<p>
[quote]
This pattern is absolutely typical, as you can see by performing a web search for "ALB Harvard" and count how the hits go down when you add the words "Extension School" or "Extension Studies". Lots of CVs with the first come up, but almost none come up that explicitly list the affiliation to the Extension School. This is different from all the other schools at Harvard; people with certificates from the Education or Divinity schools (not exactly the height of prestige or admissions difficulty by Harvard grad school standards) almost always list those schools along with the degree.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
hat kind of studious avoidance just isn't the case for the Education School, Divinity School, Design School, Kennedy School, Business School, or any other branch of Harvard that I've ever heard of.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Uh, no they don't. Speaking of the Ed School specifically, trust me, I know PLENTY of instances of people getting degrees from the Harvard Ed School who choose not to list their affiliation.</p>
<p>Consider this case of Bob Muldoon, who was laid off during the dotcom bust.</p>
<p>""It was quite a contrast from even a year before, when recruiters were swarming like locusts," said Muldoon, who went to prestigious prep schools and has master's degrees from Columbia and Harvard. "</p>
<p>Of course what the article doesn't mention is that his Harvard master's degree is an Ed.M. from the Ed School. Trust me, I know. </p>
<p>Or consider Lynn D'Ambrose, who is also mentioned in the Nellie Mae Foundation as having a mysterious "master's from Harvard". Checking around, I discover that that master's from Harvard is, again, an Ed.M. from the Harvard GSE. Interestingly enough, she also has listed another master's from Harvard, but this time being from KSG. Apparently she has no problem with a press release that openly affiliates her with KSG. But not from the Ed School. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.nmefdn.org/NewsandEvents/pubs.aspx?a=3ea382c3-1177-4e25-abc2-990318894aee&l=Press%20Releases&rl=%7E/NewsandEvents/%5B/url%5D">http://www.nmefdn.org/NewsandEvents/pubs.aspx?a=3ea382c3-1177-4e25-abc2-990318894aee&l=Press%20Releases&rl=~/NewsandEvents/</a></p>
<p>What's even more ironic is that the Nellie Mae Foudation is a charity focused on * education*. So you would think that if any degree ought to be openly publicized, it would be her education degree. But nope, that's not what happened. She is working for an education charity, she actually has an education degree, but she apparently would rather be known as just having a mysterious "master's from Harvard'.</p>
<p>Look, I think we can all agree that HES is not as prominent as some of the other schools as Harvard, and that an ALB is not as strong of a credential as an AB from Harvard. I think nobody disputes this. </p>
<p>But the truth of the matter is, Harvard has many different programs with varying selectivity and difficulty. Yet all of them are considered to be part of Harvard.</p>
<p>Personally, I would argue that if there is ANY programs at Harvard that you should be concerned about, it's the exec-education programs run at Harvard Business School. These programs are generally only a few months long, with no grading. Yet these programs hand out certificates of completion and the more expensive ones will actually grant you HBS alumni status, including placing your name in the alumni database and a lifetime HBS alumni email address. Nor are they particularly difficult to get admitted to - I seem to recall reading somewhere how some of them have 75%+ admissions rates. At least the extension school requires that you pass actual coursework that takes you years to complete. The HBS exec ed programs don't even require that. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.exed.hbs.edu/programs/gmp/alumni.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.exed.hbs.edu/programs/gmp/alumni.html</a></p>
<p>Look, the truth is, I think there is little dispute that the HBS exec-ed programs are riding off the HBS brand name. A big reason why people attend these programs is to just say that they "studied" at HBS. But, HBS is allowed to run these programs. If you don't like it, you should take it up with HBS.</p>