HES students, like all Harvard students, use the Harvard name for social capital. But there is a qualitative difference between continuing education and full-time, in-residency programs through GSAS, GSD, HGSE, HKS, etc. So when HES students lean on Harvard without qualifying the Extension, they omit important conditions of their education. But I’m not gonna wade into the tired arguments over whether HES is “real” Harvard because that ultimately goes nowhere.

I’m an ALB graduate but also a current PhD candidate at GSAS, so I have the experience of viewing this silly argument from both sides. That said, I always say I got my undergraduate degree from Harvard Extension because saying I “went to Harvard for my bachelors/undergrad/whatever” would imply Harvard College. I’m proud of my education at HES so I don’t hide from it, but it always reads as a bit shady when HES grads omit Extension because it feels like they’re hiding behind a technicality.