Alternative Admission Pathways to the Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) Degree Program

CORe — designed and presented by Harvard Business School faculty — is a primer on the fundamentals of business thinking. The fully online, asynchronous course covers business analytics, economics for managers, and accounting. The content was inspired by the curriculum offered to incoming Harvard Business School students preparing for the MBA classroom.

Eligibility: The CORe credential must be earned prior to enrolling in any degree-applicable courses at Harvard. Furthermore, before enrolling in any degree-applicable courses, you need to possess a four-year, U.S. regionally accredited bachelor’s degree or its foreign equivalent. The CORe credential cannot be more than three years old at the time of application.

Earn Your Way In: To begin the admission process, you register for CORe and then one graduate-level course with us:

• CORe (noncredit or credit). You apply for CORe directly with Harvard Business School Online.
• One HES economics course (microeconomics or managerial economics).
  • Prerequisites: Before registering for the economics course, you’ll need to pass our online test of critical reading and writing skills or earn a B or higher in EXPO 34 Business Rhetoric, which counts as an elective towards the program.

Grade requirements: You need to earn a passing grade in CORe and a B or higher grade in the economics course, without letting your overall Harvard cumulative GPA dip below 3.0.

After you have completed CORe and during the semester you are completing the economics course, submit the official application to the program.

For details about full eligibility, the application process, and application fees, visit Graduate Program Admissions.

For information about on-campus requirements and completing the degree, visit the Management Degree Requirements page or the Finance Degree Requirements page.

The Public Leadership Credential (PLC) program, delivered fully online and taught by Harvard’s renowned faculty, equips you with the skills and knowledge you need to tackle some of today’s biggest challenges, advance the public good, and make an immediate impact in your community.

In this pathway, Harvard Extension School will credit three courses (12 credits) toward the government program for earning the Harvard Kennedy School PLC, leaving you with these nine courses (36 credits) left to complete:

• SSCI 100B Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Government, History and International Relations
• Four government courses
• One Engaging in Scholarly Conversation (on campus)
• One government seminar
• Precapstone and Capstone in one of the following topics:
  • Equity and the struggle for justice
  • Policy writing and analysis
  • National security writing and analysis (this capstone requires a weekend on campus)
  • Social reform movements in America
  • Deliberative justice
  • Historical biography (you choose a political figure)

Eligibility: Before beginning this pathway, which starts with earning the Harvard Kennedy School Public Leadership Credential, confirm with the Harvard Extension School Office of Predegree Advising & Admissions that you possess a four-year, regionally accredited U.S. bachelor’s degree or its foreign equivalent, which is a standard admission requirement for all our graduate applicants.

The Harvard Kennedy School Public Leadership Credential must be earned before enrolling in any degree-applicable courses at Harvard Extension School. Further, the credential cannot be more than three years old at the time of application. Credit is only granted for the entire PLC; Harvard credit will not be awarded for individual courses.

Earn Your Way In: To begin the admission process, you complete the PLC through Harvard Kennedy School and then one graduate-level course at HES:

• Public Leadership Credential (PLC). You apply for the PLC directly with Harvard Kennedy School.
• SSCI 100B Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Government, History and International Relations
  • Prerequisites: Before registering for the proseminar course, you’ll need to pass our online test of critical reading and writing skills. Alternatively, you can complete EXPO 42b Writing in the Social Sciences with a grade of B or higher at the undergraduate or graduate level. This course will not count toward the degree.
  • You have two registration attempts to earn the minimum grade of B in the proseminar, which cannot be more than two years old at the time of application.

Grade requirements: You must complete the proseminar course with a grade of B or higher, without letting your overall Harvard cumulative GPA dip below 3.0.

After you have completed the PLC and during the semester you are completing the proseminar course, submit the official application to the program.

For details about full eligibility, the application process, and application fees, visit Graduate Program Admissions.

For information about on-campus requirements and completing the degree, visit the Government Degree Requirements page.

If you have questions about the PLC, contact Harvard Kennedy School directly.

The MicroMasters® program credential from MIT Open Learning is a professional and academic credential for online learners from anywhere in the world who seek focused, accelerated advancement. You enroll in a program — no admission required — and take a series of graduate-level online courses, taught by MIT instructors, through edX or MITx Online. By completing the course and passing one or more proctored exams, you earn a program credential.

