Harvard University

             Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge , Massachusetts , whose history , influence , and wealth have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world .

            Established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature , and shortly thereafter was named after John Harvard ( his first benefactor ) , Harvard is the oldest institution of the United States of higher education , and the Harvard Corporation ( formally the President and Fellows of Harvard College ) is was first chartered corporation . Although never formally affiliated with any denomination , early College primarily trained Congregationalist and Unitarian clergy . The curriculum and student body gradually secularized during the 18th century and by the 19th century Harvard as the central cultural establishment among Boston elites.Following the American Civil War emerged , President Charles W. Eliot 's long -term ( 1869-1909 ) transformed the college and affiliated professional schools into a modern research university , Harvard was a founding member of the Association of American Universities in 1900 . James Bryant Conant led the university through the Great Depression and World War II and began to reform the curriculum and liberalize admissions after the war . The undergraduate college became coeducational after the 1977 merger with Radcliffe College .

           The University is organized into eleven separate academic units - ten faculties and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study - with campuses throughout the Boston metropolitan area : the 209 - acre ( 85 ha ) main campus is centered on Harvard Yard in Cambridge , approximately 3 miles ( 4.8 km ) northwest of Boston, the business school and athletics facilities , including Harvard stadium , are located in the Charles river in the vicinity of Boston Allston and the medical , dental , and public health schools in the Longwood medical Area . Eight U.S. presidents graduates , and some 150 Nobel Prize winners are affiliated as students , faculty , and staff . Harvard is also the alma mater of 62 living billionaires and 335 Rhodes Scholars , the most in the country . The Harvard University Library is the largest academic library in the United States .
Harvard has the largest financial endowment any academic institution in the world , standing at $ 32300000000 of June 2013 .

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          Harvard is a large , highly residential research university . The University by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges accredited since 1929 . The university offers 46 undergraduate concentrations ( majors ) , 134 graduate degrees , and 32 professional degrees . For the 2008-2009 academic year , Harvard granted 1,664 baccalaureate degrees, 400 masters degrees , 512 doctoral degrees, and 4,460 professional degrees .

           The four-year undergraduate program comprises a minority of enrollments at the university and emphasizes instruction with an " arts and sciences focus " . Between 1978 and 2008, entering students are required to have a core curriculum of seven classes outside of their concentration to complete . Since 2008, undergraduate students are required courses in eight General Education categories completed : aesthetic and interpretive understanding , culture and religion, empirical and mathematical reasoning , ethical reasoning , Science of Living Systems , Science of the Physical Universe , Societies of the world , and the United States in the world . Harvard offers a comprehensive doctoral graduate program and there is a high level of society between undergraduate and graduate degrees. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching , The New York Times , and some students have criticized Harvard for its reliance on teaching fellows for some aspects of undergraduate education , and they are looking to improve the quality of teaching performance.

           Harvard 's academic programs operate on a semester calendar beginning in early September and ends in mid-May. Undergraduate typically four half - courses per term and a four -course rate average to maintain considered full time. In many concentrations , students can choose a basic program or a honors - program eligible a senior thesis and / or advanced course work to pursue . Students graduating in the top 4-5 % of the class are awarded degrees summa cum laude , students in the next 15 % of the class are awarded magna cum laude , and the next 30 % of the class are awarded cum laude . Harvard has chapters of academic honor societies such as Phi Beta Kappa and various committees and departments also award several hundred named prizes annually . Harvard , along with other universities , has been accused of grade inflation , although there is evidence that the quality of the student body and its motivation have also increased . Harvard College reduced the number of students that Latin honors from 90 % in 2004 in 2005 to 60 % . Moreover, the honors of " John Harvard Science " and " Harvard College Scholarship" will now only the top 5 percent and the next 5 percent of each class.

            The University 's policy is to expel students involved in academic dishonesty discourage " culture of deceit. " In 2012 , dozens of students were suspended for fraud after an investigation of more than 120 students . In 2013 , there was a report that as many as 42 % of the incoming first homework cheated before entering the University , and these incidents have led the University to consider adopting an honor code .
For the 2012-13 school year, annual tuition was $ 38,000 , with a total cost of attendance of $ 57,000 . Beginning in 2007 , families with incomes under $ 60,000 pay nothing for their children to attend , including room and board . Families with incomes between $ 60,000 to $ 80,000 paid only a few thousand dollars per year , and families between $ 120,000 and $ 180,000 paid more than 10 % of their annual income . In 2009 , Harvard offered grants totaling $ 414 million in all eleven divisions $ 340 million came from institutional funds , $ 35 million from federal support , and $ 39 million from other outside support. Total awards 88 % of Harvard 's aid for undergraduate students using also loans ( 8 % ) and the work - study ( 4 % ) .