Can You Really get a Harvard Online Degree?

The answer to whether or not you can really get an online degree from Harvard is sort of. Harvard has a pretty extensive continuing education programs that does offer quite a few online courses and even a few online degrees. That being said there is a major caveat if you are going to go down this road.

The big thing that you have to keep in mind about Harvard online degrees is that they are not the same degree as the one that people attending regular classes get. The requirements are different and even the name of the degree is different. Admittedly a lot of people are not going to realize this and you can legitimately put a Harvard degree on your resume if you use their continuing education program. However anybody who has attended Harvard and most people in the world of academia will be well aware of the fact that it is not a “real” Harvard degree.

While the online degrees that are offered by Harvard may not be at the same standard as their other degrees this does not mean that they are not worth pursuing. Surprisingly in terms of cost a Harvard online degree is quite reasonably priced compared to those offered by a lot of other online schools. In addition the education that you get is very good even if it is not the same as the one offered to regular Harvard students, the classes are usually taught by the same instructors.

If you want to get a degree from Harvard it can only be done completely online at the masters degree level and even then they only offer a very small number of programs. There are also several graduate certificates that are on offer if you don't want to commit to a full time masters program, most of these can be laddered into a masters degree down the road if you wish to continue on.

At the undergraduate level the Harvard Extension school offers both Associate and Bachelor's degrees, and many of the courses are available online. There is however a requirement that you attend at least some of the courses in person. If you live in Boston this usually means attending night classes. For students who live further away they offer a summer school during which you can meet the requirement, in most cases however it will require at least two summers.