“The offers we have received should allow us to take in more undergraduates than we had originally thought possible,” he said.
A NEW HAVEN?
Harvard’s Law School (HLS), College, Graduate School of Education (GSE), Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), School of Public Health (SPH), Divinity School (HDS), Design School (GSD), Kennedy School of Government (KSG), and Extension School have all announced their intentions to accept displaced students as “visiting students” for the semester.
The College, GSAS, HLS, SPH, and GSE will each accept up to 25 students. HDS, GSD, and KSG have not yet determined how many students they will each take. The Extension School will allow all students from affected schools staying within a commuting distance to enroll in courses tuition-free.
Additionally, the Extension School will offer spots in its 36 online courses to students affected by the storm who are not living within a commuting distance to Harvard. The Extension School will waive tuition fees for these online courses but will still charge these students, as well as its on-campus students, a $50 registration fee.
HLS and KSG said they would restrict entry to students at Tulane and Loyola Universities, while the College will process applications “on an expedited basis,” according to Kirby’s letter. SPH will accept displaced students from Tulane only.
Harvard Medical School (HMS) has not yet stated its policy on displaced medical students, although the school is preparing to offer clinical rotation spots to students if necessary and is assisting with student relocations, according to HMS spokesman John Lacey. HMS has only extended that offer to Tulane and Louisiana State University-New Orleans, Lacey said.
Harvard Business School had not yet announced its policy toward displaced business students as of Friday.
High school students from the flooded areas who temporarily relocate to Boston will be allowed to enroll in introductory math, science, and language Extension School classes that satisfy the Advanced Placement requirements set forth by the College Board.
In a letter to the Harvard community, University President Lawrence H. Summers outlined the University’s aid efforts.
“Our schools continue to seek out Harvard students and alumni who have been affected directly by this disaster.”
According to the American Council of Education, 175,000 students are enrolled in colleges in the storm-ravaged areas of Southern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
“The devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina have stunned us all,” Kirby wrote in his letter. “The loss of life, destruction of property, and unimaginably severe conditions that remain in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, are profoundly saddening. Our thoughts, prayers, and sympathies are with all those who have suffered from the storm and its aftermath, and naturally we want to do what we can as a university to help.”
Staff at several of Harvard schools, including the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the GSE, HDS, and HBS, are attempting to contact Harvard students, faculty, and staff who live in the affected areas in order to offer aid and assistance in returning to Cambridge for the fall term.
—Lauren A. E. Schuker contributed to the reporting of this article.
—Staff writer Joshua P. Rogers can be reached at jprogers@fas.harvard.edu.
—Staff writer Daniel J. T. Schuker can be reached at dschuker@fas.harvard.edu.