I went to Harvard College as a hard-science major, and two years after I graduated went back and took a few remaining medschool pre-reqs at the extension school, and also worked as a teaching assistant for an extension school class. My experiences with Extension left me pretty uneasy.
Most undergrads at the college are fairly unaware that the extension school exists. I knew one college age extension school degree-track student well when I was an undergrad, and he hung out with undergrads a fair amount. I never saw him lie about his status, but he didn't volunteer more information than "Harvard" when people asked him where he went to school. Maybe he didn't need to, but when people pieced it together they were upset because they felt a little tricked, not because they thought he was diminishing the prestige of their degrees. The issue wasn't that they didn't want to hang out with an outsider - it was that the guy wasn't honest.
That said, I think the onus lies squarely on the Extension school itself, and most Harvard College students I've talked to feel the same way. Reading their advertising, I get the feeling that Extension uses the prestige of the College to make a quick buck from Extension students. I found, with some exceptions, that the rigor and quality of instruction didn't match up with the college. (I got interested in this, and compared syllabi and class notes of the classes I took with their college equivalents.) Going in, I expected it to, and while I was there, I think some students were under the mistaken impression that it did. I guess I just felt like the product wasn't what it was advertised to be. Again, the issue is honesty. I know the names are different on the diplomas, but who knows what diplomas look like? And doesn't it sound even BETTER if your education keeps "Continuing" even after you've graduated? That sounds awesome! I don't care if some guy that didn't go to Harvard makes people think he did, but it offends me that Extension seems like they're trying to make money off the confusion. There's also basically no institutional effort (that I saw) to integrate Extension students into the Harvard community socially. This is the fault of both schools, not their students, and it sucks.
That said, I wasn't dissatisfied with the product. The classes were better than community college classes I've taken, they're open enrollment, and they are on the cheap. I'd take one again if I needed to.
The issues about social class in this are really interesting. I think it's awesome that anyone can come along and "take classes at Harvard" (even if it's not clear exactly what that means). But the reason for that seems to be profit, not any kind of democratization of education. Posing the puzzlement of H.C. students as a class issue also demonstrates a pretty big misunderstanding of what the H.C. class is like. While there is a fetid frothy film of the super-rich floating at the top of the social keg, it turns out Harvard's got a pretty diverse student group. While I spent my evenings sipping scotch in an exclusive club, making fun of poor people and beating up hobos, I was part of a very small minority. Just kidding, about the hobos.
There is a division of Harvard that students do feel like is watering down their diplomas, but it's not Extension, it's the Kennedy School of Govt, which despite their fantastic schedule of speakers is the easiest place in the world to get an A. If you have GPA problems, I'd heartily recommend skipping Extension and enrolling at the K-school, where you get what you pay for. Namely, A's. College students would have burned down the building long ago if they didn't need the cross registration to keep their grades up.
Finally, to end a long, rambling email, I'd like to ask one question. If you want a transcript from Harvard College, it will cost you $3. If you want one from Extension, it's free. What's up with that? Perhaps the degree from Harvard College is worth more, by an amount of ... $3.00?
- LBQ
