How should I compare Northeastern and Harvard financial aid offers to determine which is the better value?

The biggest practical tradeoff is that Harvard’s aid is typically structured to make a four-year residential degree affordable through institutional grant aid, while Northeastern may combine need-based and merit aid with a co-op model that can create earnings but may also change the length, timing, and non-tuition costs of the degree. Compare the actual net cost you would pay each year, not the published cost of attendance or the size of the scholarship headline. Also separate grants from loans, work expectations, and costs that may not appear on the initial bill.

Start with each school’s annual direct charges: tuition, mandatory fees, housing, and meal plan. Then subtract only gift aid that does not need to be repaid, including federal, state, institutional, and outside grants or scholarships. Treat federal loans, Parent PLUS loans, private loans, and expected student employment as costs or obligations, not as discounts.

Harvard does not award undergraduate merit scholarships, so its package should be evaluated primarily as need-based aid.

Also compare the amount your family must pay upfront each semester and the expected debt at graduation. A lower yearly payment that requires substantial parent borrowing may be less manageable than a slightly higher grant-supported bill.

For a student with substantial financial need, Harvard is likely the better financial value if its grant package leaves a lower four-year family cost and avoids meaningful loan or parent-borrowing expectations.