Policies and Procedures for Cross Registration at Harvard

As students investigate cross registration at Harvard University, the information on this website should be reviewed carefully. Cross registrants are responsible for adhering to the deadlines, requirements, and policies outlined on this website.

Select a Category to Jump To:

• Eligibility
• Petitions
• Limits
• Calendar and Schedule
• Tuition and Fees
• Grades
• Dropping a Course
• Exams
• Credit
• Special Notes

Eligibility:

Harvard University, MIT and Tufts/Fletcher students may cross-register providing they satisfy eligibility guidelines determined by their respective home school registrars.

Students may enroll in courses offered by one of the other Harvard faculties, MIT and Tufts Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Students interested in cross registering should first check with their own Registrar's Office for information on specific policies and procedures. (Special Students should contact the Special Students Office at GSAS for possible variations.)

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Petitions:

Students must complete a Cross Registration Petition Form online. Petitions to cross register must be filed in person at the Registrar's Office at the host school with all required signatures by the earliest deadlines. A petition cannot be filed later in the academic year and operate retroactively.

Students cross registering into full year courses must file both fall and spring term cross registration petitions.

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Limits:

At most schools there is a limit to the number of credits cross registrants are allowed to take in an academic year:

Limitations on Students Registering into:
Episcopal Divinity School	Students from Fletcher, MIT, HKS and HBS may not register at EDS. Students from other schools must follow any limits set by their home school.
Faculty of Arts and Sciences	The FAS Registrar's Office requires the signature of the course head on your petition. We will begin accepting cross-registration petitions on Sept. 10, 2007. Students in other schools taking courses in GSAS must comply with FAS regulations concerning examinations, make-up examinations and the completion of incomplete grades. The option to enroll in designated language courses as SAT/UNS basis is not open to cross-registered students.
Fletcher	Cross Registered students may not take more than the equivalent of 2 credits per semester (generally, two courses).
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences	The option to enroll in designated language courses as SAT/UNS basis is not open to cross-registered students. Students in other schools taking courses in GSAS must comply with GSAS regulations concerning examinations, make-up examinations and the completion of incomplete grades. The FAS Registrar's Office requires the signature of the course head on your petition. We will begin accepting cross-registration petitions on Sept. 10, 2007.
Harvard Business School - Doctoral Program	None, other than the limits set by the student's home school.
Harvard Business School - MBA Program	HBS-MBA allows incoming cross-registrants to take a maximum of 6 credits per term, including audited courses (generally two courses). Note: Petition form can include two alternate courses. Cross-Registration Materials fee is $150 per 3-credit course and $75 per 1.5-credit course. Note that HBS-MBA supplies all course materials directly to cross-registrants; nothing is purchased from the COOP.
Harvard Divinity School	None, other than the limits set by the student's home school.
Harvard Extension School	Extension School or Summer School courses are not counted toward degree credit (except on a case by case basis).
Harvard Graduate School of Design	Students may not cross-register for studio option courses. Students who wish to audit a course must fill out an Audit Petition, available in the Office of Student Services, Gund Hall, Room 422.
Harvard Graduate School of Education	None Provided.
Harvard Kennedy School	Please submit one copy of your signed and completed cross-registration petition to the HKS Registrar's Office, 124 Mt. Auburn, Suite 165. HKS does not offer auditing. SAT/UNSAT is only available for Reading and Research courses.
Harvard Law School	Cross-registrants into Harvard Law School may take a maximum of six Law School credits in one academic year (September>June). Audits are counted in this limit.
Harvard Medical School	Courses are only graded S (Satisfactory) or U (Unsatisfactory). No audits are allowed. No ordinal (A,B,C,D,F) grades are given. Drop/Add deadline for HMS courses is 3 weeks from the start date of each course.
Harvard School of Dental Medicine	Harvard and MIT students may cross-register into a limited number of graduate-level core basic science courses. HSDM courses are graded H (Honors), P (Pass) or F (Fail). Ordinal (A,B,C,D,F) grades are not given. Auditing of courses may be allowed, with permission of the instructor, on a space available basis.
Harvard School of Public Health	Cross-registered students may not audit a course. Some courses are limited to HSPH students only. See course descriptions for more detail. For MIT and TUFTS students cross-registering at HSPH: please see the HSPH website on cross-registration for specific information on this process.
Harvard Summer School	None Provided.
MIT	None Provided.
Radcliffe Seminars	Radcliffe College Seminars are not counted toward degree credit (except on a case by case basis).

