Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business (CLIMB)

Upon successful completion of the program, participants will receive a Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business. In addition, participants will also receive a Certificate of Completion for all four long courses in the program (in leadership, strategy, finance, and an additional elective) and Dynamic Teaming.

The credential and the certificates are available as digital and printed documents.

Participants will also be able to add a credential verification link to their digital resumes or LinkedIn profiles.

Participants will complete the required courses (two long and three short courses) with their CLIMB cohort. During their elective terms, learners will select their electives from available HBS Online certificate courses.

An essential part of CLIMB is the peer learning experience. Not only will your section be filled with peers at similar points in their careers, but you’ll be put into peer learning teams that you interact with throughout the program. Peer learning teams will rotate once per term so that you can develop meaningful relationships with several professionals throughout the program.

Our courses have been developed by some of the most renowned Harvard faculty and guest experts. Although professors and guest experts will not have direct, real-time interactions with learners, you will hear from them via short videos that explain key concepts and guide you through cases, exercises, and other interactive learning elements to create a highly engaging educational experience. In addition, we encourage you to collaborate with your peers to find answers to any questions you may have.

We appreciate your understanding that HBS Online faculty and guest experts featured in our courses are not available to communicate with learners directly or participate in learner-organized events. However, you may visit the HBS Online Business Insights Blog and HBS Online Facebook page for information about upcoming conferences and webinars featuring faculty, or join the HBS Online Community to build your network and connect with other business professionals in your area.

The application takes about 20-30 minutes to complete and includes personal information, educational and professional background, and two short answer questions. We expect participants to have some professional experience, commit to a yearlong program, engage with their peers, and answer the application questions thoughtfully.

This program does not require a GRE or GMAT score and you must be at least 18 years old to apply. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. You can find the application on the CLIMB course page.

The CLIMB curriculum consists of courses that have been developed by HBS faculty and covers similar topics (leadership, strategy, and finance) to what you’d find in an MBA program. CLIMB was designed to provide both breadth and depth, so you learn essential business topics in addition to having the ability to choose electives in the span of the one-year program.

The CLIMB curriculum is not as comprehensive as an MBA program and differs in a few other key dimensions, including price, length, and modality. CLIMB is a lower price point than most full-time MBA programs. CLIMB is approximately one year in duration, online, and asynchronous, whereas most full-time MBA programs are two years and in-person with set schedules. An online program like CLIMB provides flexibility and convenience to take courses and develop business skills within your schedule. Lastly, those who graduate from an MBA program earn an MBA degree whereas CLIMB participants earn the CLIMB credential and four individual certificates of completion for the long courses included in the program.

One of the benefits of CLIMB is being able to collaborate and develop a network with peers at similar stages of their careers. To support this, CLIMB is divided into two paths: New Leaders and Experienced Leaders.

The New Leaders path is designed for people with zero to three years of managerial experience and two or more years of overall professional experience. The Experienced Leaders path is designed for people four or more years of managerial experience and seven or more years of overall professional experience.

If you have fewer years of experience but are still interested in the program, please submit an inquiry to our program advising team.

CLIMB consists of four long and three short courses and a capstone project. Required long courses range from six to eight weeks and typically require five to eight hours of work per week.

Elective long courses range from three to eight weeks and typically require five to nine hours of work per week.

Short courses are two weeks each and typically require five to seven hours of work per week.

In total, CLIMB will take approximately a year to complete. The program is asynchronous, so participants can complete the work on their own time while meeting weekly course deadlines. There are no live class sessions with faculty.

For exact time estimates per course, please refer to the individual course listings in our course catalog.

CLIMB is a 12-month program consisting of four terms of content (three months each) and a capstone project. During those 12 months, participants complete four long courses (three to eight weeks each) and three short courses (two to three weeks each) in addition to the capstone project and peer learning activities.

You’ll select your electives when you enroll and pay for the terms in which you take the electives.

If you need help selecting your electives, you can reach out to a Program Advisor who can provide you with more information based on your needs.

Payments will be made before the enrollment deadline for each CLIMB term (four payments of $3,750 throughout the program). There's no discount for past participants. While we're actively working on expanding our financial aid offerings and programs' reach, we're currently unable to offer grants for CLIMB. For payment options and loan information, please visit our Payment and Financial Aid page.

Many employers support their staff in continuing education opportunities by covering the costs of online business courses. To learn more, please visit our Employer Reimbursement page.

If you can’t continue the program, you can choose not to enroll for the next quarter of content. Participants can re-join the next time the appropriate quarter of content is offered (three to nine months later).

Participants must complete CLIMB within two years.

To earn a Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business, learners must successfully complete all four long courses, all three short courses, a capstone project, and peer learning activities.

Participants are expected to fully complete all coursework for each program in a thoughtful and timely manner. They must meet each week’s course module deadlines and fully answer the questions posed therein. In addition to module and assignment completion, learners should offer feedback on others’ reflections and contribute to conversations on the course platform. Participants who fail to complete each course’s requirements or the capstone will not receive a Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management.

CLIMB is a selective cohort-based learning experience and HBS Online’s most comprehensive offering. The program enables new and experienced leaders to ignite their careers with a combination of essential and forward-looking business skills, self-reflection, and membership in a diverse global network of peers. Some professional experience is required for admission into the program, and participants will complete seven courses and a capstone project during the year-long program. Upon successful completion, participants will earn a Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business.

CORe is a business fundamentals program that combines Business Analytics, Economics for Managers, and Financial Accounting with a final exam. There is no experience requirement, and upon successful completion participants earn a Credential of Readiness.

Learning Tracks enable participants to take three courses within a specific subject area to gain expertise in that topic. Learning Tracks are a deeper dive into a subject area than a single course but less comprehensive than CLIMB, and participants earn a Certificate of Specialization.

Courses are HBS Online’s most targeted learning experience for those interested in a specific subject and shortest time frame (three to eight weeks). Participants earn a Certificate of Completion.

Yes, successfully completed certificate courses will count toward achieving a Certificate of Specialization from a Learning Track.

Participants who have already taken one or both of the required long courses (Leadership Principles and Business Strategy for the New Leaders path, and Organizational Leadership and Strategy Execution for the Experienced Leaders path) don’t have to retake the course. However, those participants will have access to the content if they’d like to review or redo any of the course. All participants, regardless of whether they’ve previously taken the course, will be expected to participate in peer learning team activities during that course. Please note that you will not earn an additional Certificate of Completion for a required long course that you completed separately before your CLIMB enrollment. There is no discount for CLIMB participants who have taken one or both of the required long courses listed above – all participants will pay the full CLIMB fee.

Participants must select a finance elective that they have not already taken. If you’ve already completed all of the finance elective options but would still like to participate in the program, please contact our program advising team.

Once you've earned your Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business, list it on your resume like this:

Harvard Business School Online
Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business
Successfully completed Dynamic Teaming, Leading in the Digital World, Personal Branding, [and List Four Long Courses Taken]
[Completion Year]

List your credential on your LinkedIn profile under "Education" as follows:

School: Harvard Business School Online
Dates Attended: [The year you completed CLIMB]
Degree: Other; Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business
Field of Study: Leave blank
Grade: “Complete”
Activities and Societies: Leave blank