Policies for college-age and older students in the General Program and students in the Secondary School Program
Registration is March 4 through June 20. The deadline for on campus course registration is June 6. See the Academic Calendar.
The full payment deadline for all sessions is May 13. If you do not pay all tuition, housing, and other fees by this date, your housing request will be canceled, and you will be at risk of being dropped from all courses and waitlists. If you register for courses after the payment deadline, you must pay in full immediately. Otherwise, you risk being dropped from all courses and waitlists.
Once registration ends, only registered students may continue to make course changes, including course adds, up to the course change and withdrawal deadlines listed below and in the academic calendar. New registration is not permitted after registration ends.
You are expected to attend or participate online and do all coursework from the day classes begin. Late work may be submitted only with instructor approval and according to instructor policies. Adding or changing courses after registration ends does not warrant an exception to those policies.
During the course change period, you may change credit status, add courses, and drop courses for a 100% tuition refund without financial penalty, pending availability and in accordance with the above attendance policies. After the course change period, you may drop seven-week courses for a 50% tuition refund through the 50% tuition refund deadline. There is no 50% tuition refund period for three-week or four-week courses. Courses that are not dropped by the appropriate 100% or 50% tuition refund deadline remain permanently on your student record, with letter grades assigned in courses taken for graduate and undergraduate credit unless you withdraw from the course for a WD notation by the appropriate deadline.
See the Academic Calendars on the Summer School website for course drop and withdrawal, housing cancellation, and other deadlines. See also Course Changes and Withdrawals, Limited-Enrollment Courses and Waitlists, and Tuition, Fees, and Payment on the Summer School website.
Additional policies for Secondary School Program students
Secondary School Program students enroll in credit-bearing Harvard Summer School courses for undergraduate credit only.
7-Week Students: Online and Commuting students may enroll in a course or courses bearing a total of 4 or 8 credits. Residential students must enroll, and stay enrolled, in courses bearing a total of 8 credits. After June 23, all course changes, drops, and withdrawals must be approved by the Secondary School Program office. Contact the SSP office or your resident dean if you are considering a course change.
4-Week Students: Students will enroll in one 4-credit course. After July 14, all course changes, drops, and withdrawals must be approved by the Secondary School Program Office. Contact the SSP office or your resident dean if you are considering a course change.
Policies for Pre-College Program students
Registration starts February 29. The full payment deadline for all sessions is April 9. If you do not pay in full by this deadline, your registration will be canceled, and you will be withdrawn from the program. If you register for the first time after this deadline, you must pay all tuition and fees immediately. All students must be registered by June 6.
You are expected to attend, participate, and do all coursework from the day classes begin. Late work may be submitted only with instructor approval and according to instructor policies. Changing courses after registration ends does not warrant an exception to those policies.
Until the payment deadline, you may change courses (pending course availability), drop courses, or withdraw from the program for a 100% refund of the program fee without financial penalty. After this deadline, you may continue to request course changes (pending availability) without financial penalty through the session-specific deadlines noted in the Pre-College Program Calendar; you may also drop courses or withdraw from the program for a 50% refund of the program fee by the session-specific deadline. Courses not dropped by the session-specific deadline remain permanently on your student record, with grades assigned unless you withdraw from the course for a WN notation by the appropriate deadline.
See the Pre-College Program Academic Calendar on the Summer School website for withdrawal and other deadlines. See also Courses and Program Costs on the Summer School website, and Additional Rules for Pre-College Program students.
Emergency Reservation of Rights
Harvard Summer School retains the discretion to act as it deems necessary in extraordinary circumstances to protect the health and safety of the Harvard community. For these purposes “extraordinary circumstances” include, but are not limited to, public health emergencies, extreme weather events, and other conditions posing broad threats to community health and safety or significantly disrupting campus life or learning. Discretionary measures available to Harvard Summer School may include, but are not limited to, making recourse to remote or hybrid instruction, suspending or limiting access to University-provided residential housing, limiting its provision of or access to certain activities and services, introducing or modifying vaccination, mask and physical distancing mandates, and implementing compulsory testing and tracing programs as required conditions for accessing the Harvard campus or Harvard facilities.