At the Division of Continuing Education (DCE), we believe that if you have the drive and determination, you should have access to a Harvard University education. When you walk through our gates or log in from around the world, you’ll find the opportunity to become a better version of yourself.
Our faculty, instructors, advisors, and staff are ready to support your growth and help you develop the perspectives and connections to shape your future. Because humans are born to learn, we are here to teach.
Throughout its rich and varied history, DCE has been a catalyst to amplify learning. In 2025, we celebrate our 50th anniversary. We invite you to learn more about our history, our plans for the future, and the impact we have had on continuing education for individuals around the world.
At the Harvard Division of Continuing Education, our gates are open.
We find that the people who walk through them are motivated, ambitious, and generous.
And we understand that excellence doesn’t fit into a box any more than they do.
That’s why we created more than one way to get a Harvard education.
While many students go to Harvard, many more bring Harvard home with our online classrooms, flexible schedules, and hybrid locations.
And rather than pause the momentum of our students’ careers and lives, we help them build on it.
Speaker: If you are excited about learning, you belong here. If you want to challenge old ways of thinking, you belong here. And if you want to change the world, you belong here.
We’re proud to stand out at Harvard, just as our students do in their lives.
Because we’re not just pushing the boundaries of traditional education and turning detours into opportunities we’re opening gateways to excellence.
Harvard Division of Continuing Education. Upholding Excellence, reimagining access.
DCE’s Access Mission
DCE provides educational opportunities for intellectually curious learners across their lifetimes — from high school through to retirement — with the ability to succeed in academically challenging programs. We achieve this by:
- Integrating strong liberal arts traditions in curricula.
- Offering multiple learning modalities, program types, and durations.
- Ensuring programs are affordable and competitively priced.
- Offering flexible residency requirements and enrollment pathways.
- Creating the opportunity for participation in a community of motivated purpose-driven learners.
- Designing programs to meet the unique academic and social needs of learners who choose to pursue educational interests to enhance current work, school, or other life activities.
