Overview of Cross Registration from Harvard Chan into Another School
Harvard Chan students may enroll in courses offered by one of the other Harvard faculties, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Tufts Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy — the cross-registration consortium. Obtaining credit for cross-registered courses is permissible only for graduate-level courses appropriate to the student’s Harvard Chan School degree program and if a similar course is not available at the Harvard Chan School.
Important Cross-Registration Items to Keep in Mind:
Cross-Registration Credit Requirements:
For a cross-registered course to count toward a Harvard Chan School degree and to appear on the transcript, the course:
- Must be a graduate-level course;
- Must be relevant to the student’s degree program;
- Must be taken for pass/fail or ordinal credit
Undergraduate-level and language courses are not counted toward a Harvard Chan School degree, and students do not receive credit for them. Radcliffe Seminars and Harvard Extension and Summer School courses are also not counted toward degree credit at the Harvard Chan School. If students still want to take these courses, and can fit them into their schedules while meeting all of their other degree requirements, they may take them, however, it is with the understanding that these courses will not be counted towards their degree and they will not receive credit for them.
The Student Knowledge Center at Harvard Chan’s Registrar’s Office
The Student Knowledge Center is designed to answer many of your cross-registration questions. You can reach this website via this link, and then click on the Cross Registration menu for more information: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/r-o-student-knowledge-center/
Cross-Registration Deadlines:
Students cross-registering into consortium schools must meet the deadlines set by both the Harvard Chan School and the host school. Therefore, a student who wishes to enroll in a cross-registered course must meet the earlier add/drop/change deadline. Please refer to the Cross-Registration Deadline Chart found in the registration packet or visit the Harvard Cross-Registration website, which contains links to cross-registration information for all consortium schools.
Cross-Registration Grades:
Students who cross-register are bound by the rules and regulations of the respective faculties regarding grades, examination schedules, make-up examinations, and incomplete work. These regulations are often very different from those at the Harvard Chan School.
The Registrar’s Office has created a very helpful cross registration conversion chart, which can be extremely helpful: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2326/2020/02/Cross-Registration-Credit-Conversion-Table-2-3-2020.pdf
Degree candidates are urged to check the examination schedules of cross-registered courses to avoid possible problems of late grade reporting to the Harvard Chan School Registrar. Some schools give examinations at such a late date that Harvard Chan School degree candidates risk not receiving grades and credit for courses taken in time for them to be counted in the final degree audit for May Commencement. Please note that MIT grades will not be received in time for any spring MIT course to count towards May graduation requirements. Please be sure that all of your degree requirements and credit minimums for your degree program are met without your Spring MIT course.
Scheduling Cross-Registered Courses:
Please note that students may not, under any circumstance, register for courses that overlap time periods. The my.harvard system prevents students from registering for any courses that have overlap.
Curious about what other students have cross registered for in the past?
Please visit the Office of Education’s course evaluation site to see reviews of cross registration courses: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/office-of-education/course-evaluations/
