Class of 2029 Registration
Registration information for the Class of 2029 is coming this summer. Keep an eye on your Colgate email for the announcement in June.
Graduation Requirements
Listed below is an outline of the general graduation requirements. Read each section carefully. You will be expected to complete all of these requirements prior to graduation (not in the first semester). Additionally, this information may help guide you when completing your CAPE form. Refer to the University Catalog for complete policy information, as well as additional academic opportunities.
During the fall semester, one of your four courses will be a first-year seminar (FSEM). These courses are designed to introduce students to a variety of liberal arts topics, skills, and ways of learning. Each emphasizes the nature of the learning process, the exploration of individual needs and strengths, learning from classmates, and learning from the multiplicity of resources beyond the classroom. Special emphasis is placed on improving writing skills and using the library’s many resources.
All FSEMs are true academic courses, their demands are high, and each counts toward the general graduation requirement of 32.00 course credits. In terms of actual content, FSEMs vary. In some cases, faculty design courses specifically to serve as FSEMs. Such courses offer students opportunities to study topics that are not represented elsewhere in the curriculum. Others serve as introductory courses in particular disciplines, and still others serve as core components, area of inquiry, or liberal arts prcatice requirements. Refer to the bottom of each course description to see which graduation requirement each FSEM counts toward.
Additionally, your FSEM instructor will serve as your academic adviser until you declare a major. You will be well advised of academic requirements regardless of your FSEM instructor’s specific area of expertise. Thus, it is not necessary to take an FSEM based on your intended major. By the spring of your sophomore year you will declare your major and select a faculty member from that department/program to serve as your new adviser.
Colgate’s Liberal Arts Core Curriculum is structured so that students take advantage of the diversity of a liberal arts institution. The Class of 2028 must take three Core Components, three courses in the Areas of Inquiry, and five courses in the Liberal Arts practices. The exact requirements are specified below.
The Core Components
(3 courses - must be completed by the end of sophomore year)
The Core Component requirement for the Class of 2028 is completed by successfully taking 3 CORE courses (one from each area). Students may take these courses in any order, but are expected to successfully complete the requirement by the end of the sophomore year. Students are expected to take no more than one CORE in any given semester.
Common Core Course Areas:
| Core Communities | Subject code = CORE and course numbers starts with a "C" (e.g., CORE C136) |
| Core Conversations | CORE 111 |
| Core Sciences | Subject code = CORE and course numbers starts with an "S" (e.g., CORE S110) |
Liberal Arts Practices and Areas of Inquiry
(8 courses, at most - must be completed prior to graduation)
To ensure a well-rounded liberal arts education, students must engage with disciplines throughout the curriculum and across the full reach of the academic program at Colgate. Thus, to fulfill the Liberal Arts Practices and Areas of Inquiries requirements, students must successfully complete the eight requirements with at least seven courses (the Process of Writing course may also count for one other Practice or Area if the course taken also carries another tag), and students must have at least six unique subjects codes across the eight requirements. Please note that AP/IB course credit and pre-matriculation courses cannot be used to fulfill the areas of inquiry requirement or the liberal arts practice requirement.
Liberal Arts Practices
The Liberal Arts Practices are comprised of five requirements to develop important skills and competencies: comprehending action that matters in the face of urgent world questions, attention to the process of writing, familiarity with quantitative and algorithmic reasoning, insight into the ways languages work, and the capacity to practice and interpret visual, literary, and performing arts.
Courses can carry up to two tags from the five Liberal Arts Practices and an Area of Inquiry, therefore, students taking the same course may end up using it to fulfill different requirements. For instance, a single course may count toward the Natural Sciences and Mathematics area of inquiry, the Confronting Collective Challenges liberal arts practice, and the Quantitative and Algorithmic Reasoning liberal arts practice. Based on other courses taken, a student may use this course to fulfill any one of those requirements.
Courses tagged with a Liberal Arts Practice may be taught at any level from any department or program and may also count toward a student’s major or minor. As such, students will find that they easily begin to fulfill these requirements in the first few semesters simply by taking courses of interest.
Artistic Practice and Interpretation
The study of the arts, whether through practice or interpretation, exposes students to unique pedagogies and learning experiences, and enhances their understanding of the diverse modes of creative expression. This engagement not only deepens students’ appreciation for the arts, but also has the potential to nurture their creativity and increase their openness to experimentation, risk taking, and innovation.
Confronting Collective Challenges
Courses in this Practice are devoted to studying and addressing urgent, highly complex problems that call for purposeful, collective action. Confronting Collective Challenges courses provide durable ways of looking at large-scale challenges while teaching students to become open-minded problem-solvers capable of taking action in the world around them. Topics include social inequity and inequality; climate change; systemic and structural racism; disinformation; the challenge to democratic norms, institutions, and practices; the rise of authoritarianism; immigration and statelessness; and environmental degradation. Issues studied may span multiple geographies, nations, species, and nonhuman phenomena.
