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Cambridge, MA · Computer science

Computer science at Harvard

Harvard graduates about 183 computer science majors a year, 11% of its graduating class. That puts it 9th of 691 schools we score for computer science, a standout program at 97 out of 100. Graduates in the major earn a median $203,000 four years out, 1.90× what the same major pays nationally. Research spending in the field runs about $9 million a year, a rough guide to how many labs and projects undergraduates can join.

97/100Standout#9 of 691 for computer science →
Graduates a year18311% of the class
Median pay 4 years out$203,0001.90× the same major nationally
Research in the field$9Ma year, NSF
Admit rate4%whole school
SAT middle 50%1490–1580whole school

Around Harvard

A rack for locking electric scooters outside Cabot Science Library at Harvard Un
Electric scooter rack outside Cabot Science Library Harvard Feb 2025Photo: 4300streetcar · CC BY 4.0 · source
Cambridge, MA
Harvard Science Center (54941166095)Photo: ajay_suresh · CC BY 4.0 · source
Happened to catch the glow of the evening sun reflecting on Memorial Hall today.
Memorial Hall, Perfect Evening Light (6670591133)Photo: Tim Sackton from Somerville, MA · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Camera location42° 22′ 35.43″ N, 71° 06′ 57.87″ W View this and other nearby ima
Gregorian telescope circa 1735 in Putnam Gallery, 2009-11-24Photo: Sage Ross · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

Where computer science happens

Buildings on campus that fit the field: Engineering Sciences Lab, Laboratory for Integrated Science and Engineering.

Named buildings on the campus map: Academic 130 · Dorm 62 · Student housing 22 · Arts 6 · Library 6 · Chapel 4.

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Nearby in the computer science ranking

  1. Carnegie Mellon University 98
  2. Stanford University 98
  3. Brown University 98
  4. Princeton University 98
  5. Johns Hopkins University 97
  6. University of Michigan–Ann Arbor 96
  7. Yale University 96
  8. Rice University 96

Other strong majors at Harvard

How the score works

The score is out of 100 and compares Harvard with every school we score in computer science. It weighs the school's overall strength; how many students graduate in the major and what share of the class they are; research spending in the field (NSF); early pay against the same major nationally; how many courses the catalog lists; and test scores. 80+ is a standout program, 65+ strong, 45+ solid. Sources: US Department of Education (College Scorecard, IPEDS), NSF HERD, each school's current course catalog, OpenStreetMap and Wikimedia Commons.

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