Harvard Kennedy School students have the opportunity to cross-register into courses across Harvard University and at Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT) and The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, opening doors to academic experiences across a myriad of topics.
“Taking courses at other Harvard schools is an incredible opportunity. I’ve taken courses at the law school, and they’ve been some of my most rewarding classes. They provided fresh perspectives and a chance to connect with students in different disciplines. The experience requires careful planning due to differences in scheduling, time to get to class, and course formats, but it adds tremendous value to your academic journey.” —Graduate Student Ambassador Joshua “J.B.” Branch MC/MPA 2025
Navigating the individual registration process for each campus can be complex with multiple time-sensitive deadlines and course-credit petition procedures. We asked Senior Registrar Coordinator Jim Meehan to address some of the most frequently asked questions about cross-registration. When you arrive on campus, you’ll hear much more from the Registrar’s team on the processes and procedures for successfully navigating the cross-registration process.
Do students register for courses at MIT or Tufts the same way they would register for HKS courses? What about courses at other Harvard schools?
As students prepare for registration and look through the Course Catalog in my.harvard, they can add courses they are interested in taking to their Crimson Cart. All Harvard courses’ meeting times and locations are available in the Course Catalog. The 2025-2026 academic year course offerings and meeting times should be available in the my.harvard Course Catalog around mid-July.
While MIT courses are visible in the Course Catalog in my.harvard, Harvard students need to refer to the MIT Course Catalog to view MIT courses’ meeting times and locations. Fletcher courses are not available in the my.harvard Course Catalog, so Harvard students need to refer to the Fletcher Course Offerings to view the courses offered and their respective meeting times and locations.
HKS students cross-register into MIT and other Harvard school courses by submitting cross-registration petitions electronically through their Crimson Cart via my.harvard. HKS students cross-register into Fletcher courses by submitting a PDF cross-registration petition directly to the Fletcher Registrar’s Office.
Do students need approval to cross-register?
While they are pursuing their degree, HKS students can enroll in non-HKS courses in any semester. HKS students don’t need permission or approval to cross-register, but their submitted cross-registration petitions must be approved by all required parties before they can formally enroll into a non-HKS course.
All graduate-level Harvard courses and all Tufts Fletcher courses are pre-approved to count towards HKS degree credit. All graduate-level courses in the following MIT departments are pre-approved to count towards HKS degree credit:
- Department of Urban Studies & Planning (course numbers beginning with 11 .###)
- Department of Economics (course numbers beginning with 14 .###)
- Department of Management (course numbers beginning with 15 .###)
- Department of Political Science (course numbers beginning with 17 .###)
There is a formal written petition process for HKS students who want to cross-register in a non-approved graduate-level course and have it count towards their HKS degree.
Is there a limit to how many courses students can cross-register into?
Each HKS degree program allots a set number of cross-registered credits that students may count towards their HKS degree. HKS students may take extra non-HKS courses above their cross-registered credit limit. In these cases, the course will not count for HKS degree credit and will appear on HKS students’ enrollment record with a grade and a notation explaining that the course has been excluded from GPA calculation and credit requirements.
