Cost of Attendance

Tuition and the Mandatory UHS Student Health Fee are billed directly to your Student Account. Any financial aid you receive through the SFS office, including grants and loans, will be credited to your Student Account on a per semester basis; the balance will be distributed to you via direct deposit or a paper check. You can find additional details about your bill, cash disbursements, payment options,  and a link to your Student Account on our Student Accounts, Payments and Refunds page.

The Mandatory UHS Student Health Fee is required as part of enrollment at Harvard, and covers most services at Harvard University Health Services (HUHS) with no copay.  Waivers of the HUHS Student Health Fee are generally not available, except in very limited cases, as described at the bottom of this page on the HUHS website.

Additional information about HLS tuition may be found here.

By Massachusetts state law, students must enroll in a qualifying student health insurance program or in a health plan of comparable coverage to provide hospital/specialty care. All students are automatically enrolled in the Harvard University Student Health Program (HUSHP) to provide this required level of insurance coverage. Students who document coverage under a comparable health insurance plan, such as a parent’s insurance plan, may be eligible to waive the Student Health Program enrollment and fee. The deadline to waive HUSHP coverage without incurring a late fee is typically September 30. Harvard University Health Services provides an informative toolkit on the health care coverage options available to students through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including a comparison chart of important factors to consider when choosing health insurance coverage.

Under Federal student aid regulations, an allowance for the cost of the Harvard University Student Health Program may be included in the student’s budget only for students who enroll in the HUSHP plan. For students who waive this coverage, the allowance will not be given and the total student budget (and maximum level of financial aid eligibility) will be reduced by the amount of the HUSHP fee. Students may request upon appeal to have the documented cost of an alternate health insurance plan for which the student pays added to the student’s budget.

For more information, visit the Student Medical Expense Policies section of our website.

The most variable portion of a student’s costs are their rent, utilities, food and personal expenses. The allocations in each of these lines are interchangeable as decisions about housing, in particular, are highly personal based on your particular needs and priorities. The amounts listed above are meant as a guideline to be used in conjunction with our webpage on Housing Considerations in order to create a budget for the academic year. The Housing and Utilities line is required to be calculated for both on and off-campus housing. The amount is set as the higher of either the average or median of housing available, which resulted in a total line item of $18,000 ($2,000/month) for both on and off-campus housing.

Budget increases for housing expenses will be considered, on appeal, up to a maximum of 130% of the standard allowance; expenses beyond that amount and for more than 9-month academic year will not be considered. The additional need would be met with student loans. Students should submit an adjustment form via the SFS Student Portal with a copy of their lease documenting their monthly expense.

Included in the allocation for Personal Expenses is funding for the Dental Insurance plan. Enrollment in this plan is optional but recommended for HLS students. Fee-for-service dental options are also available through the Harvard Dental Center. For those students who choose not to enroll in the dental plan, this portion of the allocation may be used to meet other expenses or reduce variable costs.

The Student Financial Services Committee anticipates that some first-year students may spend more than the allocation for books and supplies, because first year students have “start-up” costs not incurred by second and third year students. Additionally, book costs for the first semester of the first year are typically higher than those for the second semester. The Committee believes that the Books and Supplies Allowance is sufficient to cover these costs for most first year students, but some students may find that they need to budget some funds from their Room/Board/Personal or Travel allocation to meet their book and supply costs.

Harvard Law School does not have a separate budget for married students or for single students with dependents. The same standard budget is used for all students. However, married students and students with dependents are afforded higher living allowances against income in the calculation of their student contribution from income. For more detailed information see the section Married Students and Students with Dependents.

Students occasionally incur unforeseen expenses during the year that may qualify for an increase in the standard budget listed above. Examples of allowable budget increases include higher travel expenses due to unforeseen family emergencies and un-reimbursed medical expenses. In order to request a budget increase, please

• Login to your SFS Portal
• Click on the “Financial Aid” drop-down
• Navigate to “Adjustment Form” at the bottom of the list

This form is academic year specific, so be sure to submit it for the appropriate academic year.

Whenever possible, you should also provide original receipts of your additional expenses directly to our office. Generally, should a budget increase be allowed, the increase would be met in the form of additional supplemental education loan assistance.

Joint degree students will not have the standard student budget during specified years of their program. Adjustments will be made to tuition, books and supplies, fee and/or allowances according to their joint program terms.

Students who study in off-campus programs such as Berkeley Exchange, Study Abroad, Semester in Washington D.C. or The Program for Third Year Visits will not have the standard student budget.  All adjustments will be based on their specific program of study according to the programs guidelines.

Student budgets may also be increased for the purchase of a computer. The maximum computer budget increase allowed is $2,000. Students may receive only one computer budget increase during their three years at Harvard Law School. The increase may include the cost of all approved hardware and software needed, as described on our Computer Loan Budget Increase Request section of our website. This budget increase will be met with Federal or supplemental education loan borrowing. We do not offer HLS need-based grant assistance to cover computer expenses.

While in school, students should use credit cards as minimally as possible. A credit card can be more convenient than using cash, but be wary of using credit cards unless you can pay off the full balance each month. The standard student budget allows for a moderate standard of living that does not include an allowance for revolving credit card payments. We can not increase the budget for consumer debt payments. All students are strongly encouraged to clear all of their consumer debt before entering law school, even if this means depleting assets to do so.

Using credit cards wisely will help you maintain a good credit record. Creditworthiness is a requirement for students seeking financing through supplemental education loans.