Mount Holyoke College Degree Requirements

To graduate, you must complete a minimum of 128 credits, 64 of which must be taken at Mount Holyoke during your sophomore, junior, and senior years. Two of the last three years must be spent on the Mount Holyoke campus. One of the last three years may be spent in an academic program at another institution. To receive a Mount Holyoke College degree, you must have a minimum average of 2.0, meet the College and distribution requirements, and complete the requirements of a major and minor.

The distribution requirements, described below, are designed to acquaint you with a wide range of knowledge and to expose you to new areas of interest. You must also take a course that meets the multicultural perspectives requirement, meet a foreign language requirement, and complete 6 units of physical education.

Distribution Requirements

To earn a bachelor of arts degree, you must complete courses in seven different categories, distributed among the following three curricular divisions:

Group I—Humanities
Three courses from three different disciplines are required from Group I, including at least one course from each of the following two subgroups—A and B.

A. Arts, language, and literature: art, classics, dance, English, film studies, French, German studies, Greek, Italian, Latin, music, Russian, Spanish, theatre arts, or an interdisciplinary course in arts and literature.

B. History, philosophy, religion, or an interdisciplinary course in this area.

Group II—Science and Mathematics
Two courses from two different disciplines are required from Group II, including at least one laboratory course in a natural or physical science; both courses may be laboratory science courses.

• Mathematics, statistics, computer science, or an interdisciplinary course in this area.
• Natural and physical sciences: astronomy, biological sciences, chemistry, geology, physics, or an interdisciplinary course in the natural and physical sciences. (A few science courses are available without labs, but only one non-lab course may count toward the Group II distribution).

Group III—Social Sciences
Two courses from two different disciplines are required from Group III: Anthropology, economics, geography, politics, psychology, sociology, or an interdisciplinary course in the social sciences.

Interdisciplinary and interdepartmental courses meet the distribution requirement in the category indicated for each such course. If a course is cross-listed between a department and an interdisciplinary program, it will meet distribution within the department. Printable chart of Mount Holyoke's distribution requirements (PDF).

Other College Requirements

Language Requirement
(Note: This is the current requirements applicable to those who entered the College in Fall 2008 or later)

A foreign language, ancient or modern. Ordinarily, a student should satisfy this requirement by the end of the sophomore year. The requirement may be fulfilled in the following ways:

   1. By completing a two-semester elementary course sequence in a foreign language new to the student. (The self-instructional and mentored language courses currently offered by the Five College Center for World Languages offered through the University of Massachusetts cannot be used to meet the Mount Holyoke language requirement)
   2. By completing a designated four credit foreign language or literature (taught in the foreign language) course at the intermediate level or above
   3. In the case of an international student whose first language is not English, by exemption through determination by the dean of international students, Donna Van Handle,
of at least one of the following:
       -  Documented attendance at a secondary school for at least one year at which instruction was conducted in a language other than English.
       -  Documented attendance at a secondary school outside of the US where the language of instruction was English but she elected a language
          or literature course taught in her native language.
       -  An O-Level, A-Level,  or GSCE language result (for students from India this would be a grade of X or XII) or an official record of satisfactory
          completion of a college - level language or literature course in her native language.

Multicultural Perspectives
All Mount Holyoke students must complete one 4-credit course that is devoted primarily to the study of some aspect of Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, or the nonwhite peoples of North America and that incorporates a diversity of perspectives. Courses that meet this requirement are listed here. Changes will be indicated online in the fall.

Physical Education and Athletics
Students should earn 6 physical education (PE) units by the end of the junior year, starting in the first year. Four units are required for sophomore transfer students; 2 units for junior transfer students. See the complete listings under PE in the Schedule of Classes. Students in intercollegiate sports earn 2 units per sport for their participation. If you plan to participate in an intercollegiate sport, be sure to register for the appropriate physical education course. Physical education units do not count toward the 128 semester credits required to graduate.