Tuition and Financial Aid
This site provides details on tuition and fees, applying for financial aid, types of funding, billing policies, and more. Please review all the information carefully and contact the Office of Financial Aid if you have any questions.
Private loans
Private loans are often available to both domestic and international students. International students may want to explore options in their own countries as well as private lenders in the U.S.
- Credit requirements
- Interest rate terms (ie: fixed or variable)
- Fees
- Total cost
- Repayment incentives for the borrower
- Deferment and forbearance options
- Repayment timelines and flexibility.
Many private lenders will defer payments while you are enrolled in school.
Most such deferments require that you be enrolled at least half-time in a degree-granting program. At Harvard Chan School, that means you must be enrolled in at least 10 credits in the fall and the spring semester. To be considered at least half-time in the summer, you must be enrolled in at least 7.5 credits.
Your enrollment status may not update automatically with private lenders, so please check with your lender about their procedures for deferments. They may require a form from the School’s Registrar’s Office.
Both domestic and international students should follow these steps:
- Start at this page: Find a Private Loan: Harvard University Graduate & Professional Students and read the important information there.
- Review the information about Private Loan Options.
- Review ELMSelect, a Harvard University tool designed to provide information about private lending options. You are not required to use any of the lenders on this site.
- Once you have contacted a lender and been pre-approved for a loan, please complete the Preliminary Private Loan Request Form and submit it to the Office of Financial Aid. Once we have received your form, you will receive an email indicating that MyFinaid is updated. This information can be used as part of the financial certification for international students’ visa application.
Please be aware that several of these loan options come with both annual and lifetime limits. Approval from multiple lenders is not guaranteed, and it’s crucial to inform each lender if you intend to apply with multiple institutions to prevent any adverse effects on your loan application.
Note for international students: While some loan programs do not require a U.S. co-signer, you may get more favorable terms and conditions with one. International students who have a U.S. co-signer should review loan options on both the “Graduate” and “International” pages on ELMSelect..
Note: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, like all of Harvard University, has no financial interest in your choice of private lender.
Please review our short video on private student loans for an overview:
Note: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, like all of Harvard University, has no financial interest in your choice of lender.
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