Harvard Extension to International Students: Stay Away!!!

Sad news for any non-american (like me) considering one of the programs of Harvard Extension School:

They will no longer issue a I-20 (the necessary document to get a Student Visa) for international students after the academic year of 2009-2010.

http://www.extension.harvard.edu/international/

I was planning to enroll in three online courses this fall and them apply for the graduate ALM in IT - Digital Media Arts and Sciences track in the spring 2010, but now this option is gone.

I really don't understand the reasoning behind this decision.

I'd bet that the foreigner students at HES are much more likely to finish the degree program than the american ones, considering that they have to study full-time during their residency to maintain Visa status.

Basically after 2009-2010 there will be no more non-american ALM holders from Harvard.

It seems a strange decision in this globalization age.

 

But you still could finish it if you were taking the summer school option, right?

 

You would still have through Summer 2010 to fulfill residency requirements. Could you do your residential courses first and then finish up with online classes? I agree, however, their decision does suck.

 

Unfortunately, although the ALM in IT only requires 1 course in residence, the truth is a little more complex depending on your track.

In the case of the Digital Media Arts and Science track, of the 6 mandatory classes areas(1 in 3d modeling, 1 in digital video, 1 in digital art, etc...) only 3 are available online and/or in the summer. The rest is only offered on campus. I've made some calculations - I'd have to spend at least 1 semester (fall or spring) and a summer to complete the degree. More likely, two normal semesters (fall and spring)

They will still issue I-20 for the Summer school, so technically it still possible to get a ALM in IT in some tracks, but not in Digital Media Arts and Science.

 

I think there is a way around this. You can easily apply for a tourist visa and attend one full semester (either fall or spring), leave the US and come back after one semester and do the same thing again. It will take you longer but you at least you can still do it.
As per the US immigration law, if your course of study is less than 6 months in length, you do not need an I-20. So one full semester is only 4.5 months so you will stay legally in the US during your stay for one semester.

 

It is mentioned here at the US Dept of State website (first paragraph):

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1268.html

If your course of study is less than 18 hours per week, you do not need a student visa. So I guess less than 18 hours is only three courses.

And since you will be on a tourist/visitor visa, you will be eligible to stay in the US for six months. AND, if they authorize you to stay only three months, you can easily extend it for another three months...that's a total of six months.
And after you are done, leave and come back after six months for another semester IF your toursit visa is still valid.

Also, if you take your Harvard transcript showing the online courses you completed, and that you want to go to continue studying, you will have a very good valid reason to have your visa application approved.

Good Luck

 

Harvard University participate into the Yellow Ribbon Program (GI Bill) include the Extension School. URL: http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2009/06.04/yellowribbon.html

 

There are two stories floating around as to why HES would do this.

1. The decision to quit issuing the visas was because of people misrepresenting the degree in their home countries. As they say, a Harvard degree becomes more valuable as you get further away from Boston. One example, some foreign alumni were trying to pass off their ALM-Management as an MBA from HBS in their home countries.

2. To control enrollment (this reason makes more sense to me). Apparently HES has been receiving a huge number of applications from foreign students, specifically for the IT and Management programs, and they are trying to control the enrollment for those two programs. This makes more sense to me as they have just raised the standards for admission into the management tract. A combination of limiting foreign students and raising admission standards will probably get the enrollment numbers more in line with where the administration wants it.

 

Both reasons make sense to me. And yeah, I think most international students would present their Harvard Extension degree as let's say a Master of Arts in Management or something taking advantage of employers who are not familiar with Harvard Extension School.

One of their Management requirement is instead of taking three online courses, now you will have to take them on campus (Either through summer school or regular semesters). Which I think makes it impossible for international students to enroll.

 

So, if you graduated from HES, then it would be dishonest if you mention you graduated from Harvard University without mention Harvard Extension School?

 

>>


The question really is:
Would it be dishonest to EVER graduate from a university without also sub-listing at every possible juncture, the specific college within that university?

I have yet to see people here listing the university (comma) followed by the college of X in their sig lines as common practice. This is only EVER an issue here when it's about Harvard.

 

No, not at all. In fact I believe Harvard says you can list the degree as, for instance, "ALM, concentration history, Harvard University". It would be a bit ridiculous if you had to mention which college your degree was from, I don't see people from the GSAS, GSE or KGS listing which college inside the university they earned their degrees from.

The problem, so the rumor goes, is that people (especially international students) are trying to pass off their degrees as something different than what they have earned.
ex. ALM-Management degree as a MBA from Harvard Business School when they go back home.
ex. ALM with a concentration in History as a MA in History, which would be earned from GSAS, not HES.

Jennifer, I am in complete agreement with you. I see no reason to be required to explicitly mention that your degree is from HES, it is a college inside Harvard and when you're done you earn a degree from Harvard University. I know HES gets a raw deal, especially from the Harvard College students. Like I said, it isn't a matter of graduates not telling people that their program was in HES, it is completely misrepresenting the degree they earned as the examples above illustrate.

 

Harvard says:

http://www.extension.harvard.edu/2009-10/programs/alm/help/#diplomasays


"General questions
Is the ALM a real Harvard degree?

Yes. ALM graduates are Harvard alumni and alumnae, and the program of study is in every way as challenging as that of graduate degree programs in other Harvard schools.
Does the diploma say Extension School?

The diploma reads UNIVERSITAS HARVARDIANA; then, after the graduate’s name comes Magistri in Artibus Liberalibus Studiorum Prolatorum (Master of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies).
How can I present the ALM on my résumé?

Harvard University offers the following degrees in Extension Studies:

Associate in Arts
Bachelor of Liberal Arts
Master of Liberal Arts

It is acceptable, therefore, to list the ALM degree on your résumé in the following manner:

Harvard University, Master of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies, Concentration in history

Unacceptable: Harvard University, MA in History"

I always list my degrees with what is on the diplomas.