Harvard Extension School

Harvard Extension School (HES) is the Continuing Education School of Harvard University, a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1910, it is one of the oldest liberal arts and continuing education schools in the United States. Part of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Extension offers both part-time, open-enrollment courses, as well as selective undergraduate ALB and graduate ALM degrees primarily for nontraditional students. Academic certificates and a post-baccalaureate pre-medical certificate are also offered.

Established by then-university President A. Lawrence Lowell, HES was commissioned to extend education, equivalent in academic rigor to traditional Harvard programs, to non-traditional and part-time students, as well as lifelong learners. Under the supervision of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, HES offers over 900 courses spanning various liberal arts and professional disciplines, offered in on-campus, online, and hybrid formats. These courses are generally available to both its matriculated students and to the general public.

For matriculation, HES places significant weight on an applicant's academic transcript at Harvard rather than previous academic work. According to Harvard's current guidelines, students are required to achieve a minimum 3.0 GPA in degree-credit coursework in order to matriculate. Once this academic criterion is met, applicants must submit a formal application, which is subsequently reviewed by a committee. Matriculated students have additional benefits such as convocation, graduation, cross-registration, teaching assistant, faculty research aid, and supervised senior thesis or research paper; they also, as students of Harvard University, have access to the full resources and the broader academic environment of Harvard.