New from Harvard Extension School

[Jonathan Whatley]

New for 2019-20 at Harvard Extension School:

• A new Master of Liberal Arts degree field in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. Low-residency, with a minimum three courses that are on campus only, with some courses available in summer or short January term schedules.

• New graduate certificates in Data Analytics, Digital Storytelling, Project Management, and Sustainable Food Systems.

• A graduate certificate in Sustainable Cities and Communities replaces one in Green Building and Sustainable Communities, and a graduate certificate in Marketing Management and Digital Strategy replaces one in Marketing Management alone.

• New pathways from MITx MicroMasters programs into HES ALMs in Data Science, Finance, and Information Management Systems.

[Ideas]

Nice offerings.

Sadly they are not offering the Software Engineering cert anymore. Or Nanotechnology.

[cookderosa]

New for 2019-20 at Harvard Extension School:

• A new Master of Liberal Arts degree field in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. Low-residency, with a minimum three courses that are on campus only, with some courses available in summer or short January term schedules.

• New graduate certificates in Data Analytics, Digital Storytelling, Project Management, and Sustainable Food Systems.

• A graduate certificate in Sustainable Cities and Communities replaces one in Green Building and Sustainable Communities, and a graduate certificate in Marketing Management and Digital Strategy replaces one in Marketing Management alone.

• New pathways from MITx MicroMasters programs into HES ALMs in Data Science, Finance, and Information Management Systems.

Sustainable Food Systems..... talk nerdy to me!!

[armstrongsubero]

Thats actually a good deal:

https://www.extension.harvard.edu/academ...ent-degree

22k for an IVY, I'm thinking about it!

[sanantone]

Thats actually a good deal:

https://www.extension.harvard.edu/academ...ent-degree

22k for an IVY, I'm thinking about it!

I'd rather take that money and go to UPenn and get the same degree as everyone else. After reading a Dallas forum, I've learned that more people than expected know that Harvard Extension is a "special" school. 

Actually, I would spend less at a school that is ranked higher in its field than an Ivy League school i.e. Georgia Tech or University of Texas for computer science.

With Harvard Extension, you also have to factor in the cost of being in Cambridge for face-to-face classes.

[armstrongsubero]

@sanatone good point. I was considering the masters in EE at University of Colorado at Boulder for 20k, but this Harvard Extension degree is 22k more...

I have other plans for a grad degree in the Phillis...but this Harvard degree has me thinking now..

Extension or not its still a part of the Harvard brand.

I can say 'I went to Harvard'. Outside the US not everyone know Columbia or UPenn but everyone I've spoken too knows Harvard and MIT.

[ThatBankDude]

@sanatone good point. I was considering the masters in EE at University of Colorado at Boulder for 20k, but this Harvard Extension degree is 22k more...

I have other plans for a grad degree in the Phillis...but this Harvard degree has me thinking now..

Extension or not its still a part of the Harvard brand.

I can say 'I went to Harvard'. Outside the US not everyone know Columbia or UPenn but everyone I've spoken too knows Harvard and MIT.

The issue with saying "I went to Harvard" is that you actually would not have gone to Harvard. The Harvard Extension School is an open admissions aspect of the school and lacks to admissions rigor that other schools within the university have. Does it fall under the branding of Harvard? Sure. However, the school itself made a post on their website I believe showing the proper way of listing the school on their resume as "Harvard Extension School" since I am sure a lot of people were doing "Harvard University" creating a false credential.

[armstrongsubero]

@ThatBankDude you're wrong:

https://www.extension.harvard.edu/about-us

The first line says 'We are Harvard' and they state 'We are a fully accredited Harvard School'

Even the harvard.edu mentions it in their 'distance education' programs:

https://www.harvard.edu/about-harvard/fr...e-learning

The school is a part of Harvard just like any other school within Harvard and was founded before quite a bit of schools within Harvard.

So where will I tell them I went? MIT? Yale? WGU?

If they ask I'll say I went to Harvard. If I show them my diploma it'll have 'Harvard' written on it. Not Yale, not Colimbia not Penn Foster. Harvard. End of Text.

[jsd]

You're not wrong, armstrongsubero, but we've seen plenty of examples of people not respecting Harvard Extension due to the way Harvard itself goes out of it's way to differentiate it's students from its other schools. The thread that sanantone referenced is a great example, but there are endless others. People do not equate HES to Harvard.

I'm sure HES is still a great experience and good education. But for cheaper, like sanantone said, there are other Ivy League/Ivy League Plus or highly ranked program specific universities that would not be differentiated on your diploma/transcript as an "other" within the university.

[Jonathan Whatley]

I'd rather take that money and go to UPenn and get the same degree as everyone else. After reading a Dallas forum, I've learned that more people than expected know that Harvard Extension is a "special" school.

Which Penn online or hybrid degree is "the same degree as everyone else?"

Penn's College of Liberal and Professional Studies, Penn LPS, is a separate unit for adult students within Penn like HES is within Harvard University. The Penn LPS online undergraduate degree is a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS), which doesn't seem to be offered elsewhere within Penn.

Whereas the HES undergraduate program has a rich schedule of evening and intensive on-campus courses alongside online courses, Penn is eliminating evening and weekend on-campus classes for LPS adult undergraduates and replacing them with the BAAS, an online degree with two short residencies "similar to orientation days." There's one admission pathway based on prior transcript review, and a "prove your way in" pathway based on taking open enrollment courses, and that's like HES.

Things seem similar among Penn's online or blended graduate degrees. For instance, the engineering department has an online master's on CourseRA, but it's a Master of Computer and Information Technology (MCIT) for students from a non-CS background. Again, a differently titled degree from on-campus students.

I take the fair point that some people will prefer a program where online and on-campus students are awarded the same degree from the same academic unit. I'm not seeing where Penn does things differently from Harvard in that respect. There could be some other program within Penn where online and traditionally admitted on-campus students are awarded the same degree.

Actually, I would spend less at a school that is ranked higher in its field than an Ivy League school i.e. Georgia Tech or University of Texas for computer science.

With Harvard Extension, you also have to factor in the cost of being in Cambridge for face-to-face classes.

Also fair points!