Are you wondering what percentage of students who applied to Harvard University’s Class of 2030 earned admission? Or maybe you’re hoping to examine Harvard’s acceptance rates through the arc of history. If so, you’ve come to the right place, as we at Ivy Coach are purveyors of Ivy League admissions statistics, including for the Ivy League institution that has long boasted the lowest overall acceptance rate: Harvard. So what’s Harvard’s acceptance rate for the Class of 2030, and how has its acceptance rate changed through the years? Let’s find out!

Harvard University Acceptance Rate for Class of 2030

Harvard officials have yet to publish any data whatsoever covering the Class of 2030. We don’t yet know how many students applied, how many were admitted, or the breakdown between Early admits and Regular Decision admits, reflecting an emerging institutional preference for keeping such statistics close to the vest. 

The most recently available data on Harvard admissions covers the Class of 2029, in which 47,893 students applied. Of these students, between the Early Action and Regular Decision rounds of admission, 2,003 earned admission, marking an overall admission rate of 4.18%. This was likely a disappointing result for the Harvard admissions office, as it represents the highest acceptance rate in five years. The sitting record for the lowest acceptance rate at Harvard goes to the Class of 2027, in which a mere 3.41% of the 56,937 applicants that year were admitted. 

However, it should be noted that the Class of 2029 results mark the first Harvard admission cycle in which standardized testing was once again mandatory, meaning that the sharp decline in applicants is largely the result of non-test-taking applicants (or, as we at Ivy Coach like to call them, squeakers) exiting the applicant pool en masse.

Harvard Acceptance Rate for Classes of 2030-2011

Below you’ll find the overall acceptance rate, total applications, and total offers of admission for each of the last 20 years at Harvard. These figures are sourced from the Harvard Office of Institutional Research’s reporting to The Common Data Set.

Past Acceptance Rates at Harvard University

Harvard Class Year	Total Applications	Total Offers of Admission	Overall Acceptance Rate
Class of 2030	Not Yet Published	Not Yet Published	Not Yet Published
Class of 2029	47,893	2,003	4.18%
Class of 2028	54,008	1,970	3.65%
Class of 2027	56,937	1,942	3.41%
Class of 2026	57,786	2,318	4.01%
Class of 2025	40,248	2,025	5.03%
Class of 2024	43,330	2,009	4.64%
Class of 2023	42,749	2,024	4.73%
Class of 2022	39,506	2,037	5.16%
Class of 2021	39,041	2,110	5.4%
Class of 2020	37,307	2,080	5.58%
Class of 2019	34,919	1,944	5.57%
Class of 2018	35,023	2,047	5.84%
Class of 2017	34,303	2,076	6.05%
Class of 2016	34,950	2,188	6.26%
Class of 2015	30,489	2,205	7.23%
Class of 2014	29,105	2,175	7.47%
Class of 2013	27,462	2,175	7.92%
Class of 2012	22,945	2,108	9.19%
Class of 2011	22,754	2,125	9.34%

Harvard Acceptance Rate and Application Trends

You’ll note that some trends are crystal clear when combing through Harvard’s acceptance rate and overall application tallies through the years:

• The applicant pool tends to grow larger and larger, with the exception of the Class of 2029, in which Harvard reversed course on its previous test-optional policy.
• The pool of admitted students remains relatively steady.
• The overall acceptance rate has plummeted.

In fact, over the last 20 years, the acceptance rate has gone down in all but four of those years, and applications have gone up in all but six.

Meanwhile, Harvard has yet to expand the size of its undergraduate student body. For the Class of 2029, 2,003 students were offered admission compared to 2,125 students for the Class of 2011. The mean number of offers of admission is about 2,082 over the 20 years.

Ivy Coach’s Assistance with Harvard Admission

If your child seeks to optimize their case for admission to Harvard University’s Class of 2030 or beyond, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form, and we’ll contact you in short order to outline our admission services led by Chad Faber, a former Harvard admissions officer.