Limitations on Students Registering From:
Episcopal Divinity School	EDS students may not register at Fletcher, MIT, HKS or HBS and must take at least half their courses at EDS.
Faculty of Arts and Sciences	Students taking courses outside of FAS by cross-registration are subject to all the rules and regulations of GSAS as well as those of the other school. Students should note that all courses listed in the FAS Courses of Instruction must be taken through GSAS. All GSAS students who cross-register at another school must file a cross-registration petition, whether or not the course is to be taken for credit. Students should note that the courses taken through cross-registration must cover subjects not available under this faculty. Courses taken through cross-registration may not represent more than one-half the student's total program of study in any term.
Fletcher	Cross Registered courses may not represent more than 25% of their total program. Fletcher Students may not take more than the equivalent of 2 Fletcher credits per semester.
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences	All GSAS students who cross-register at another school must file a cross-registration petition, whether or not the course is to be taken for credit. Courses taken through cross-registration may not represent more than one-half the student's total program of study in any term. Students should note that all courses listed in the FAS Courses of Instruction must be taken through GSAS. Students should note that the courses taken through cross-registration must cover subjects not available under this faculty. Students taking courses outside of FAS by cross-registration are subject to all the rules and regulations of GSAS as well as those of the other school.
Harvard Business School - Doctoral Program	Students in the DBA program have no limitation on the number of courses into which they may register, but must comply with host school rules and calendars. Students in jointly offered PhD programs must comply with FAS guidelines.
Harvard Business School - MBA Program	Students may take the equivalent of two 3 credit courses at other schools.
Harvard Divinity School	One half of the courses taken each semester must be taken at HDS.
Harvard Extension School	None Provided.
Harvard Graduate School of Design	They must not constitute, in their ensemble, a program that is separate from, or in addition to, the program for which the student is formally registered in the Design School. Students may obtain credit toward the fulfillment of a degree at the Design School for a maximum of two undergraduate-level courses, or the equivalent of eight GSD units, at Harvard College. MDesS students may take a maximum of three cross registered courses without the permission of the program director. They should normally be subjects not available at the Design School. If there is apparent duplication of the subject in the two schools, there must be a valid reason for enrolling outside the GSD. Cross registered courses may not represent more than one half of the student's total program in any one term.
Harvard Graduate School of Education	If an HGSE student is taking a course marked "Primarily for Undergraduates" or "For Undergraduates Only" and wishes to count it toward his or her degree, the student must also complete an Extra Work Form and turn it in to the HGSE Office of the Registrar. No more than one half of the courses taken toward an HGSE degree may be taken through cross registration.
Harvard Kennedy School	The following are pre-approved for MPP, MPA2, MC/MPA students at HKS. All courses at: Harvard Business School, Harvard Law School, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Graduate School of Design, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts, The Sloan School at MIT, MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning; all graduate courses in the following Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Science departments: Economics, Government, Sociology, History, Anthropology (Social only). All MPA/ID students must receive approval by the MPA/ID Faculty Chair or Program Director for any cross-registered course. Combined/Joint degree JD students may not receive credit toward their HKS degree for courses taken at the school from which they are receiving the JD degree or any other law school. Combined/Joint degree MBA students may not receive credit toward their KSG degree for courses taken at the school from which they are receiving the MBA degree or any other business or management school. All Kennedy School students may cross-register for the equivalent of one credit per semester in residence for credit toward graduation requirements. The cross-registered courses may be taken in any semester (and more than one cross-registered course can be taken in any one semester), but the total number of cross-registered courses cannot be more than the equivalent of one per semester of residency. Students may cross-register for additional courses, but credits for those additional courses will not count toward the HKS degree requirements. To cross-register for all other courses a Request/Petition for Approval of a Cross-Registered Course must be submitted to the Registrar’s Office by the Wednesday of the first full week of classes in any semester. Cross-registered courses must be graduate-level with the exception of languages, which require the approval of the program director. (See Student Handbook for language restrictions by program).
Harvard Law School	Maximum of 10 credits of cross-registration count toward the JD degree, usually the equivalent of 3-4 courses. (HLS assigns credit generally by the number of lecture hours in a course.) Eight of the 10 minimum credits required of JDs in fall/spring semesters must be HLS credits. Maximum of 6 credits of cross-registration count toward the LLM degree.
Harvard Medical School	Courses taken through cross registration do not automatically count toward the MD, MMSC or DMSC degree requirements. Students must obtain the HMS Registrar's permission. If the course is relevant to medical education, the student may submit a request for academic credit to the HMS registrar for the cross registered course.
Harvard School of Dental Medicine	DMD students must obtain the HSDM Registrar's permission to cross register for non-HSDM courses. Approval by both the HSDM Registrar and the student's Program Director is required for a course to count toward the MMSc or DMSc degree.
Harvard School of Public Health	HSPH Students may not take more than 50% of their course work outside of the School of Public Health.
Harvard Summer School	None Provided.
MIT	None Provided.
Radcliffe Seminars	None Provided.

