What Field Do Most Harvard Graduates Go into?

The most popular field for Harvard graduates to go into is finance, according to a survey of more than 1,000 graduates. In 2011, 17 percent of Harvard students reported that they planned to go into finance. This percentage was actually much lower than in past years — in 2008, about 28 percent of students reported that they were going into finance. The number dropped to 23 percent in 2009. The 2011 percentage is the lowest since 2006.

More facts about Harvard graduates:

• The second most popular field for Harvard graduates is consulting; in 2011, about 12 percent reported that they planned to be consultants. Like the percentage of graduates going into finance, the percentage going into consulting also dropped dramatically from 2008 to 2009, from 19 percent to 12 percent.


• Almost the same percentage of Harvard graduates go into education as go into law and business combined, and more graduates go into communications, arts and the media than go into business.


• Among the most unpopular fields for Harvard graduates in 2011 were engineering, government and sales and marketing. The field that the lowest percentage of graduates reported planning to go into was the military, with only about 0.4 percent of graduates identifying this as their career plan.