Harvard Extension School

Harvard Extension School (HES) is the continuing education school of Harvard University, a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1910, it is one of the oldest extension schools in the United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard Extension School is one of Harvard University's 13 degree-granting schools. While most courses are offered on an open-enrollment basis, Harvard Extension School also offers selective undergraduate and graduate degree programs, academic certificate programs, and a post-baccalaureate pre-medical certificate, primarily for adult learners and nontraditional students. Emerging from a collaboration between Harvard University and the Lowell Institute, founded in 1836, Harvard Extension School was established by then-Harvard president A. Lawrence Lowell in 1910 to extend Harvard's educational opportunities, equivalent in academic rigor to traditional Harvard programs, to nontraditional and part-time students, as well as lifelong learners. Under the supervision of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the school offers more than 675 courses spanning various liberal arts and professional disciplines, offered in on-campus, online, and hybrid formats. Most courses are available to both its matriculated students and to the general public. Degrees earned through the Harvard Extension School are formally conferred by Harvard University under the authority of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. They include the Bachelor of Liberal Arts (A.L.B.) and Master of Liberal Arts (A.L.M.). Harvard Extension School degree recipients are Harvard alumni.