Harvard Extension School Students Rally for Degree Name Change

[sarahmac]

Yes. Very valid point. The resume standards have changed upwards of 8 times in the past decade. So, I have some experience in career advising and resume writing. It's been my part-time side job for some years now. The resume standards Harvard imposes on Extension students are drastically different from the other 13 Harvard schools. In addition, there is no law governing the standardization of the resume outside of official channels. It's frowned upon to not follow the standards- but it's nothing that can't be done. However, every now and again a graduate from HES who does just list Harvard University, ALM and their field is called a poser, liar, or attempting to portray themselves as from the college, so the stigma extends even there. I also can't, as a representative, say write whatever you want since I do represent both the student body and the school. Employers have also felt bamboozled by students not specifying their exact schools. HES career guidance services have struggled in setting  a standard that makes sense and is befitting of everyone.

At the end of the day, it's truly not a resume issue- it's a stigmatizing nomenclature issue that you rightfully stated extends into the resume guidelines. Correcting the degree names is a way to ensure the equity, integrity, and fairness of the degree while also delineating which school the degree is from.  I remain accessible to you in service and appreciate you caring about this issue whatsoever.

It is also something that matters for military students and those working in certain GS fields (govt employees). The CIP code and name of the degree on the transcript has to actually be in the field studied to be useful. Certain jobs require certain CIP codes and the degree to be officially listed on the transcript a certain way, otherwise yes you have a master's but it isn't qualifying in the way you'd need it to be. Instead it falls under "general" and is not part of the target career field staffing based on degree held.

As someone else mentioned above, I'd throw the money aspect at them. There is a substantial population of students who have a large government budget to spend but cannot do so at HES because they need that specific degree title.