What You'll Learn
Build the skills to meet today’s demand for the T-shaped professional. In our Joint Program, you experience a broad liberal arts background that fosters cross-cultural understanding, evidence-based communication, and peer-to-peer collaboration.
You also develop the deep, focused learning of a specific graduate field, such as management, finance, sustainability, software engineering, digital media design, information management systems, psychology, international relations, or biology.
- Earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree for less money and time — you double count four courses toward both degrees.
- Continuous enrollment, with no gap in time between undergraduate and graduate coursework.
- Add a certificate to your graduate degree course planning, and advance your career with an additional credential.
Getting Started: Admissions and Degree Requirements
In the Joint Program, you earn a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree, plus a Master of Liberal Arts degree in any field we currently offer.
Once approved for Joint Program participation, four graduate-level courses will count toward both degrees. Students must earn a B or higher in these four courses to continue in the program.
Eligibility
In order to apply to the program, you must meet the following requirements:
- Be an admitted degree candidate to the Bachelor of Liberal Arts program
- Earned 96 credits toward the Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree with a 3.5 or higher GPA
- If you already possess a bachelor’s degree, you are ineligible for the joint program.
Application Materials
You apply to the Joint Program by submitting the following materials:
- Joint Program application form
- Current résumé
- Essay outlining your reasons for wanting to pursue the Master of Liberal Arts degree, specifically stating how your professional experience or goals aligns with your graduate field interest.
Cost and Financial Aid
Affordability is core to our mission. When compared to our continuing education peers, it’s a fraction of the cost.
| Our Tuition (2024–25 rate) | $2,100 per 4-credit undergraduate course $3,340 per 4-credit graduate course |
|---|---|
| Average Tuition of Peer Institutions | $2,900 per undergraduate course $4,330 per graduate course |
After admission, you may qualify for financial aid. Typically, eligible students receive grant funds to cover a portion of tuition costs each term, in addition to federal financial aid options.
Learn more about the cost of attendance.
Completing the Program
This program is designed for students who are highly motivated and strong academic performers.
Advising Tip: If interested in the Joint Program, which many ALB candidates are, we advise you to work closely with your ALB advisor as you’ll want to avoid enrolling in specific ALM preadmission and core degree requirements prior to receiving Joint Program approval due to our repeat policy (e.g., you cannot repeat a course for graduate credit that you have already taken for undergraduate credit). Moreover, any graduate-level course taken prior to Joint Program approval cannot be counted toward the ALM degree, as you need to be close to finishing your ALB before embarking on graduate-level work.
In order to successfully earn both bachelor’s and master’s degrees, you must fulfill the following requirements:
Grade Requirements
You must receive a B or higher in all four courses that double count toward the degree. If not, the courses will not double count, they will only apply towards the Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree, and you’ll be ineligible to move forward with the Joint Program. Earning even one grade below B (including B-) will disqualify you from the program, this includes withdrawal grades.
Double counting of credit is not offered unless you apply and are accepted to the Joint Program. Courses taken prior to acceptance will not be counted.
Repeat Courses
Credit is not awarded for any course that duplicates the subject matter of a previous course taken at the Extension School or Harvard Summer School for which undergraduate or graduate credit has already been received. The only exception to the repeat rule are creative writing courses with an R in the course number (e.g., CREA 100R). You may repeat those courses once.
Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree Requirements
Meet all degree, academic standing, and on-campus requirements for both degrees. For the Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree, you’ll need to complete 8 credits on campus. Weekend and three-week options are available. On-campus requirements for the Master of Liberal Arts vary by program. Visit the graduate degree field of your choice for details.
On-campus housing is available through Harvard Summer School for full-time study and a separate fee. The F-1 student visa for international students is available for full-time study at the Harvard Summer School only. Ordinarily, on-campus requirements for the both the bachelor’s and master’s degrees can be easily met via Harvard Summer School.
Graduate with your Harvard University Degrees: You participate in the annual Harvard Commencement twice, first receiving your Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies and, later your Master of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies from Harvard University.