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Harvard University Extension School, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of the twelve degree-granting schools of Harvard University,〔 offering graduate and undergraduate liberal arts-based degree programs as well as professional and continuing education in 60 fields. The School also has a long history of offering professional and distance education, and provides a variety of amenities and opportunities to students and degree earning alumni. Since its establishment in 1910, it is estimated that 500,000 students have taken a course at the Extension School. Although most students take one of the 715 on-campus and distance-learning based courses〔 offered for professional development or personal enrichment, approximately 150 Bachelor's and 550 Master's degrees are awarded each year.〔 ==History== (詳細はA. Lawrence Lowell, the Harvard Extension School grew out of the (Institute )], which was created according to the terms of a bequest by John Lowell, Jr. It was designed to serve the educational interests and needs of the greater Boston community, particularly those "who had the ability and desire to attend college, but also had other obligations that kept them from traditional schools."〔 It has since extended its "academic resources to the public, locally, nationally, and internationally."〔 During the 1920s professors from Boston and Harvard Universities left the confines of their campuses and traveled to teach courses offsite.〔 While they were primarily aimed at teachers, courses were offered wherever 40 or more students expressed an interest.〔 Professors traveled on a weekly basis to places around New England and as far away as Yonkers, New York,〔 some 200 miles away. Despite falling revenue due to the Great Depression, A. Lawrence Lowell insisted in 1931 that the bequest from John Lowell prevented courses from costing more than two bushels of wheat. As a result, a half year course cost could no more than $5, and a full course no more than $10. Some courses cost as little as $2.50.〔 University Extension courses were to be taught by "the most experienced teachers that can be secured" who all received "excellent pay."〔 In the early years courses were run by a commission composed of several Boston area schools, though it was largely a Harvard-run program.〔 In 1938 there were 28 professors from Commission faculties, including 11 full professors.〔 Early faculty included Charles Townsend Copeland, Theodore Spenser, B.J. Whiting, William Yandell Elliot, Payton S. Wild Jr., William Langer, Oscar Handlin, Kenneth B. Murdoch, Perry Miller, William Enerst Hocking, Raphael Demos, John Kenneth Galbraith, and Frank M. Carpenter. In 1953 there was a similar number of professors, including L. B. Clohen, Charles R. Cherington, and J. D. Wild.〔 In his will, John Lowell asked his successors to set up courses "More erudite and particular corresponding to the age and wants of the age."〔 By the 50th anniversary of the University Extension in 1960, more than 1,400 courses had been offered and there had been more than 85,000 enrollments. While the vast majority of classes were held on the Harvard campus, a few in the late 1960s were offered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston University, as well as at the Old South Meeting House.〔〔 At this time non-credit courses cost between $15 and $25, and courses for credit cost between $20 and $35.〔 After 100 years, an estimated 500,000 students have taken courses at the Extension School. While there has never been an entrance exam and fees were kept as low as possible to allow as many as possible to enroll, only .18% have ever earned a degree. Including certificate earners, 2.5% have graduated. Today more degrees are awarded each year than were awarded in the first 50 years combined. Several years after retiring, President Lowell wrote that the Extension courses "have given a service to the public ... which seems to me of the utmost importance." In 2013, more than 100 years after its founding, the Extension Schools classes were described as "surprisingly affordable"〔 and the school itself was said to be a "thriving institution."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Harvard Extension School」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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