Don't misrepresent where you went to school.

[Life Long Learning]

I know this happens at some companies, but prestige is usually based on the reputation of the program rather than the entire school. For example, no one would call UTD or SHSU prestigious overall, but they're prestigious when it comes to criminology and criminal justice. Penn State is more prestigious than UPenn when it comes to criminology. Only looking at overall rankings simplifies things to the point of being inaccurate.

Thats how it works at most companies. I'm sure there are a few specialty fields where certain schools are known to have good programs, but that simply isn't most cases. Harvard is the most prestigious school in the entire world. It's only natural that some of that glow will wear off on its alumni, extension or not. At the end of the day, most of the professors are from Harvard, and the ones who aren't are from BU, Tufts, or universities of a similar tier. I'm honestly not sure how to compare it to a traditional program, because thats not what it is. If a student has the opportunity to go to the best program in their field, they should do it. For the rest of us, it seems like HES is a great value.

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Why do you need to live near Cambridge?

You have to complete 4 courses on campus. The on-campus courses also offer the opportunity to network with other students and form a relationship with the professor. The consensus is that the more on-campus courses you can complete, the better. Alot of programs have hybrid courses available that allow you to complete the course online while getting on-campus credit if you attend the required on-campus weekend.

So you could take 4 hybrid courses available that allow you to complete the course online while "getting on-campus credit" if you attend the required "on-campus weekend."  That would add up to only 4 weekends at Harvard (8 Days)?  That is not bad.  Travel will cost a little, but it would be a neat experience.