Minimum Age Policy
Adult and visiting college students: If you have completed high school and are planning to register for courses in the general Summer School program (7-week or 3-week sessions), you must be at least:
- 16 years old by June 22, 2024, to enroll for noncredit and undergraduate credit.
- 18 years old by July 1, 2024, to enroll for graduate credit.
If you are a current undergraduate student under 18 years old, you must submit an official letter from your school confirming your degree-seeking status before you can register. This documentation can be submitted to the Registrar’s Office after creating your MyDCE account.
High School Students and recent High School Graduates: If you are a high school student currently completing the 10th, 11th, or 12th grade, including those graduating this year, you must apply to the Secondary School Program or the Pre-College Program. Students who graduated high school on or before August 31, 2024, are not eligible for the Secondary School Program or the Pre-College Program and may enroll in Summer School as an Adult or College Student.
For additional information, please visit the following:
If you are applying to a Study Abroad Program, see the “Who can apply” section on the Study Abroad Programs page for information.
Full- and Part-Time Enrollment
One credit is equivalent to one semester hour. Credits are listed in course descriptions.
Eight credits constitutes full-time enrollment in Harvard Summer School. Four credits constitutes half-time enrollment. All study abroad programs are full time. If you are a Harvard Extension School degree candidate enrolled in a thesis or internship course, you are enrolled full time. Courses with grades of excluded-from-course (EXD), required-to-withdraw (RQ), administrative withdrawal (WA), or withdrawal (WD) are excluded from these definitions.
All certifications of current enrollment status, including information submitted to the National Direct Student Loan Clearinghouse, are based on these time status calculations and your total Summer School undergraduate and graduate credit enrollment. Enrollment status is not calculated separately for three-week sessions. See Transcripts and Enrollment Verification for more information on enrollment verification and loan deferments.
Maximum Enrollment
Maximum credit enrollment for the Summer School is 8 credits.
Secondary School Program Students
You may enroll only in seven-week or four-week session courses that have been approved for your program, but you may not enroll in both seven-week and four-week session courses at the same time. In a typical year, residential students in the seven-week session must be enrolled in 8 credits, the Summer School maximum. Students in the four-week session may register for a maximum of 4 credits. Nonresidential students in the seven-week session who attend as commuters or online may enroll for either 4 or 8 undergraduate credits.
Adult and College Students
You may enroll in seven-week session courses, three-week session courses, or four-week session courses, up to the credit enrollment maximums listed below. You may enroll in both three-week sessions, or three-week session I and four-week session courses. However, you may not enroll in both seven-week and three-week session courses, or seven-week and four-week session courses. The maximum credit enrollment for each session is as follows:
- 8 credits in the seven-week session
- 4 credits in three-week session I
- 4 credits in three-week session II
- 4 credits in the four-week session
Maximum Enrollment Policies
During registration, you may register beyond the maximum in courses in which your status is waitlisted. If you are later moved into a course from the waitlist, you must reduce your enrollment to the maximum credits allowed or you will be dropped by the Registrar. Exceptions to this policy are made only if one of the following applies:
- You are a Harvard College student with approval for an overload from your Allston Burr Assistant Dean/Resident Dean of Freshmen (see Harvard College Student Guidelines).
- You are an admitted candidate in the Math for Teaching Program and you receive your program advisor’s approval for an overload.
When we are offering courses on campus, I-20 certificates of eligibility for the F-1 student visa are issued only to students who are enrolled in the maximum number of credits for their session, in addition to meeting all other I-20 requirements. See International Student Guidelines.
Time Conflicts
You may not be enrolled in courses that meet at the same or any overlapping times unless at least one of the courses is also offered online with an online asynchronous option and does not require attendance at the scheduled meeting time.
If you register for courses with time conflicts, you must drop one or more of the conflicting courses by the payment deadline, or you will be dropped from those courses by the Registrar.
Course Prerequisites
In some courses, instructors give assignments during the first class to confirm that you have met specific prerequisites and that your English proficiency is sufficient. Based on the results or on your general performance, you may be dropped during the course change period and required to move into courses that are more appropriate for your level.
Right to Refuse Registration
The Summer School may refuse registration to a person
- Whose conduct the Summer School has determined, in its discretion, indicates that the person’s presence would either pose a significant risk to the safety of any person or cause serious disruption to the educational environment of the Harvard community.
- Who has been required to withdraw from another Harvard school or course or officially ordered to stay away from the Harvard campus.
- Who was found responsible for a disciplinary violation at another educational institution.
- Who was adjudicated guilty or convicted of a misdemeanor, felony, or other crime.
Third Parties and Agencies
The Summer School deals directly with individual applicants and students. We do not work with agents to enroll individuals or groups of students, nor do we offer any commission or discount for doing so. Any agency offering enrollment services to clients vis-a-vis Harvard University may not in any way represent itself as an agency of Harvard University. All applications and registrations must come from the individual student.
Course Cancellations and Schedule Changes
Courses occasionally must be canceled or rescheduled for a semester or session, due to low enrollment or other unexpected reasons. Note that if a course is canceled, or if you must drop a course due to a schedule change, your tuition is refunded in full, but you are responsible for textbooks, course packs, travel costs, and other incurred expenses.