Language Study
The experience of being introduced to a different way of ordering ideas through language and the ability to communicate in another language are key ways of bridging difference. College language courses help students learn new languages and encounter new cultures. Even students who enter Colgate conversant in more than one language can benefit from such courses, either by studying that language at an advanced level, a new language at the introductory level, or a language course that develops literacies in a heritage language.
The requirement cannot be satisfied by demonstrating proficiency or fluency in a second language. Students who have previously studied a language should complete the Language Background survey as soon as possible.
The Process of Writing
The ability to communicate clearly and effectively is a critical part of every liberal arts education, transcending individual disciplines. Writing is a skill developed over the course of a lifetime, and it takes many forms, depending on purpose and audience. For that reason, this curriculum entails a focus on writing in both the First-Year Seminar and also in another class later in a student’s Colgate career. (Therefore, FSEMs do not fulfill this requirement, even if a regular section would normally satisfy it.) Process of Writing courses are offered in many departments in addition to the Department of Writing and Rhetoric. All courses that count toward the Process of Writing practice emphasize the iterative nature of composition, the importance of revision, and the value of clear communication beyond the standard rules of grammar and mechanics.
Quantitative and Algorithmic Reasoning
It is essential that each student be able to understand, interpret, and apply algorithmic or quantitative methods. Quantitative and algorithmic reasoning form the basis of knowledge in a variety of departments and programs across Colgate’s academic divisions. Quantitative and Algorithmic Reasoning courses emphasize themes such as how numerical evidence can facilitate the analysis of a problem; how to locate, collect, or interpret quantitative data; how to recognize the limitations of particular algorithmic or quantitative methods; or how to communicate algorithmic or quantitative arguments.
Areas of Inquiry
Students achieve greater breadth of knowledge by taking courses in each of the University’s three predominant areas of intellectual inquiry. These courses expose students to disciplinary modes of thinking and the opportunity to discover their majors, minors, and unexpected passions in new fields of study. Certain courses offered by interdisciplinary programs in the University Studies Division are included in these Areas of Inquiry.
Human Thought and Expression:
Courses in this area develop an understanding of what it means to be human: they focus on cultural and intellectual expressions throughout time. The departments listed below generally satisfy the Human Thought and Expression area of inquiry:
- Art and Art History
- Classics (Greek and Latin)
- East Asian Languages and Literatures (Chinese and Japanese)
- English
- German
- Music
- Philosophy
- Religion
- Romance Languages and Literatures (French, Italian, and Spanish)
- Theater
- Writing (See course descriptions)
Natural Sciences and Mathematics:
Courses in this area apply theoretical and empirical methods to the study of living organisms, the physical world, and abstract and practical mathematics. The departments listed below generally satisfy the Natural Sciences and Mathematics area of inquiry:
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Computer Science
- Geology
- Mathematics
- Physics and Astronomy
- Psychological & Brain Sciences
Social Relations, Institutions, and Agents:
Courses in this area expose students to the study of social order and human behavior in societies of the past and present. The departments listed below generally satisfy the Social Relations, Institutions, and Agents area of inquiry:
- Anthropology
- Economics
- Educational Studies
- Geography
- History
- Political Science
- Sociology
In general, courses from the departments listed above count toward the area of inquiry specified. Exceptions will be noted in the individual course description (found in the University Catalog, the First-Year Course Offerings, and the Department/Program Description pages).
Courses within the Division of University Studies also count toward the areas of inquiry requirement when crosslisted with a department. For instance, MIST 262 AX, Islam in Our Post-9/11 World, is crosslisted as RELG 262 AX and therefore counts toward the Human Thought & Expression area of inquiry. If a non-crosslisted course within the Division of University Studies counts toward an area of inquiry requirement, it will be noted in the course description. For instance, NAST 150, Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies, counts toward the Social Relations, Institutions, & Agents area of inquiry.
Students are required to complete a major in an academic department or program. Requirements for majors vary widely from one department or program to another but consist of between 8 and 13 courses. There are 56 majors from which you may choose. It is even possible to develop your own interdisciplinary or topical major in consultation with academic advisers and division directors. Students must declare a major no later than their fourth semester. Please refer to the University Catalog for requirements and guidelines for specific majors.
Colgate uses a course credit system (rather than semester or quarter hours). Most courses are 1.0 course credit, however, there are some courses that award fractional credit (0.50 or 0.25). In addition, some courses have required co-requisites that carry fractional credit. An example is General Chemistry I. If a student registers for CHEM 101 (1.0 credit) they will also register for the laboratory section, CHEM 101L (0.25 credits).
All students must successfully complete a minimum of 32.00 course credits (including pre-matriculation and transfer credits) to be eligible to graduate. See the University Catalog for the complete policy on academic credit.
Matriculated students entering as first-year students are required to complete seven terms in academic residence at Colgate. A Colgate study group and/or participation in one off-campus Approved Program will also count toward this requirement.
Students must complete two units of physical education, and are encouraged to do so by the end of their sophomore year. Physical education units do not bear academic credit.
PHED 000 A, Physical Education, will be added to your fall schedule. You will need to sign up for specific course units through the physical education department at the start of the term. Please visit the Physical Education web page for detailed information regarding course units and sign-up options. (Fall offerings will be available in late August.)