The Harvard Summer School, founded in 1871, is the oldest academic summer session in the United States. Each summer more than 5,000 students of all ages come to Harvard University from across the U.S. and nearly 80 foreign countries to study for eight weeks with faculty from Harvard University and other major American and foreign universities. The Summer School offers approximately 200 daytime and evening classes in over forty disciplines in the liberal arts, sciences, and engineering.

The Summer School, one the principal programs within the Harvard Division of Continuing Education, is part of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.