Apply for Financial Aid

The 2024–25 HDS Application for Financial Aid is now available. All Master of Divinity (MDiv) and Master of Theological Studies (MTS) applicants who have applied for admission by the admissions deadline will receive an email message from the HDS Office of Financial Aid with instructions on how to log in and apply.

On occasion, emails have been known to go to junk or spam folders, so please check those folders to ensure that you haven’t missed any HDS notifications. If you completed your application for admission and have not received an email with login instructions by January 31, 2024, please contact the Office of Financial Aid.

Although you are not required to submit the HDS Application for Financial Aid to be considered for merit-based institutional grants, you must do so to be considered for need-based institutional grants. Therefore, we strongly encourage all applicants to complete the HDS Application for Financial Aid. U.S. citizens and permanent residents must also submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to be considered for need-based aid.

The deadline to submit both the FAFSA and the HDS Application for Financial Aid has been pushed back to Friday, February 23, 2024 due to a delay in the FAFSA processing system. You will need your 2022 tax information to complete the 2024–25 FAFSA.

Applicants to the MDiv and MTS programs

U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible for HDS need-based institutional grant support and federal aid. Submit both the:

International students are eligible for HDS need-based institutional grant support only. To apply, complete the HDS Application for Financial Aid by Friday, February 23, 2024. Please consult your email notification from the HDS Office of Financial Aid for instructions on logging in to the application.

Applicants to the MDiv and MTS programs are not required to apply for financial aid to be considered for merit-based institutional grants, but they must apply to be considered for need-based grants. Therefore, we strongly encourage all MDiv and MTS applicants to apply. If an applicant does not receive merit funding and did not apply for need-based institutional aid by the deadline, there is a strong possibility that need-based aid will not be available.

Admitted applicants will receive either merit-based institutional grants or need-based institutional grants. They will not be awarded from both pools of funding.

ThM program

U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible for federal aid only. To apply, complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), available in December 2023. You will need your 2022 tax information to complete the FAFSA. Once you have submitted the FAFSA and have been admitted into the program you can contact the Office of Financial Aid to start the process for requesting loans and/or federal work-study if you are eligible.

International HDS students are not eligible for HDS institutional grant support or federal aid.

Master in Religion and Public Life (MRPL)

Institutional (HDS) financial aid is not available for the MRPL. U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible for federal aid only. To apply, complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), available in December 2023. You will need your 2022 tax information to complete the FAFSA. Once you have submitted the FAFSA and have been admitted into the program you can contact the Office of Financial Aid to start the process for requesting loans and/or federal work-study if you are eligible.

Continuing students

Continuing MDiv and MTS students will receive re-application instructions late February. If you are applying for HDS institutional aid, the Office of Financial Aid must receive the required financial aid documents by the appropriate deadlines. Failure to meet the deadlines may diminish your opportunity to receive institutional funding.

It is Harvard Divinity School policy that students currently in default on a previous Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), Stafford Loan, or Perkins Loan are ineligible to receive institutional or federal financial aid.