Payment & Financial Aid

Harvard Business School Online offers a variety of payment options for our programs. Availability of financial aid varies by program.

Five forms of payment: 1) Credit and debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and AMEX; 2) Paypal; 3) Wire Transfers; 4) Western Union; 5) Bank Loans

Payment Methods

HBS Online offers a variety of secure payment methods to provide flexibility, including:

  • Credit and debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and AMEX)

  • PayPal

  • Wire transfers

  • Western Union

  • Bank loans (When available)

You may split your payment across two credit card transactions or send a payment link to another individual to complete payment on your behalf. A minimum payment of $350 is required for the first transaction. Please note that we don’t provide refunds for the purpose of changing your payment method.

Program Fees must be paid in full (in US Dollars).

In all cases, net Program Fees must be paid in full (in US Dollars) prior to your course’s enrollment deadline. (Program Fees do not include international taxes.)

At this time, Harvard Business School Online cannot accept:

  • Checks

  • Veterans Affairs Benefits (please see our Grants section for details on military grants)

  • Awards or payments from organizations that would arrive after the course's enrollment deadline. If an award or payment is only provided upon course completion, you may not use it to pay for an HBS Online course, unless the award directly reimburses you.

We're happy to provide our tax ID and bank account information to facilitate payments from organizations sponsoring your enrollment. However, we cannot provide specialized information or complete paperwork as part of a vendor setup process for individual payments.

Please Note: Program Fees do not include international taxes.

Loans

Below is a list of lenders who have indicated they are willing to provide loans to HBS Online program participants. The contact information is provided as a service and not as an endorsement of the lender or an indication of any affiliation with these providers. You may choose one of these, or any other lender of your choice. Each lender will have its own eligibility criteria, lending requirements, and minimum loan amounts.

If you wish to pay for your program with a loan, the loan must be approved, certified, and disbursed prior to starting the program. Please note that it takes 10 business days for a loan to disburse once it's been certified, so apply early if you intend to use this option to enroll in your course.

Additional Notes:

  • Sallie Mae requires that HBS Online participants apply for undergraduate loans. Graduate school loans will not disburse.

  • Many lenders use the ELM system for loan certification. Only loans sent via this system to Harvard Business School Online (school code 002155-92) will reach us. We won't be able to see, or certify, loans sent to other school codes, including those sent to the HBS MBA program.

  • Participants must apply for separate loans for each course they want to finance.

    CLIMB participants must apply for separate loans for each term.

  • We cannot certify loans until the applicant is accepted into the program.

Grants

In support of HBS Online’s mission to extend the reach of Harvard Business School teaching and research, HBS Online offers grants to eligible participants in most of our certificate and credential programs. Grants are not available for individual Sprint enrollments, Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business (CLIMB), the Credential of Digital Innovation and Strategy, the Certificate in School Management and Leadership (CSML) or Harvard Online courses.

HBS Online offers two forms of grants: an Income-Based Grant and a Military Grant. Eligibility criteria and grant amounts are detailed below.

When enrolling in a course, if you're eligible to apply for a grant, you'll see the grant option(s) listed on your account page on the Financial Aid tab.

Grants are limited in number and awarded during designated grant application windows four times per year. We are not currently accepting grant applications. The next grant application window will open October 5, 2026 12:00 PM Eastern Time and close on November 2, 2026 at 11:59PM Eastern Time. Grant applicants will be informed of the decision on or before November 16, 2026 at 11:59PM Eastern Time. We encourage you to apply at that time.

Grant Application Windows

Application StartApplication EndGrant Application Decision DateGrant Expiration Date (If Awarded)
October 5, 2026, at 12:00PM Eastern TimeNovember 2, 2026, at 11:59PM Eastern TimeNovember 16, 2026, at 11:59PM Eastern TimeDecember 14, 2026, at 11:59PM Eastern Time
January 4, 2027, at 12:00PM Eastern TimeFebruary 1, 2027, at 11:59PM Eastern TimeFebruary 15, 2027, at 11:59PM Eastern TimeMarch 15, 2027, at 11:59PM Eastern Time
April 5, 2027, at 12:00PM Eastern TimeMay 3, 2027, at 11:59PM Eastern TimeMay 17, 2027, at 11:59PM Eastern TimeJune 14, 2027, at 11:59PM Eastern Time

Grant awards may be used only once for any eligible course accepting enrollments. HBS Online courses are open for enrollment six months prior to course start. Grant recipients in any application window must complete enrollment using their award by that application window’s designated expiration date. You may need to change your enrollment to the next available cohort to use your grant (if awarded).

Please note: Grants cannot be combined with other discounts or retroactively applied to a completed enrollment.

If you are not awarded or do not use your grant by the expiration date, you may apply again during the next application window.

Please be advised that a Grant award may be considered taxable scholarship income; see IRS Publication 970 (Tax Benefits for Education) or consult with your own tax advisor. Individuals who are nonresident aliens for U.S. tax purposes are ineligible for a Grant award for any course they take while present in the U.S.

To ensure timely access to the course, all enrollment steps must be fully completed before the deadline. Please note that submitting partial payment does not finalize enrollment. Your enrollment is not final until you complete full payment.

Three-step grant process flowchart: 1) Create an account at account.myhbx.org; 2) Complete a grant application; 3) Enroll in course using grant award.

Income-Based Grants

The Income-Based Grant is available only to first-time participants enrolling in their first grant-eligible HBS Online course or program. The grant application asks prospective participants to provide their annual household income, household size, number of dependents, and answer two essay questions. Eligible participants may only use an Income-Based Grant once for a single enrollment. Enrollment in an individual Sprint does not affect eligibility for a future Income-Based Grant. After enrolling in a grant-eligible course or program, participants will not be eligible to apply for the Income-Based Grant again. Out-of-pocket cost estimates do not include international taxes. 

Eligible Courses

Course OfferingsProgram FeeGrant AmountNet Out of Pocket Cost
Core Business EssentialsJuly 2026 and future course dates$2,799$2,239$560
All other certificate programs (excluding CLIMB, the Credential of Digital Innovation and Strategy, and CSML)July 2026 and future course dates$1,949$1,559$390

Military Grant

The Military Grant is available to any participant who's an active service member or veteran of the U.S. military. Individual Sprint enrollments are not eligible for the Military Grant. The Military Grant can only be used once for a single enrollment. The application will ask participants to provide a scanned document that verifies their current or prior military status. Examples of supporting documentation are Military Leave and Earning Statements, Discharge Certificate, DD214 forms, or Veteran’s licenses. 

Eligible Courses

Course OfferingsProgram FeeGrant AmountNet Out of Pocket Cost
Core Business EssentialsJuly 2026 and future course dates$2,799$1,679$1,120
All other certificate programs (excluding CLIMB, the Credential of Digital Innovation and Strategy, and CSML)July 2026 and future course dates$1,949$1,169$780

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