Harvard Extension School Courses 2021 and Eligibility Requirements

Harvard Extension School offers a rigorous curriculum in a part-time, nonresidential format to accommodate distance students and those working full time. The Extension makes it possible for individuals who are not citizens of Boston to take part in an academic program at Harvard.

About The Harvard Extension Program

The Harvard Extension School program dates back to its founding in 1910 by Abbott Lawrence Lowell.

From the beginning, the Harvard Extension School was designed to serve the educational interests and needs of the greater Boston community but has since extended its academic resources to the public, locally, nationally, and internationally.

Growing out of the Lowell Institute, it first became the Commission on University Extension in cooperation with other Boston-area universities, and then eventually became a Harvard-only institution.

Early students were able to earn an Associate in Arts degree, which was the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree but which did have a residency requirement.

That was later renamed an Adjunct in Arts before finally settling on a bachelor’s degree. The first graduate degree was awarded in 1980.

The Harvard Extension School has been a leader in distance education, offering courses on the radio and television, and even on board Navy ships.

Online education began in the mid-1980s, and in 2012 the school partnered with EdX to expand its reach. After 100 years, an estimated 500,000 students have taken courses at the Extension School.

Types of Courses Offered at Harvard Extension School

The point of the Harvard Extension School Course program is to offer flexible course options to balance school, career, and other life commitments. They offer a number of ways for you to experience Harvard Extension School courses.

Due to the ongoing pandemic about which there are still many unknowns, they’ve made the important decision to offer only online courses for the entire academic year (fall, January session, and spring term).

This decision was made first and foremost to help ensure the health and safety of you, our students, and our community.

Second, as an early adopter and national leader in distance education, they are perfectly positioned to offer you an outstanding, world-class academic experience online, with no compromise on quality. We plan to offer courses again on campus in Academic Year 2021-22.

2-Credit Half-Term Live Web-Conference Courses

These are 2-credit courses that meet at a scheduled time weekly for a half term. You are required to be present online, live, at that time. Meeting times and dates are listed in course descriptions.

Online Courses

These courses meet only online. No specific meeting schedule is listed but you need to keep up with posted deadlines for assignments and exams. See course syllabi and websites for specific course information and expectations.

Some of these courses are based on Harvard College or other Harvard courses. The class meetings are recorded and posted to the course website Lecture Video page within 24 hours of the meeting.

You can watch the recorded class meetings at your convenience and participate on your own schedule within the bounds of assignment due dates and course expectations. See the Course Video Technology Guidelines for more information.

On-Campus Courses [Not Offered In Academic Year 2020-21]

These courses meet on the Harvard campus. In course descriptions, the day and time of the class meetings are listed. Some courses have separate labs or small section meetings.

The days and times of those are either listed in the descriptions, on the website, on the syllabus, or announced by the teaching staff once class begins.

On Campus Or Online [Not Offered In Academic Year 2020-21]

Students in On Campus or Online courses have three options for attendance:

You can attend in person, attend live online in real time, or watch the recordings of class and participate on demand, keeping up with posted deadlines for assignments and exams.

Class recordings will be posted within 24 hours of the class meeting. You can choose how you’d like to attend on a week-to-week basis.

Live online participation comes in two forms. In some courses, the class is live streamed and you can communicate via text-based chat.

 In others, you attend through web conference, which is broadcast on large monitors in the classroom so you can interact with the class as if you were there.

Check the course description for specific information about live participation for each course.

In a few courses, you are required to attend at the time the course meets. This is explicitly noted in the course description and syllabus. 

Online Courses With A Required On-Campus Weekend [Not Offered In Academic Year 2020-21]

In this type of course, you participate online in most of the course, and you attend an intensive weekend class on campus.

Information about the format of the online meetings and the dates of the intensive weekend meeting are outlined in the course description.

Harvard Extension School Registration and Admission

Harvard Extension School courses are open to the public, and most require no application.

Summer and Fall 2021 Registration are the two registrations open for the 2021 session. Currently, Registration for summer 2021 is now open. Fall 2021 registration opens in August. 

Registration Requirements

Just so you know, late registration is not permitted, so be sure to register by the registration deadline.

For information on making course changes after registering, see course changes and withdrawals.

You must be at least 15 years old at the time of registration to register for undergraduate credit or noncredit, and at least 18 years old to register for graduate credit. 

If your native language is not English, you must also meet the English proficiency requirement before you can register for courses or take the test of critical reading and writing skills. 

Payment for Registration

You must pay your balance in full by the payment deadline. If you do not, you risk being dropped from all courses and waitlists.

If you are dropped for non-payment, you still remain eligible to register for courses until registration ends. However, there is no guarantee space will still be available in the courses or on the waitlists from which you were dropped.

If you register for courses after the payment deadline, you must pay in full immediately. Otherwise, you risk being dropped from all courses and waitlists.

Full and Part-Time Enrollment

One credit is equivalent to one semester hour. Full-time enrollment is 16 credits per term, three-quarter time enrollment is 12 credits, half-time enrollment is 8 credits, and less than half-time enrollment is less than 8 credits. Enrollment for the January session is included in the calculation of spring term enrollment status. See financial aid.

Enrollment in a thesis proposal course, graduate thesis, thesis continuation, capstone course, or a four-credit required graduate internship constitutes full-time enrollment.

Courses for which you have withdrawal (WD), required-to-withdraw (RQ), administrative withdrawal (WA), and excluded-from-course (EXD) grades are excluded from these definitions.

All certifications of current enrollment status, including information submitted to the National Direct Student Loan Clearinghouse, are based on these time status calculations. See Transcripts and Enrollment Verification for more information on enrollment verification and loan deferments.

Registration Confirmation

After you register, you will receive a confirmation by email. Carry this with you when you are on the Harvard campus.

For security reasons, you may be asked to present your confirmation with a government-issued photo ID for admission to certain classrooms in the Science Center, Longwood Medical area, and other buildings and areas on the Harvard campus.

You may also print a copy of your registration schedule.

Application Deadline and Important Dates

Applications are now open for the Harvard Extension School Course program for summer 2021 and these are the application deadlines and important dates;

All deadlines are 11:59 pm eastern time unless otherwise specified above.

We honestly believe that the information on this page will assist you with your application for the Harvard Extension School course program. Kindly share this with friends and other interested persons.

CSN Team.