Harvard After Dark

On a typical day at Harvard, 6500 undergraduates wander through the Yard, filling lecture halls and libraries in pursuit of their sacred degrees.

But as soon as the sun sets, more than 10,000 New Englanders replace the University's traditional students, invading the same classrooms for the nighttime edition of an Ivy League education. They come from as far away as Maine and Vermont and range in age from the early teens to the mid-eighties. And most of them aren't even vying for degrees.

They are Extension School students, and their presence is becoming increasingly familiar all around campus. During the past decade alone, the number of students in the program has more than doubled. By the time the school celebrated its 75th anniversary last year, Harvard's extension had already educated more than a quarter of a million people.

The cost for continuing adult education classes varies depending upon the course and the number of credits. A non-credit liberal arts course, for example, runs for only $120, while a workshop for graduate credit lists for $500.

In all, the Extension School generates almost $1 million in income for the University--more than any other tuition-receiving school at Harvard--according to figures for the fiscal year ending last June. Without profits from the money-making program, the University would have reported a deficit of $323,000 in 1985.

Most Not Seeking Degrees

The reasons people give for enrolling in Extension School courses are as varied as the students themselves.

Some, of course, hope to earn a Harvard degree. The program offers students associates, bachelors, and masters degrees, or allows them to graduate with Extension School certificates.

Take William S. Willer, 21, of Newton, who works at Boston Five Savings Bank, and attends the Extention School in hopes of earning a bachelor degree in Economics.

"It should take me a year and a half to get the credits," Willer says. "After that, I'd like to go to business school full time. Many schools look favorably on people who work and attend school at the same time."

But students like Willer, who are seeking degrees, constitute the minority, says Michael Shinagel, dean of the University's education outreach program. Less than 2000 out of the more than 250,000 who have taken Extension courses have actually earned college degrees, the school's dean says. "That comes out to less than one percent."

Most students, like 39-year old Elaine C. Page, enroll to brush up on subjects related to their profession. A resident of nearby Bolton, Massachusetts, Page is a software editor who took "Intensive Grammar Review" last term.

"My job involves rewording software," she says. "And I had forgotten some of the rules which apply to what I do. When you change software around, you have to be able to back up what you do."

Page says that the idea of enrolling was strictly her own. "My boss did not tell me to take this course. I just thought it would help me in my job."

Susan M. Hanley, 29, of Cambridge, is a research associate in a genetics research company, BioTechnica International, working in yeast mold biology. While she was an undergraduate, Hanley majored in chemistry, but has spent the last seven years researching E. coli, a common bacterium.

Sensing that her background in biology was lacking, Hanley enrolled in "Introduction to Immunology", a course taught by Gerald B. Pier, an assistant professor at the Medical School.

Pier's course is perennially one of the most popular courses offered. This year it ranked second with an enrollment of 146 students, just behind "Financial Accounting" with 206 students. The success of the course is due to the broad-based appeal of immunology in the medical sciences, Pier says.

"Most of my students probably aren't studying immunology," he says, "But they use it in their work. They may be researchers, health care workers, nurses, or even physicians who haven't had strong backgrounds in biology and suddenly find they need it."

Studying for Fun

Most students, however, say they take Extension courses simply for their own enjoyment.

"Our Extension program is unique in that we have the highest percentage of students in the country who come here just for personal enrichment, not for degrees," Shinagel boasts.

One such person is Cantabrigian Martina B. Lesser, 27, a social worker employed by the city to work in the Central Square area. She is taking "Behavioral Ecology" simply because the subject matter interests her.

"I also wanted to keep in the habit of studying," she adds, "Because someday I may try to get a masters in social work."

Students also provide a variety of reasons for choosing Harvard over other night and part-time schools in the area. Liora L. Gates, 28, of Jamaica Plain, is a scientist for Cambridge-based BioGen. She says she chose Harvard because it was conveniently located near the research firm.

While Page feels that the University's name ensures quality, Lesser gives different reasons for picking Harvard. "I live nearby, it was reasonably priced, and there was a good variety of classes to choose from," she says.

Willer says he chose this school because an undergraduate friend recommended it. He also claims that Harvard's prices are up to one-third less for similar courses offered at Boston College.

Part-time students generally seem pleased with the quality of their Harvard classes. In a survey taken at the end of last year, students were asked to rate their courses and professors on a scale from one to seven. The courses netted a 5.7 approval rating, and teachers earned a 5.8.

Professors, in turn, are quite happy with their students. In a similar survey, a majority of professors found Extension School students "more willing" or "more prepared" than their undergraduate counterparts.

"Extension students have stronger backgrounds in molecular biology and bio-chemistry than medical school students," Pier says. "They are clearly being educated with modern concepts."

Thomas C. Rounds, an assistant chemistry professor at Tufts, agrees. He finds the students in his course, "Physical Chemistry with Bio-Chemical Applications", are for the most part "more mature, and able to work on their own." This, he says, is a great advantage over teaching undergraduates.

But Rounds admits that there are also disadvantages to teaching Extension School students. "It is much harder to have individual contact with students, since we have no office hours," he says. The chemistry professor tries to compensate by having students call him, and by passing out more problem sets.

Program's Metamorphosis

The University's extension has grown by quantum leaps since Harvard President A. Lawrence Lowell opened the school's doors in 1910. Back then, 863 people registered for 16 courses. This year more than 9250 students have enrolled in 500-plus courses-a program second only to Northeastern in size in the Boston area.

There have been changes in the student body, as well. During the first year of the program's existence, two-thirds of the enrolled students were female, none were college graduates, and the average age was 35.

The ratio of women to men for the current academic year is three-to-two. Seventy-seven percent of the program's students, whose median age is 29, have already earned college degrees.

Shinagel says he is pleased with the changing shape of the student body.

"This shows that we are serving a need for the people in the community," he says. "It is continuing adult education in its purest sense. The students are not here to get credentials, but to get aneducation."

This year also marks the first in Extension School history in which the majority of students were veterans of the program. Fify-three percent of the students who enrolled last fall had taken Extension courses before, as opposed to only 36 percent the year before.

Carrying Equal Weight

While speaking at commencement exercises two years ago, President Derek C. Bok discussed the impact of non-traditional students on the future of universities.

"They are returning us to the medieval university where people of all ages gathered for study and learning," Bok told graduates. "[Non-traditional students] are changing the face of Harvard and confronting us with some of our most interesting challenges."

"At some point, we will need to start to choose between traditional and non-traditional programs, and to treat the latter as integral parts of our educational enterprise, not as marginal remnants at the edge of Harvard's affairs."