I came across some very affordable "professional certificate" programs offered by Harvard or HarvardX - depending on where you find the info. The offerings with the Harvard brand seem a bit confusing - Harvard, Harvard Online (actual Harvard...but online, Harvard X (seems to be a partnership with edX to deliver professional development online courses with the Harvard brand) Harvard Business School, and Harvard Business School online (actual Harvard Business School...but online The program I was looking at in particular is here: https://www.edx.org/professional-certificate/harvardx-leadership-and-communication It's a "professional development certificate" so it isn't what one would think of as a true "certificate program" - and as such, the price is very affordable: $376.20. Two courses, three months. From what I can find online, the cert looks something like this: https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/D4E12AQEI9MnhsVbIBw/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1679588160649?e=1698883200&v=beta&t=mlHsPiUAnOCtb9lprts1jQXAkZjt9KQprwwXARIGZY0 Which is branded with the HarvardX brand...but also the Harvard brand. My question is - Has anyone done one of these? How useful is something like this, I mean - the price is so low that I'm sure there is value in the content of the course - but would something like this gain any extra value for carrying the "Harvard" brand over completing any other edX professional course from, say, a known state university? Do offerings like this dilute the "Harvard" brand?
I don't think they dilute the brand but neither do they give you the Harvard brand either. If anything they give a bit of whiplash as someone has otherwise average looking schools on their resume and then suddenly Harvard, it makes it stand out in a way that might cause questions or confusion. I think if you're actually interested in the topic then go for it but I wouldn't take one of these just for the Harvard name.
