Credit for Completed Graduate Work

PhD students may be eligible to receive credit for graduate work they completed while enrolled in a graduate program at other Harvard Schools or institutions. Students must complete at least one full term of satisfactory work at the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (Harvard Griffin GSAS) before submitting an application to the Registrar’s Office.

• No guarantee is given that applications will be granted.
• Only courses comparable to the level and merit of a Harvard Griffin GSAS course will be approved; credit is not given for undergraduate courses or thesis courses.
• Only courses taken fully in person will be approved; credit is not given for remote or hybrid courses.  
• Credit is not given for graduate-level classes taken while enrolled in an undergraduate program. 
• Courses taken in a Harvard AB/AM or AB/SM program, at Harvard Summer School, as a Harvard Griffin GSAS special student, or as an employee under the Tuition Assistance Program (for courses taken in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences only) may be counted toward the minimum academic residence requirements for a master’s degree.
• Maximum allowable credit is four courses (16 credits) toward a one-year master’s and eight courses (32 credits) toward a two-year master’s or the PhD degree.

Forms

Application for Academic Credit for Graduate Work Done Elsewhere