The Harvard Institute of Politics brought in record-breaking application numbers for the Spring 2025 semester. As of Feb. 10, the IOP received 788 applications across its 16 programs—including nearly 200 first-time submissions. At such a critical juncture in American and global politics, this growth speaks to a rising interest in civic leadership and public service among the Harvard undergraduate student body.
The Harvard Independent was joined by IOP President Tenzin Gund-Morrow ’26, Vice President Summer Tan ’26, Treasurer Kevin Bokoum ’26, and Communications Director Lorenzo Ruiz ’27 to discuss the specifics of this uptick. After being elected to their new executive board positions in November 2024, the four are optimistic about leading the organization through such an expansive time.
Application Excitement
“These numbers are some of the largest ever for a spring semester that we’ve seen, especially considering that this isn’t an election year that we’re in. This is right after an election year,” Ruiz said.
There were “a surprising amount of STEM and pre-med track applicants compared to our usual slate of Gov and Econ,” Tan added.
The Fellows and Study Group program particularly had a great season, receiving 284 applications, the most in the program’s history. “That is just so awesome, especially as we mark a week since the fellows have set foot on Harvard campus. It just shows how excited everyone is to be seeing them,” Tan continued.
The IOP’s CIVICS program, which recruits and trains students to teach civics to elementary school students in the Boston area weekly, also boasted an impactful number of applications. “We were really proud, because there’s a lot of interest in doing civic education right now as education in the civic space becomes more and more contested,” Gund-Morrow said.
The team noted a similar upward trajectory in other IOP programs, including the John F. Kennedy Junior Forum with 192 new applicants, the Policy Program and the Women’s Initiative in Leadership, each with close to 70, and the Harvard Public Opinion Project with 61. The recently established Coalition for the Arts also received the most applications in the coalition’s history.
Looking at past application numbers, the grade distribution across applicants was particularly compelling. “Usually … a program like that is something you join freshman year and stay in for all four years,” explained Gund-Morrow. This year, however, IOP leadership “were very excited to see that, and there’s a renewed interest.”
In contrast to such projections, the IOP received roughly 400 freshman, 250 sophomore, 100 junior, and 80 senior applicants. The Harvard Political Review specifically saw resurgence in membership for their program, with multiple juniors deciding to comp the journal. Such numbers demonstrate continued student body incentive to engage with domestic and international politics.
“I think one thing is, after an election year, oftentimes, you expect people to be really tired,” Gund-Morrow elaborated.
Surprisingly, the 2024 election seemed to have the opposite effect on the IOP application season.
“I think people that were exhausted with the election cycle were much more excited than they might have otherwise been,” Gund-Morrow said. “[The IOP is] a place to become public servants, and get leadership training, and find community, and reflect on the world around you in a critical way, with a wonderful community of students that are editing your work.”
The IOP shifted its image to mitigate potential disinterest in politics following such an extensive election season. “One thing that we tried to work really hard on is messaging out very early on that our programming has many facets and is not just focused on the election, and it’s not just focused on now thinking about what happened last year but [is] very forward-looking,” reflected Gund-Morrow.
The Global Affairs Program
Since the IOP was founded in 1966, the organization has broadened its scope and political coverage by adding new initiatives. “[The IOP has] added now three or four new programs in just the past few years alone,” said Tan. However all of these programs are unique endeavors for the Institute, the newest Global Affairs Program is especially pertinent in the status quo.
After noticing considerable interest within the existing Coalition for Global Affairs, the IOP decided to form this distinct initiative. “The Global Affairs Program came because a lot of people on campus saw that the IOP spent a lot of time and money focusing on domestic politics,” Gund-Morrow elaborated. “We’re really interested, and amazingly interested, in the world directly around us, and in engaging with Boston, and engaging with voting and registering voters in America, and so we wanted to make sure that those people felt like they had a home at the IOP.”
A highlight of the new program’s plans for the semester includes the implementation of an international voting system, which allows the program to incentivize international Harvard students to vote in major elections occurring outside of the United States. The team shared their excitement for the new initiative: “It’s about really keeping a passionate and politically active international student community on campus,” added Tan.
The Global Affairs Program had almost 200 applicants, the most ever to a brand new IOP initiative. “Global affairs immediately pulling these types of strong numbers is a really good sign for us,” Tan stated.
Future Steps
With the constantly changing state of politics, the IOP has plans to adapt and change for the future to continue the success they have seen this past year. The IOP has been very extracurricular-based, but in the future, “we’re trying to open up access to more than what you might traditionally think of as public service—for example, our summer stipends,” Tan said. She explained that students can receive funding over the summer for public service they participate in.
Regarding the IOP’s financial plans, Gund-Morrow explained that the IOP will remain an accessible organization to everyone, no matter their economic situation: “Public service is accessible to people of all economic backgrounds.”
The IOP team shared how the organization remains an intellectual institution committed to engaging students from all walks of life on a non-partisan basis, a mission that retains significant importance amidst our current political climate. “You can go to Harvard Democrats, Harvard Republicans to find people that were on either side of what was a huge election, with unprecedented turnout from this campus in particular, which we’re really proud of,” Gund-Morrow said. “But I think what makes the IOP special is not its capability to feed people into partisan politics.”
The IOP strives to cultivate spaces where students, regardless of their political beliefs, can come together to discuss pressing issues and take meaningful action.
“We’re a place that spends a lot of time talking about party politics and elections,” said Ruiz, “but we’re also a place for people who want to get out in the community, to roll up their sleeves and have a direct impact on the ways that we engage with society.”
“Even after an election, it’s clear to the Harvard community that the IOP is a place that offers pathways to public service that extend beyond the tired party politics, and it’s that same perspective that’s going to enable the IOP to continue to resonate and to continue to build numbers across Harvard for years to come,” Gund-Morrow said.
Kalvin Frank ’28 (kfrank@college.harvard.edu), Rania Jones ’27 (rjones@college.harvard.edu), and Sara Kumar ’27 (sjkumar@college.harvard.edu) are looking forward to the future of the IOP.