This page contains content from the 2008–09 academic year. For current information, visit the Harvard Extension School website at www.extension.harvard.edu.
A Harvard Tradition
After nearly a century in existence, the Harvard Extension School has become an enduring Harvard institution that benefits the community, the nation, and the world.
It Began as an Experiment
The inception of the Extension School can be traced back to 1836, when John Lowell Jr., in his will, founded the Lowell Institute. This organization provided the people of Boston with free public lectures on a variety of subjects and quickly established a commanding presence. It was so influential, Oliver Wendell Holmes, who gave a series of lectures at the institute himself, remarked,
No nobler or more helpful institution exists in America than Boston’s Lowell Institute.
In 1906–07, A. Lawrence Lowell, a trustee of the Lowell Institute and Harvard professor of government, revealed that he was “planning to give, in cooperation with Harvard University, a number of systematic courses on subjects of liberal education.”
In 1909, when Lowell became president of Harvard, he brought that vision to the University. In 1910 he founded the Commission on Extension Courses, hailed by the Boston Evening Transcript as “a new milestone” in education. He saw the commission as an experiment in “popular education” that served those in the community who had the ability and desire to attend college, but also had other obligations that kept them from traditional schools.
The Extension School Today
Harvard has held steadfast to Lowell’s vision for nearly a century. Today, approximately 400,000 people have participated in Extension School academic programs and more than 12,500 have been awarded degrees and certificates. Every year thousands of Harvard employees use the Tuition Assistance Plan to take courses and earn degrees, and hundreds of teachers and high school students enroll on Lowell Scholarships.
In 2005, the University president challenged the schools of Harvard “to think creatively and boldly about how they can extend the reach of their excellence through technology in the years ahead.”
Harvard Extension School is meeting this call to action. We currently offer 120 online courses in a variety of areas that attract students from across the country and around the world. These include Harvard College and Divinity School courses made available to Extension School students via the Internet.
Our student body continues to grow and diversify. Read a selection of profiles of our unique student body and faculty to discover why they chose Harvard Extension and see what they’re doing today as they pursue their degrees and apply what they’ve learned to the greater community.