Degree Candidate Academic Opportunities

A number of student service privileges — including advising, career services, faculty aide, priority registration, Harvard Summer School tuition discounts, and student clubs — can help deepen your Harvard experience. Check out Degree Candidate Privileges.

As an admitted degree candidate it is important to review our enrollment policies for graduate students or enrollment policies for undergraduate students and academic standing and student conduct.

Learn more about optional and required research requirements that support your career and academic aspirations, such as internships, thesis projects or capstones.

You certainly won’t want to miss planning for graduation by submitting the mandatory Intent to Graduate form for one of 3 annual graduation cycles, November, February or May, and participating in the annual Harvard University Commencement (ordinarily the last Thursday in May).

You can apply for Special Student program to enroll in either one or two courses (two is the maximum) in Harvard College, Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, or another Harvard Graduate School (certain restrictions apply) paying that school’s tuition rate. These courses are offered on campus only.

As an ALM and ALB degree candidate, it may be possible to earn a certificate along with your degree.

Pursue your own undergraduate research project under the supervision of an Harvard Extension School instructor or a faculty member at another Harvard school.

ALB and ALM degree candidates interested in applying to medical school can work with our Premedical Program (PMP) advising team.

Designed for highly motivated adult professional students with a proven track record of success in the ALB program, our Joint Program provides an accelerated pathway to earn both a bachelor’s and master’s degree. In the Joint Program, you earn the ALB and ALM degree in any field we currently offer with four graduate-level courses counting toward both degrees.

Once you earn 96 credits toward the ALB degree with a 3.5 GPA or higher you can petition to apply to the Joint Program.

Advising Tip: It is critical to avoid enrolling in specific ALM preadmission and core degree requirements prior to receiving Joint Program approval, as you may not be able to move forward with the joint degree process 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.