In this pathway, Harvard Extension School will credit three courses (12 credits) toward the data science program for earning the MITx MicroMasters® Program in Statistics and Data Science, leaving you with nine HES courses (36 credits) left to complete:

• CSCI 101 Foundations of Data Science and Engineering
• Four data science core courses
• Two data science electives
• Precapstone (on campus)
• Capstone

In this pathway, Harvard Extension School will credit four courses (16 credits) toward the finance program for earning the MITx MicroMasters® Program in Statistics and Data Science, leaving you with eight HES courses (32 credits) left to complete:

• One economics course (microeconomics or managerial economics)
• One finance course (principles or managerial finance)
• One accounting course (financial or managerial accounting)
• One financial statement analysis course
• One investment theory course
• One corporate finance course
• One business valuation course
• One applied active learning elective (on campus)

In this pathway, Harvard Extension School will credit four courses (16 credits) toward the global development practice program for earning the MITx MicroMasters® credential in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy, leaving you with eight HES courses (32 credits) to complete:

• ENVR 101 Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Sustainability and Global Development
• DEVP 102 Global Development Theory and Practice
• DEVP 110 Global Classroom: Foundations of Sustainable Development Practice
• One global health course
• One management course
• Two global development practice electives
• Capstone courses:
  • Precapstone tutorial (noncredit)
  • The final capstone (on campus)

In this pathway, Harvard Extension School will credit four courses (16 credits) toward the management program for earning the MITx MicroMasters® Program in Supply Chain Management, leaving you with eight courses (32 credits) left to complete:

• One economics course (microeconomics or managerial economics)
• One accounting course (financial or managerial accounting)
• One organizational behavior course
• One finance course
• One marketing course
• One strategy course
• One applied active learning elective (on campus)
• One elective

In this pathway, Harvard Extension School will credit four courses (16 credits) toward the sustainability program for earning the MITx MicroMasters® credential in Supply Chain Management, leaving you with eight courses (32 credits) to complete:

• ENVR 101 Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Sustainability and Global Development
• ENVR 210 Quantitative Research in Sustainability
• Five sustainability electives
• Capstone courses:
  • Precapstone tutorial (noncredit)
  • Capstone (on campus)

After you’ve earned the MicroMasters® Program credential in Statistics and Data Science, you begin the admission process by simply registering — no application needed — for the following graduate-level course:

• CSCI 101: Foundations of Data Science and Engineering

Grade requirements: You must complete CSCI 101 with a grade of B or higher, without letting your overall Harvard cumulative GPA dip below 3.0. You have two attempts to earn the minimum grade of B in CSCI 101 (a withdrawal grade counts as an attempt) and the course cannot be more than two years old at the time of application.

After you’ve earned the MicroMasters® Program credential in Statistics and Data Science, you begin the admission process by simply registering — no application needed — for the following graduate-level course:

• One economics course (microeconomics or managerial economics)
  • Prerequisites: Before registering for the economics course, you’ll need to pass our online test of critical reading and writing skills. Alternatively, you can complete EXPO 34 Business Rhetoric at the undergraduate or graduate level with a grade of B or higher to meet the registration requirement, but EXPO 34 does not count toward the degree.

Grade requirements: You must complete the economics course with a grade of B or higher, without letting your overall Harvard cumulative GPA dip below 3.0.

After you have earned the MicroMasters® credential in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy, you begin the admission process by simply registering — no application needed — for the following graduate-level course:

• ENVR 101 Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Sustainability and Global Development
  • Prerequisites: To register for the course, you’ll need to pass our online test of critical reading and writing skills. Alternatively, you can complete EXPO 42b Writing for the Social Sciences with a grade of B or higher at the undergraduate or graduate level to meet the proseminar registration requirement, but EXPO 42b will not count toward the degree.

Grade Requirements: The proseminar must be completed with a grade of B or higher, without letting your overall Harvard cumulative GPA dip below 3.0. You have two registration attempts to earn the minimum grade of B in the proseminar, which cannot be more than two years old at the time of application.

After you’ve earned the MicroMasters® Program credential in Supply Chain Management, you begin the admission process by simply registering — no application needed — for the following graduate-level course:

• One economics course (microeconomics or managerial economics)
  • Prerequisites: Before registering for the economics course, you’ll need to pass our online test of critical reading and writing skills. Alternatively, you can complete EXPO 34 Business Rhetoric at the undergraduate or graduate level with a grade of B or higher to meet the registration requirement, but EXPO 34 does not count toward the degree.

Grade requirements: You must complete the economics course with a grade of B or higher, without letting your overall Harvard cumulative GPA dip below 3.0.

Once you’ve earned the MITx MicroMasters® credential in Supply Chain Management, you begin the admission process by simply registering — no application needed — for the following graduate-level course:

• ENVR 101 Proseminar: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Sustainability and Development Practice
  • Prerequisites: To register for the course, you’ll need to pass our online test of critical reading and writing skills. Alternatively, you can complete EXPO 42c Writing in the Sciences or EXPO 42b Writing in the Social Sciences with a grade of B or higher at the undergraduate or graduate level to meet the proseminar registration requirement, but it will not count toward the degree.

Grade Requirements: The proseminar must be completed with a grade of B or higher, without letting your overall Harvard cumulative GPA dip below 3.0. You have two registration attempts to earn the minimum grade of B in the proseminar (a withdrawal grade counts as an attempt), which cannot be more than two years old at the time of application.