AB Requirements

Credits
Major
Minor
General Requirements
Muliticultural Perspectives
Distribution
Checklist

Credits

• By graduation, a student shall have completed successfully at least 128 credits in academic work in courses selected to provide a wide distribution of experience as well as specialization in a major field.
• Sixty-four of her credits (sixteen courses) must be taken while at Mount Holyoke during the sophomore, junior, and senior years, and she must be registered at Mount Holyoke for four semesters during those years.
• She will also take six units of physical education by the end of her junior year.
• To receive the degree, a student must have a 2.00 cumulative average and meet the following requirements.

Major

All students must complete a major of one of three types:

1. Departmental Major
   At least 32 credits must be completed in the major field. At least 12 of those credits must be taken at the advanced (300) level. Specific requirements for each departmental major are listed in the catalogue, at the beginning of the course offerings for each department. Ask the department chair if you have questions about those requirements. (Also see below for information on a minor, which is required.)
2. Interdisciplinary Major
   At least 40 credits must be completed in the major. At least 20 of these credits must be at the advanced (300) level, and must be from at least two different departments. The interdisciplinary programs each have specific requirements for their majors; again, these are at the beginning of each program's course offerings in the catalogue. Program chairs will answer questions about those requirements. (No minor is required.)
3. Special Major
   At least 40 credits are required. At least 20 of these credits must be taken at the advanced (300) level, from at least two different departments. Students apply for special, self-designed majors through the Dean of Studies. A special committee of Faculty members is assigned to oversee the student's work. Specific requirements for the major are worked out with the committee. (No minor is required.)

Minor

Each student with a major in a single discipline or department must also complete an "outside the major" requirement. Usually, this is done by completing a minor. All minors include a minimum of 16 credits (generally four courses) of work above the introductory (100) level; these must be outside the student's major field. Minors may be either of two types:

Minor in an established department or program: See the catalogue for the requirements that each department has established for its minor. If you wish to have any exception made to the minor as outlined there, the signature of the department chair, approving the exception, is required.

Minor designed by the student: Students may design their own minors. The only signature of approval needed is that of their major adviser, but students are encouraged to seek advice from any Faculty member they wish to consult in choosing their courses.

Students with single-department majors must also complete at least 68 academic credits outside the field of their major subject. See more details below.

General Requirements

Language (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 or for which she has little or inadequate preparation.  (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 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 Perspective
One 4-credit course devoted primarily to study of the peoples of Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, or non- white peoples of North America. This course must incorporate a diversity of perspectives. Courses are available in many fields of study; the list of courses meeting this requirement is in the catalog.

Distribution
Students must take courses in seven different disciplines, from the groups outlined below. Through spring of 1997, only Mount Holyoke courses marked with a "D" before the course number could meet this requirement. As of fall 1997-98, many courses within most departments and programs will meet distribution. Note the following conditions carefully:

• Only courses that carry at least four credits in one semester will meet distribution within any division or discipline.
• Independent study courses do not meet distribution in any division.
• Any course cross-listed in a single discipline and in an interdisciplinary program will meet distribution in the single discipline. (Examples: a course cross-listed between Politics and International Relations meets distribution in Politics; one cross-listed between Asian Studies and History meets distribution in History.)
• Interdisciplinary courses not cross-listed will meet distribution in a particular division; each catalogue description will include the division in which distribution will be met.
• Some courses will be noted by an academic department as not meeting distribution, even though they may carry four credits in a discipline. These courses will include a special note in the catalogue, stating that they do not meet distribution.
• Language courses designated "L" may be used to meet either the language requirement or distribution; but the same course(s) may not meet both requirements. If a course has been used to satisfy the language requirement, it may not be used to meet distribution as well. A few courses meet distribution in more than one subdivision; no course may meet more than one requirement, but which one it meets is the student's choice. (However, courses meeting either language or distribution requirements may also meet the Multicultural Perspectives requirement.)
• The distribution rules that go into effect as of fall 1997 are not retroactive; old rules apply to all courses taken through spring semester 1997.

The categories in which distribution must be met are:

Division l, Humanities
Three courses from three distinct disciplines. One must be from the subgroup Arts, language, and literature: art; classics; dance; English; French; German Studies; Greek; Italian; Latin; music; Russian; Spanish; theatre arts; interdisciplinary course in arts, language and literature. One course must be from the subgroup containing history; philosophy; and religion or an interdisciplinary course in this area. The third course may be from either subgroup, in any field not already used.

Division ll, Science and Mathematics
Two courses from two distinct disciplines. One may be from the subgroup including computer science, mathematics, and statistics, or an interdisciplinary course in this area. At least one must be from the subgroup of the natural and physical sciences (and both may be from this subgroup), which includes astronomy; biological sciences; chemistry; geology; physics; interdisciplinary course in the natural or physical sciences. At least one course from natural and physical sciences must include a laboratory component.

Division lll, Social Sciences
Two courses from two distinct. This group includes anthropology; economics; geography; politics; psychology; sociology; interdisciplinary course in the social sciences.

Physical Education
While PE "units" are not counted toward academic credits, those entering as First-Year students must complete 6 PE credits before graduation. Students admitted as transfer students (with 24 or more transfer credits for prior work) must complete 4 PE credits. Those admitted as transfer students (with 56 or more transfer credits) must complete 2 PE units at Mount Holyoke.  
 
Note on ungraded courses
Students may take up to a total of four courses (16 credits) of work on an ungraded basis. Courses taken ungraded may be electives only. They may not be in the field of the major, or within the minor, or used to meet any general requirement of the College (multicultural, language, or distribution). Only one course may be taken ungraded within any one semester.   If a course is taken ungraded, it may not be changed later to graded, even though a student may want to include it in a major or minor; for this reason, we suggest using that option carefully.  It is intended to allow students to explore fields completely new to them, in which they are not sure how well they will do. The option is definitely not intended to make it possible for students to do less work in a course than if that course were being taken for a regular letter grade.

Outside the Major
For students with majors in a single department, work is required outside the major field of study. There are several alternative ways to meet this requirement.

I.  A recorded minor, consisting of a minimum of sixteen credits beyond the 100 level in a field or related fields outside the student's major. Only one minor may be recorded on a transcript. The minor may take one of two forms

a.  A minor within a second major field (for example, classics, economics, physics, women's studies). This minor:

• must include at least four credits at the 300 level, unless this specification is waived or modified by the department or program concerned; and,
• must be approved by a designated member or members of that department or program if any work in the minor is done elsewhere, if the minor differs from requirements outlined in the catalogue, or if the proposed minor department or program so specifies.

b.  An interdisciplinary minor of the student's devising (for example, marine studies, Victorian painting and poetry). This minor:

• may well include one or more 300-level courses among the minimum four courses required, but need not do so in all cases;
• must be approved by the student's major adviser, and should involve appropriate consultation with qualified faculty in the proposed fields, but does not require formal department approval; and,
• may not have a title identical with the name of any existing major.

II. An existing Five College certificate program (for example, African studies, international relations).

All students who elect single departmental majors must complete at least 68 credits of the 128 required for the degree outside the major department. See more details below.

Students who are pursuing an interdisciplinary major or a special major automatically fulfill the "outside the major" requirement.

No course included in a student's major may be included in her minor.

Requirement checklist for graduation:

• 128 total credits
• distribution requirements
• 2.00 minimum grade point average
• 64 Mount Holyoke credits - 4 semesters within sophomore, junior and senior years (residency)
• 68 credits outside of the major
• 6 physical education credits
• minor
• language
• major
• multicultural perspectives

It is the responsibility of each student to make sure all these requirements are met.

Questions? Email registrar.