Harvard Kennedy School Unveils 10-Year Plan to Expand Financial Aid, Technology Training

The Harvard Kennedy School on Wednesday unveiled a 10-year strategic plan that pledges to sharply expand financial aid, train thousands of public leaders versed in technology, and build partnerships with governments in all 50 states as the school approaches its centennial.

The plan — titled “HKS 2036: Leadership for a New Era” — was presented by Kennedy School Dean Jeremy M. Weinstein at the school’s annual all-staff celebration. It outlines eight goals: three aimed at strengthening the school’s existing foundation, four framed as “imperatives for the future,” and one centered on its global alumni network.

Among the plan’s most concrete commitments, HKS said it would substantially increase financial aid through new merit- and need-based scholarships, and explore part-time, non-residential, and online degree and certificate options aimed at reaching public servants who may never come to Cambridge.

The school also plans to train 600 public sector technologists and 6,000 technologically minded public leaders over the next decade, beginning with a new technology concentration in its master’s in public policy program this fall.

“This is a vision for the decade ahead, not just the year ahead,” Weinstein said in his Wednesday address. “It outlines some new strategic initiatives, but not everything we may ultimately choose to do.”

The vision marks the first strategic blueprint under Weinstein, who took office in fall 2024. Shortly after arriving at HKS, Weinstein launched a yearlong review and convened five task forces focused on education; impact; technology; values, leadership, and practice; and school culture and governance.

Each task force was composed of roughly 12 faculty and staff and asked to engage with students, alumni, faculty, and staff while generating “blue sky” ideas unconstrained by financial limits or existing commitments.

The task forces submitted hundreds of recommendations in late 2025, which school leadership used to shape the final framework.

In a letter opening the report, Weinstein cast the plan as a response to a moment in which the problems of governance “have never been more urgent.” He wrote that the school’s next chapter would be devoted to closing “the gap between the governments we have and the governments people deserve.”

The plan argues that cost remains one of the clearest barriers to an HKS education, warning that student debt can steer graduates away from public service careers.

The American Service Fellowship, which HKS has called the largest single-year scholarship program in its history, offers an early model. The program provides a full scholarship and stipend to 50 U.S. public servants who have served at least seven years. HKS said the fellowship helped drive a 235 percent increase in domestic applications to its mid-career master’s in public administration program, drawing applicants from 48 states.

The plan also formalizes the technology-focused shift Weinstein has signaled since before taking office. The new MPP technology concentration will train students in technology, governance, ethics, and leadership, and the school is considering a separate degree program in technology and public policy. The concentration is supported in part by two new AI policy hires, who will join HKS as assistant professors.

HKS will also launch a platform to work with governors and their leadership teams in all 50 states. The initiative will be modeled on the school’s existing work with mayors and city leaders and will offer states access to HKS research, executive education, and student and alumni talent.

The plan also calls for expanding Harvard Impact Labs, a University-wide initiative based at HKS that supports faculty working with public, nonprofit, and private sector leaders on policy problems. The initiative has awarded $1.4 million to launch four research projects and selected 10 faculty fellows who will take public service leaves or receive training and seed funding.

The fourth imperative — forging “principled and effective leaders for polarized times” — leans on the school’s emphasis on viewpoint diversity and open debate, a push that has unfolded alongside broader University efforts to promote civil discourse.

HKS cited programming such as its “Debate, Debrief, Dessert” series and committed to recruiting faculty, staff, and students who “bring a diversity of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives.”

The vision arrives at a fraught moment for the school, as the narrowing of the federal hiring pipeline has pushed many students toward state, local, and private sector roles, and as Harvard remains under pressure from the Trump administration.

HKS currently reaches roughly 1,000 degree students and 5,000 executive education participants each year — a fraction, Weinstein argued, of those it could serve.

“Together, we will bring meaning to this vision, fleshing out additional initiatives and programs that deliver on the aspirations I heard loudly and clearly from people across the School,” he said Wednesday. “In that sense, the vision is a beginning and not an end.”

—Staff writer Sophia E. Alcacer can be reached at [email protected] and Signal at sophiaalcacer.88. Follow her on X at @sophiaalcacer.

—Staff writer Jen L. Phan can be reached at [email protected] and Signal at jenphan.74. Follow her on X at @jenllphan.