undergrads
Penn10.7K
Harvard7.6K
Pell Grant share
Penn17%
Harvard16%

Majors and faculty

Financial Analytics leads at Penn, and Econometrics and Quantitative Economics at Harvard; Harvard has 7 students per faculty member to Penn's 8.

Students per faculty member
Penn8 to 1
Harvard7 to 1
Most popular majorshare of graduates
  • PennFinancial Analytics12%
  • HarvardEconometrics and Quantitative Economics13%

What each costs

Harvard costs about $7.2K less a year than Penn on average, and its grants cover the larger share of its price.

Average cost, all students
Penn$55.6K
Harvard$48.3K
Aid generosity
Penn38%
Harvard44%

What each pays off

Penn's former students earn more, a median $111.4K ten years after enrolling; both graduate more than 90% within six years.

Median earnings, 10 years
Penn$111.4K
Harvard$101.8K
Graduation rate
Penn97%
Harvard98%

How each has changed

Applications grew at both; Penn got more selective while Harvard held steady.

Applications, 10-year change
  • PennGrowing+82%
  • HarvardGrowing+57%
All the numbersEvery figure for these colleges in one table, with differences highlighted.
Sources for this comparisonEvery dataset and year behind the numbers in this comparison; tap any ⓘ for one number's source

Sources:IPEDS Admissions survey, Fall 2024;College Scorecard, Fall 2024;College Scorecard, most recent release;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey, 2023–24;IPEDS Student Financial Aid survey, 2023–24;College Scorecard, Entered fall 2023;IPEDS Fall Enrollment survey (part D), Fall 2024;IPEDS Completions survey (degrees awarded by field), 2024–25 graduates;College Scorecard, 2023–24;IPEDS Graduation Rates survey (Pell Grant and subsidized loan recipients), Entered fall 2018;Harvard University (Fall 2025), Fall 2025;Harvard University Common Data Set 2025–26, Fall 2025;Harvard University Common Data Set 2025–26, Fall 2027 applicants;Harvard University Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2024About the data(retrieved 2026-10-12)

Figures are the newest each college has published; years can differ between colleges. Each value's ⓘ shows its source and year. Why