Distance Education: Online Courses at Harvard

Take a Harvard course from anywhere in the world. We offer more than 200 Harvard online classes, available in three formats, in the fall and spring semesters.

Three convenient formats

Video courses

Most of our distance education courses feature videos of Harvard and Boston-area faculty lecturing on campus. These courses are offered either online only or with an online option:

• Online option: Classes meet on campus weekly, and lectures videos are posted for online students each week. Attend lectures in person, watch them online at your convenience, or both.
• Online only: These courses feature videotaped lectures from courses held in previous years. Videos are posted weekly. There is no scheduled class time, so you can watch them at any time during the week. 

Live web-conference courses

These courses are conducted live at a scheduled time each week. Instead of watching videos, you log in to a virtual classroom to participate.

Hybrid courses

These courses combine an intensive weekend session on campus with live web conferences or video lectures throughout the semester. These courses count toward the on-campus requirement in certain degree programs.

Next steps

1. Hear from faculty and students in our Distance Education Experience video. And watch a sample lecture.
2. Find a video, web-conference, or hybrid course using the course search. For hybrid courses, note the dates and times for the weekend session in the course description.
3. Review set-up and technical requirements: How Distance Education Works.
4. Check out the registration dates and steps.
5. Once enrolled:
   • For video courses, log into your course website to access weekly videos (links to websites are in the online courses list).
   • For web conferences, find the link to your virtual classroom by logging into online services a few days before classes begin.

Watch a sample distance education video

The following sample distance learning lectures will give you a feel for the online course experience:

• Buddhism and Japanese Artistic Traditions

• Fundamentals of Website Development

• Popular Culture and US Foreign Policy During the Cold War

• Sustainable Buildings: Design and Construction

• Human Resource Management

• The History of Boston

• Case Studies in Global Health: Biosocial Perspectives

Sample distance learning courses and lectures are also available to download to your computer or mp3 player for free at Harvard Extension School on iTunes U.

Interested in a degree?

Although the Extension School does not offer online degrees, you can take a combination of online and on-campus courses to earn a degree. See the degree program that interests you for course offerings and degree requirements.