 

Please note that Radcliffe Seminars and Harvard Extension and Summer School courses are not counted toward degree credit (except on a case by case basis). All academic work must be completed in the term in which cross registration is taken.

Cross registering into courses is contingent upon space available. HOME school candidates have first priority (except in a few courses which have reserved some seats for cross registrants). Students from other schools/faculties may not be permitted to register for oversubscribed courses. If a course is likely to be oversubscribed, the cross registrant will not be registered for the course until the end of the drop/add period. The HOST school Registrar Office determines the availability of seats in oversubscribed courses.

After a cross registrant has been admitted to a particular section of a course, switching into a different section is not permitted under any circumstances.

Students may not take a course/seminar that is substantively the same as one taken previously. In addition, students may not take a course that covers subjects normally offered by their home school. If a course is offered at more than one school and one of the participating schools is the home school, students must take the course at their home school (providing the home school course is not closed out). Obtaining credit for cross registered courses is permissible only for graduate-level courses appropriate to the student's degree program and if a similar course is not available at the home school (there is an exception for GSD students).

The length and activity of classes vary from school to school. For example, at the Business School (HBS), classes meet intensively for several hours at a time instead of meeting in several one- or two-hour sessions per week. This may interfere with a student's ability to attend home school classes. In addition, commuting time to other schools may be as long as 45 minutes each way. Students should discuss the desirability and feasibility of cross registration with their advisor or Program Director. Please note that students may not, under any circumstances, register for courses that overlap or abut meeting times, and sufficient travel time between schools must be allowed.

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Calendar and Schedule:

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Tuition and Fees:

For example, HBS-MBA Program charges a Materials fee for each course ($150 per 3 credit course/$75 per 1.5 credit course). The Materials fee covers the tangible materials used in a course: i.e., the Course Platform, which offers on-line access (by password) to daily assignments and other necessary information about each course, as well as printed case material, required textbooks, handouts, videos, etc. HBS-MBA supplies all course materials direcly to cross-registrants; no materials need to be purchased at the COOP.

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Grades:

The HOME school Registrar's Office receives the grades from the HOST school's Registrar's Office. Therefore, a student should obtain their grades from their HOME school's Registrar's Office.

Grades awarded by the school offering the course are the grades of record for your official transcript. The grades are included as part of the student's official academic record. These grades are not translated into the home school's grading system. Cross-registered courses and resulting grades appear on your transcript. Credits generally count toward your degree; however, grades will not be calculated into a student's G.P.A.

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Dropping a Course:

A student dropping a cross-registered course must do so by the earlier add/drop/change deadline and must submit a completed add/drop/change form to their HOME Registrar's Office. Students who do not drop a cross registered course via the Add/Drop/Change Form at their home school will be considered enrolled in the course and will receive a grade for it.

Students should be sure to check both the home and HOST school's drop deadlines; the earliest deadline prevails. Students who wish to drop a course or change their grading option after the official drop/add deadline must do so through their HOME school's Registrar's Office. If students are allowed to drop or change their grading option after the deadline (Note: not all schools allow this), they may be subject to a host school fee in addition to any late fees that may be changed by their home school. If the student's home school approves the late change, the home school will notify the HOST school's Registrar's Office.

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Exams:

Students are responsible for taking the examination(s) in a cross-registered course when scheduled by the host school. Final exams can not be rescheduled due to conflicts at the home school.

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Credit:

Often obtaining credit for cross-registered courses is only permitted for graduate level courses appropriate to the student's degree program and if a similar course is not available at the home school.

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Special Notes: