Graduation Requirements

In the College of Arts and Sciences .

The College of Arts and Sciences awards one undergraduate degree, the Bachelor of Arts degree

An education in the liberal arts and sciences does not entail the acquisition of particular skills or of a prescribed body of knowledge, but rather a broad spectrum of study in a number of fields in which students learn to think in complex ways about information, experiences, and the challenges they will encounter throughout their lives.  Fundamentally, pursuing a liberal education means honing one’s critical and imaginative capacities, learning about oneself in nature and culture, and gaining experience with views of the world radically unlike one’s own.  How one pursues these goals is highly individual and the college relies on each student and his/her faculty advisor to design a sensible, challenging, and appropriate course of study.  In doing so, however, students are expected to complete a course of study that has certain common qualities and allows them to develop abilities in the following areas:
•    familiarity with the different ways of knowing that are reflected in the various disciplines and fields of study within the humanities, social sciences, mathematics, and sciences
•    cultural breadth (both geographical and temporal)
•    effective writing and quantitative skills
•    facility in a foreign language beyond the introductory level
•    imaginative and critical thinking
The distribution requirements along with the other graduation requirements, described below, help students accomplish these educational goals.  
 

Summary of Requirements

1. First-year writing seminars: two courses. For the class of 2018 and beyond, this requirement must be completed by the end of the second year. (See “John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines .”)
2. Foreign language: completion of one course taught in the language at the nonintroductory level or above (Option 1) or at least 11 credits in one language (Option 2). For a list of language offerings, see “Language Study at Cornell .”
3. Distribution: nine courses (may overlap with courses counting toward a major).
4. Breadth: two courses (may overlap with courses for distribution, major, or electives).
5. Major (see individual department listings for major requirements).
6. Electives: four or five courses (at least 15 credits) not used to fulfill other requirements (other than the breadth requirements) and not in the major field. Elective courses may be used to complete a minor.
7. Residence: eight full-time semesters, unless a student can successfully complete all other requirements in fewer than eight semesters and meet the additional criteria to accelerate graduation. (See “Acceleration” below.)
8. 34 courses: a 3- or 4-credit course counts as one course. A 2-credit course counts as half a course; a 1-credit course does not normally count toward the requirement; a 6-credit language course counts as one and one-half courses. (See “Courses and Credits” for some 1-credit courses in performance and media studies that can be cumulated to count as one-half course.)
9. Credits: a total minimum of 120 academic credits, of which a minimum of 100 must be taken in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell. A minimum of 80 credits must be in courses for which a letter grade was received. (See below for “Courses that do not count” as academic credits or courses.)
10. Physical education: completion of the university requirement (passing a swim test and two 1-credit nonacademic courses). Note: Physical education credit does not count toward the 120 credits needed to graduate or toward the 12-credit minimum required for good academic standing each semester.
11. Application to graduate (see “Graduation”).

Undergraduates are responsible for knowing and fulfilling the requirements for graduation and for alerting the college to any problems with their records. To check on their progress toward the degree, students are urged to consult their advising deans  and to check their DUST (Distributed Undergraduate Student Tracking) reports at data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus. The DUST report is updated after each semester to reflect the student’s progress in college requirements. To check on their progress in the major, students should consult their major advisors.

Explanation of Requirements

Foreign Language Requirement

The faculty considers competence in a foreign language essential for an educated person. Studying a language other than one’s own helps students understand the dynamics of language, our fundamental intellectual tool, and enables students to understand another culture. The sooner a student acquires this competence, the sooner it will be useful. Hence, work toward the foreign language requirement should be undertaken in the first two years. Students postponing the language requirement for junior and senior years risk not graduating on time. Courses in foreign languages and/or literature are taught in the College of Arts and Sciences by the following departments: Africana Studies and Research Center , Asian Studies , Classics , Comparative Literature , German Studies , Linguistics , Near Eastern Studies , and Romance Studies .

The language requirement may be satisfied in one of the following ways:

Option 1: Passing (a) a nonintroductory foreign language course of 3 or more credits at Cornell at the 2000-level or above or (b) any other nonintroductory course at the 2000-level or above conducted in a foreign language at Cornell. OR

Option 2: Passing at least 11 credits of study in a single foreign language (taken in the appropriate sequence) at Cornell.

Any exceptions to these rules will be noted elsewhere in individual department descriptions.

Students whose speaking, reading, and writing competence in a language other than English is at the same level we would expect our entering freshmen to have in English (as shown by completing high school in that language or by special examination during their first year here at Cornell) are exempt from the college’s language requirement.

Placement

Entering students who have completed two or more years of high school study in a language, who have been awarded credit for language work at another college or university, or who are native speakers, bilingual, or have spoken the language at home, may enroll in a course in the same language only after being placed by examination. The placement exam may have been taken in high school (SAT II, taken after the last course, or AP, if the score was 4 or 5) or at Cornell (Language Placement [LP] test). Students should seek to satisfy the language requirement in their first years at Cornell. A student with test scores one or more years old may be required to take a Cornell Advanced Standing Examination (CASE) if the instructor deems the student is insufficiently prepared for the level in which he or she has enrolled. While you may receive credit for the CASE exam, this credit does not count as Arts and Sciences credit.

Placement Tests and Advanced Placement Credit

1. The following language placement and advanced standing tests are scheduled at the beginning of each semester:
   • Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, Japanese, and Korean (some of which are available online; please refer to the department website);
   • French, Italian, and Spanish (schedule available from Department of Romance Studies, K165 Klarman Hall) [Placement tests are also offered online during the summer.];
   • German (please refer to the department website);
   • Russian (3:00 pm on Saturday, August 20, 2016, 102 Morrill Hall).

The advanced standing examination in French, German, Italian, and Spanish, is called the CASE (Cornell Advanced Standing Examination). Eligibility for the CASE may be determined from the placement tables.

Native speakers of Spanish who have completed their secondary education in a Spanish-speaking country do not take the CASE. For these students, the Spanish program offers a walk-in service, the Native Language Accreditation for Spanish, in the third week of September and the first week of February. Students interested in this service should contact Tomás Beviá in K144 Klarman Hall, tjb99@cornell.edu. Speakers of Spanish who completed their secondary education in a non–Spanish-speaking country are required to present SAT II, AP, or LP test scores or to take the CASE exam to determine appropriate placement.

2. Arabic: departmental examination, Department of Near Eastern Studies, 409 White Hall.
3. Greek: departmental examination, Department of Classics, 120 Goldwin Smith Hall.
4. Hebrew: departmental examination, Department of Near Eastern Studies, 409 White Hall.
5. Latin: departmental examination, Department of Classics, 120 Goldwin Smith Hall.
6. Persian: departmental examination, Department of Near Eastern Studies, 409 White Hall.
7. Turkish: departmental examination, Department of Near Eastern Studies, 409 White Hall.

Distribution Requirements

In satisfying the distribution requirements, students become acquainted with a broad range of subject matter and points of view among disciplines in the college and explore areas that may be entirely new to them. Or, to look at it another way, as first-year students explore subjects that interest them, they begin to satisfy distribution requirements. Consequently, first-year students should take courses to prepare for possible majors and to explore subjects new to them and take no course only in order to satisfy a distribution requirement. Although students may complete distribution requirements over eight semesters, they can take advanced courses in subjects they (perhaps unexpectedly) find intriguing only if they have completed the introductory prerequisites. Consequently, students should not postpone satisfying distribution requirements until the last semesters. Once sure of a major, students should consider which distribution requirements are yet unfulfilled and how to fulfill them with courses that complement their overall program. Courses in the major may be applied to the distribution requirements (unless prohibited by one of the restrictions noted under restrictions on applying AP credit, transfer credit, and Cornell courses to distribution requirements).

Students must complete four courses in science and quantitative reasoning, identified below under the categories Physical and Biological Sciences (PBS-AS/PBSS-AS) and Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning (MQR-AS). In addition, they must complete five courses of 3 or more credits each from four of the five categories of courses in the humanities and social sciences with no more than three in the same department. The five categories of courses fulfilling the distribution requirements in humanities and social sciences are: Cultural Analysis (CA-AS), Historical Analysis (HA-AS), Knowledge Cognition and Moral Reasoning (KCM-AS), Literature and the Arts (LA-AS), and Social and Behavioral Analysis (SBA-AS). How an individual course is categorized is indicated with the appropriate abbreviation in its course description.

It is important to recognize that only courses with the proper designation in the Courses of Study can be used toward fulfilling the distribution requirements in Arts and Sciences. Some topics courses and courses offered through the Society for the Humanities, among others, do not count toward distribution. Unless otherwise specified, variable credit courses, including independent study courses, may not be used for distribution credit.

Students wishing to take an Arts and Sciences course that does not have a rubric assigned to it should consult their advising dean to ascertain the status of the course and see if it has, in fact, been assigned any distribution rubric. Students may not petition to change the rubric of any given course, nor may any faculty member change the rubric of a course for an individual student. Faculty members wishing to change the rubric for a course they teach must petition the Educational Policy Committee for a change in rubric, and that rubric must then be applied to the course for all students in the course.

Breadth Requirements

Students must include in their undergraduate program at least one Arts and Sciences course that focuses on an area or a people other than those of the United States, Canada, or Europe and one course that focuses on an historical period before the 20th century. Courses that satisfy the geographic breadth requirement are marked with a (GB) when described in this catalog. Courses that satisfy the historical breadth requirement are marked with an (HB). Many courses satisfy both requirements (GHB), and students may in fact use the same course to satisfy both. Students may use courses satisfying distribution, major, or elective-but not writing-requirements in satisfaction of either of the breadth requirements. They may also apply Cornell courses (not credit from an examination) conferring Option 1 in a non-Western language toward the geographical breadth requirement.

Restrictions on Applying AP Courses and Credit from Other Institutions to the Distribution Requirements

Students may not apply AP credit or transfer credit from another institution to the breadth requirements or to any distribution requirement.

Students who transfer to the college from another institution are under the above rules for advanced placement credit, but are eligible to have credit for post–high school course work taken during regular semesters (not summer school) at their previous institution count toward all distribution requirements. Transfer students receive a detailed credit evaluation when they are accepted for admission.

Restrictions on Applying Cornell Courses to the Distribution and Breadth Requirements

1. First-year writing seminars may not count toward any other college requirement.
2. No single course may satisfy more than one distribution requirement.
3. Students may count courses in their major toward distribution and breadth.
4. Only courses with the proper designation in the Courses of Study can be used toward fulfilling the distribution requirements in Arts and Sciences.
5. A student may not petition for alteration of a particular course’s distribution rubric, nor may a faculty member change a course rubric for an individual student. The rubric for a course may be changed only if the Educational Policy Committee grants a petition by the course’s instructor to change the rubric. If the rubric changes, it does so for the class as a whole and never for an individual student.

The Major

In their last two years, students devote roughly one-half of their time to acquiring depth and competence in a major subject. The major does not necessarily define a student’s intellect or character or lead directly to a lifetime occupation, although it sometimes does some of each. Through the major, students focus and develop their imaginative and intellectual capacities through a subject they find especially interesting.

Most departments and programs specify certain prerequisites for admission to the major; they are found on the pages for each department and program available at Departments, Programs of Study and Courses - AS .

Students may apply for acceptance into the major as soon as they have completed the prerequisites and are confident of their choice. This may be as early as the second semester of freshman year, and must be no later than the end of the second semester of sophomore year. To apply, they take a copy of their official transcript to an appointment with the director of undergraduate studies in their prospective major. A department or program may refuse admission into the major if the applicant’s performance does not meet established standards. A student without a major at the beginning of the junior year is not making satisfactory progress toward the degree and risks not being allowed to continue in the college. That student must meet with an advising dean and may be placed on a leave of absence as early as the first semester of the junior year if he or she has not declared a major.

Available majors
Majors are offered by each of the departments. There are also majors in American Studies; Archaeology; Biology & Society; China and Asia-Pacific Studies; Feminist, Gender, & Sexuality Studies; Information Science; Religious Studies; and Science of Earth Systems.

Some students want to pursue a subject that cannot be met within an established major. They may plan, with the help of their faculty advisor, an independent major that includes courses from several departments and even colleges. See “Independent Major and College Scholar Program ” under “Special Academic Options - AS .” Whatever the major–chemistry, math, philosophy, or music—graduates from the College of Arts and Sciences earn the one degree the college awards, a Bachelor of Arts.

Double majors
Only one major is required for graduation. Some students choose to complete two or more majors. No special permission or procedure is required; students simply become accepted into multiple majors and find an advisor in each department. All completed majors are posted on the official transcript. However, even though courses in a second major count among the required 15 credits of electives (see below), double majoring can constrict the variety of electives that might be valuable for an education in the liberal arts and sciences. Students should “double major” only if their intellect and deep interest direct them to do so. If students majoring in more than one subject decide they do not wish to complete the second major, they must go to the department and formally withdraw from that major.

Minors

A student may pursue minors in any department, in any college that offers them, subject to limitations placed by the department offering the minor or by the student’s major. Completed minors will appear on the student’s transcript. Not all departments offer minors. Consult the appropriate department or program listing  in this Courses of Study or contact the appropriate department for information on minors offered and how to pursue a minor.

Electives

Of the 34 courses and 120 credits required for graduation, almost one-third are electives. How students use these electives frequently makes the difference between an ordinary and a truly interesting course of study. Students must complete a minimum of four courses totaling at least 15 credits offered outside the major field and not counted toward the major. (One-credit courses do not count toward course count.) The courses may not be used to fill another requirement except breadth. Students may group electives to complete one of the established minors or a second major. Electives may come from outside Arts and Sciences. AP credits not otherwise used may fulfill elective requirements, unless you are graduating with one major and the AP credits are in the same field as that major.

Residence

The College of Arts and Sciences is a residential community for students who devote their energy and spirit to full-time study. The faculty believes that integrated, full-time study for a defined period best promotes intellectual and creative development and best prepares students for citizenship and careers.

Consequently, eight semesters of full-time study in the College of Arts and Sciences are integral to earning the B.A. degree. Even if the minimum requirements can be met in fewer semesters, the faculty of the college expects students to take advantage of the resources of the university for eight full semesters and obtain as rich and advanced an education in the liberal arts and sciences as possible. Students may complete their undergraduate degrees with credits earned at other institutions or as part-time or summer students at Cornell only if they have completed their eight full-time semesters of residence or satisfied the criteria listed below under “Prorated tuition in final semester.”

For transfer students from other institutions, each full semester of study at their previous institution counts as one of the eight semesters of residence. However, even if transfer students have completed more than four full semesters at their previous institution, they must spend a minimum of four semesters on the Cornell campus in Ithaca enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences. Internal transfers from other colleges at Cornell must spend four semesters on campus in Ithaca as students in the college. Only if a transfer student spends at least four semesters in the College of Arts and Sciences can he or she accelerate (see “Acceleration” below).

Approved study abroad, SEA Semester, Urban Semester, FALCON, and Cornell in Washington are considered semesters of residence but not semesters on the Cornell campus. Students may spend no more than two semesters on such programs and must be on campus during their last semester. Concurrent degree students spending 10 semesters at Cornell who feel they need three semesters abroad may petition the Academic Records Committee for permission but must demonstrate the academic necessity of the extended time away. Semesters of extramural study in Cornell’s School of Continuing Education, semesters of study at other institutions, and summer sessions anywhere do not count as semesters of residence.

Acceleration

The faculty of the college desires that each student achieve depth, as well as breadth, from his or her undergraduate education. Indeed, benefiting from opportunities for advanced, seminar, and independent (sometimes honors) work is what best characterizes undergraduate education in the college. When a student feels he or she does not need eight semesters in order to achieve this depth, the student can apply to accelerate by a term (and in rare cases, two terms), compressing the first four semesters into three (or two), and completing the prerequisites for the major in time to spend four full semesters in the major.

A student desiring to accelerate may meet with an advising dean anytime after pre-enrollment two semesters before the desired graduation date (e.g., after pre-enrollment during spring 2014 if the desired graduation date is May 2015), but before pre-enrollment of the desired penultimate semester so that he or she may have time to submit the online application to graduate by the deadline. The advising dean will determine the student’s eligibility to accelerate. Accelerants must fulfill the following requirements:

1. All graduation requirements except for the residency requirement (120 total credits, 100 Arts and Sciences credits, 34 courses, all college requirements, and the university’s physical education requirement).
2. Either condition a or b:
   1. 60 credits before beginning their last four semesters in the college and the prerequisites for admission to the major in time to spend four semesters in the major.
   2. 48 credits in College of Arts and Sciences courses numbered 3000 and above and prerequisites for admission to the major in time to spend four semesters in the major. No more than three upper-level courses taken in other colleges at Cornell University may count toward the 48 credits and then only if approved as part of the major.
3. 100 credits at Cornell at “C” (not C–) or above. Courses completed with a grade of “S” will count toward the 100 credits. Advanced placement and transfer credits do not count toward this requirement.
4. Students may not use credits earned while on leave of absence to reduce their terms of residence. In other words, they must be eligible to accelerate without applying any credit toward the degree that they earned while on leave.
5. Accelerants may not finish the degree with credits earned through part-time study (unless they meet the guidelines for part-time study), or at an off-campus program, including Cornell in Washington, SEA Semester, Urban Semester, or study abroad. That is, they may not exit through any program other than a regular, full-time Cornell semester in Ithaca.

Students matriculating as first-year students may not compress their undergraduate education into fewer than six semesters of residence. Transfer students, both from other institutions and from other colleges at Cornell, must spend at least four semesters in the college on campus in Ithaca. Acceleration is thus limited to transfer students who enter as sophomores. If a student does not meet the requirements for acceleration, that student may not petition for an exception. Acceleration is, in itself, an exception to the normal rules of the college, and the Committee on Academic Records does not grant exceptions to exceptions.

Ninth semester

Students who can graduate in eight semesters should do so. If a worthy academic plan for a full ninth or tenth semester is approved, the student enrolls in the college as a special student for the additional work. Such a status allows enrollment in a full schedule of courses and full access to campus resources for full tuition, but allows financial aid only from loans or outside agencies, not from Cornell funds. Students who need fewer than 10 credits in a ninth or tenth semester to graduate should complete the outstanding courses and pay prorated tuition. Students may spend a ninth semester with Cornell aid only with permission of the Committee on Academic Records. Such permission is normally granted only to the following:

1. Students who have been ill or experienced other untoward circumstances beyond their control.
2. Students who were academically underprepared for the curriculum at Cornell and needed to begin with a lighter schedule of courses than normal. (See your advising dean about this option.)

Extramural study

Students in good academic standing may take a personal leave of absence and enroll in the School of Continuing Education, but such semesters of extramural study do not count as terms of residence and credits from such semesters may not be used to reduce the terms of residence.

Prorated study in special circumstances

The college and university support students (with financial aid and services) as best they can to make full-time study possible. Occasionally, however, extraordinary but nonfinancial medical circumstances make studying part-time temporarily necessary and appropriate. Students in good academic standing who face extraordinary situations may petition the Committee on Academic Records for a part-time schedule and proration of tuition in the college.

Prorated tuition in the final semester

Students who have completed seven full-time semesters may complete their degrees by taking nine or fewer credits and pay prorated tuition at Cornell during their eighth semester of residency only if:

1. They have completed all requirements by the end of the seventh semester, met the criteria for accelerated graduation, and are remaining to complete study beyond what is required for the degree.
2. They are writing an honors thesis in the eighth semester and can complete all degree requirements by taking exactly two courses, one of which is the thesis itself. They must register for the thesis and one additional course.

A student must see an advising dean to confirm his or her eligibility for prorated tuition and receive a prorated tuition form to be approved by his or her faculty advisor and the associate dean of advising. The student must specify the courses and the number of credits to be taken in the final term, and the faculty advisor must be able to certify that those credits will allow the student to complete his or her graduation requirements. The prorated tuition form must be completed and approved before the end of the second week of the final semester.

Courses and Credits

Students must complete at least 34 full courses (which may include courses students place out of with AP credit) to be graduated–that is, an average of four full courses during each of six semesters and five courses during each of two semesters. Not all courses are full courses. Course equivalencies are as follows:

Counting credits: Students must complete a minimum of 120 credits (which may include AP credits). Of the 120, a minimum of 100 must be from courses taken in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell.

Courses that do not count toward the 120 credits required for the degree or toward good standing: The College of Arts and Sciences does not grant credit toward the degree for every course offered by the university. Courses in military training, training as an emergency medical technician, service as a teaching assistant, physical education, remedial or developmental training, precalculus mathematics, supplemental science and mathematics, offered by the Learning Strategies Center and English as a second language are among those for which degree credit and credit toward the 12 credits required each semester for good academic standing are not given. Students should consult http://as.cornell.edu/course-enrollment-process for more information and a list of courses that do not count for academic credit.

Other cases in which a course may not receive credit or count toward good standing include the following:

• A course identified as a prerequisite for a subsequent course may not be taken for credit once a student completes that subsequent course.
• A repeated course. (For more information, see “Repeating courses,” below.)

• A “forbidden overlap,” that is, a course with material that significantly overlaps with material in a course a student has already taken. Students should consult http://as.cornell.edu/course-enrollment-process for more information and a list of overlapping courses.

• Students enrolled in courses for undergraduate teaching assistants may petition once to have the nondegree credits count toward good academic standing. This would allow continued eligibility for graduating with distinction in all subjects, but would disqualify the student from being on the dean’s list that semester.

Courses that count toward the 100 required Arts and Sciences credits may include liberal arts courses approved for study abroad during a semester or academic year of full-time study (not summer study), courses taken in certain off-campus Cornell residential programs, and courses (usually no more than three) that certain departments accept from other colleges at Cornell as fulfilling major requirements (and substituting for Arts and Sciences courses). In addition, all courses that appear on the Supplementary Science and Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning lists, count toward the 100 credits required in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Courses that do not count toward the 100 required Arts and Sciences credits include credits earned in other colleges at Cornell (except in the cases noted above), credits earned in any subject at institutions other than Cornell, and advanced placement credits. AP credits count as part of the 120 credits and 34 courses required for the degree but not as part of the 100 Arts and Sciences credits and may not be applied to distribution or breadth. AP credits are posted on the transcript. If, subsequently, a student takes the course out of which s/he had placed, the AP credit will be removed because of the overlap in content (for more information on AP credits, please see “Placement”).

Repeating courses
Students occasionally need to repeat courses. If the instructor certifies that the course content is significantly different, credit is granted a second time. If the content is the same, both grades nonetheless appear on the transcript and are included in any GPA that is calculated, but the course and credit count toward the degree only once. Repeated courses do not count toward the 12 credits required for good standing. Students considering repeating a course should discuss the matter with their advisor and an advising dean. Students who plan to repeat a course they did not fail must submit a petition to their advising dean. If the original course grade was F or U, no petition is necessary.

Using courses to fulfill more than one requirement:
A course may fulfill more than one college requirement in any of the following situations:

1. A course may be used to fulfill distribution, breadth, and a major requirement (except as noted in earlier sections on restrictions on applying AP credits, transfer credits, and Cornell courses to distribution requirements).
2. A one-semester course in foreign literature (not language) or culture that is acceptable for certifying option 1 in that language may also be applied to the relevant distribution requirement and, if appropriate, to the breadth requirement.
3. Courses may count toward breadth requirements and toward any other requirement except first-year writing seminars.
4. Courses in a second major may count as electives.

Summer session credit
A student may earn credit toward the degree by completing courses in Cornell’s summer session or by successfully petitioning for transfer credit for summer courses at other colleges. Students should consult their advisors regarding summer study plans.

Credit for summer courses not taken at Cornell must be approved by the appropriate Cornell department. Approval forms and information are available online, as.cornell.edu/transferring-credits, and in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Advising. Students are advised to submit course descriptions, syllabi, and approval forms to the director of undergraduate studies in the relevant Cornell department for prior approval of each course. Transcripts for completed work at other institutions must be sent to A&S Student Services, KG17 Klarman Hall. Credit approved for summer courses away from Cornell (including summer courses abroad) counts toward the 120 credits and 34 courses required for the degree, but not toward the 100 credits required in the college at Cornell. It may not be applied to distribution or breadth requirements but may be applied to elective requirements and to major requirements (with the approval of the department).

Summer session at Cornell or elsewhere does not count toward the eight-semester residence requirement. Students are permitted to earn up to 12 credits in one summer.

Transferring credit earned away from Cornell while on leave of absence
See “Leaves of Absence .”

Transferring credit (for transfer students from another institution or from another Cornell college)
Transfer students must satisfy all normal requirements for the degree, including eight semesters of full-time study. They must always complete at least 60 credits and 16 courses at Cornell and be in residence on campus in the college for at least four regular semesters (summer session does not count toward the residence requirement). The college evaluates credit and residence earned either at another school or college at Cornell University or at another accredited institution of collegiate rank and determines the number of credits and courses the student may apply toward the various requirements for the bachelor of arts degree at Cornell. In addition, it reevaluates advanced placement credit allowed by another institution, including another college at Cornell. Evaluations of transfer credits are normally provided when students are notified of their admission. Once matriculated in Arts and Sciences at Cornell, transfer students must adhere to the same rules for transferring credit earned on leave as all other students.

Graduation

The Degree

The College of Arts and Sciences grants only one degree (no matter the student’s major): the A.B. (or B.A.). A.B. is the abbreviation of the Latin name for the degree, “artium baccalaureus,” or translated into English, B.A., “Bachelor of Arts.”

Application to Graduate

In the first semester of their senior year, students will receive an e-mail instructing them to complete an online application to graduate. The application is intended to help seniors identify problems early enough in the final year to make any necessary changes in course selection to satisfy those requirements. Nonetheless, meeting graduation requirements is the student’s responsibility; problems that are discovered, even late in the final semester, must be resolved by the student before the degree can be granted. Students are responsible for checking their DUST reports and transcripts and alerting their advising deans of any problems with the academic record.

Degree Dates

There are three degree dates in the year: May, August, and January. Students who plan to graduate in August may attend graduation ceremonies in the preceding May. Students graduating in January are invited to a special recognition ceremony in December; they may also attend graduation ceremonies the following May.

Honors

Bachelor of Arts with Honors

Almost all departments offer honors programs for students who have demonstrated exceptional accomplishment in the major and succeeded in research. The honors programs are described by individual departments. The degree of Bachelor of Arts cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude will be conferred upon a student who, in addition to having completed the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, has been recommended for a level of honors by the major department, the Independent Major Program, or the College Scholar Program. Minors do not offer honors programs.

Bachelor of Arts with Distinction

The degree of Bachelor of Arts with distinction in all subjects will be conferred on students who have completed the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, if they have met the following requirements by the end of their final semester:

1. completed at least 60 credits while registered in regular sessions at Cornell;
2. achieved a GPA in the upper 30 percent of their class at the end of the seventh semester, or next-to-last semester for transfers and accelerants;
3. received a grade below C– in no more than one course;
4. received no failing grade;
5. have no frozen Incompletes on their records; and
6. maintained good academic standing, including completing a full schedule of at least 12 credits, in each of their last four semesters. (Students who have been approved to be prorated for the final semester in order to complete an honors thesis are considered to be in good academic standing and therefore eligible to receive distinction.)