Academic Information and Credit Transfers
Individual departments determine which courses taken elsewhere can transfer for credit toward a major. The Office of the Registrar decides which courses apply toward graduation requirements.
Colgate University operates on a course credit system where one credit is equivalent to four semester hours. Colgate requires students to complete at least half the required courses (16 of 32 courses) for graduation at Colgate or on a Colgate study group.
Credit Conversion
Colgate converts semester credits and quarter credits to Colgate course credits using the table below. Please note that this table does not apply to foreign institutions in all cases.
| Semester Hours | Quarter Hours | Colgate Course Credits |
| 4 | 5-6 | 1.00 |
| 3 | 4 | 0.75 |
| 2 | 3 | 0.50 |
| 1 | 1-2 | 0.25 |
Credit evaluation
Transfer credit is generally allowed for courses taken through a strong liberal arts curriculum in which a grade of C or better has been earned. Grades of C- or lower are not granted credit, nor are courses taken as pass/fail or satisfactory/unsatisfactory.
Regular transfer credit is credit earned as a matriculated, degree seeking student at a college or university. Pre-matriculation credit is credit earned prior to a student matriculating in their first semester as a degree seeking student (e.g. concurrent with high school) and must be earned through an accredited college or university, have been taught by a regular member of the faculty in competition with degree candidates of that institution. Select AP, IB and/or A-Levels are accepted for credit. Pre- matriculation credit will not satisfy any Liberal Arts Core Curriculum requirements.
Determining class year/academic standing
The following defines the number of credits required to achieve the indicated class year at the time of admission:
- Junior standing: Transferring the equivalent of 14-16 Colgate credits
- Sophomore standing: Transferring the equivalent of 6-13 Colgate credits
Curriculum and Course Requirements
To earn your degree at Colgate, you will need to complete the curriculum outlined below, in addition to your academic major.
Colgate’s core curriculum provides common ground for wide-ranging student-faculty interactions.
Students are required to complete core requirements as indicated:
| Total courses accepted upon enrollment at Colgate | Core courses required at Colgate |
| 1–4 | 3 |
| 5–8 | 3 |
| 9–12 | 2 |
| 13–16 | 1 |
As a condition of graduation, students must successfully complete at least one course in each Liberal Arts Practice and each Area of Inquiry. This is typically completed by taking eight unique courses, however, students may double-count their Process of Writing course to also fulfill one Liberal Arts Practice or Area of Inquiry requirement, thereby completing the requirements with seven courses. Additionally, courses fulfilling these requirements must come from at least six different subject codes.
The Liberal Arts Practices
Confronting Collective Challenges
The Process of Writing
Quantitative and Algorithmic Reasoning
Language Study
Artistic Practice and Interpretation
Areas of Inquiry
Human Thought and Expression
Natural Science and Mathematics
Social Relations, Institutions, and Agents
Post-matriculation transfer courses (i.e., coursework taken as a matriculated student at another university) may count toward these requirements if the Colgate equivalent also satisfies the requirement. Pre-matriculation credit does not count toward these requirements.
Please see the Undergraduate Program in the University Catalog for complete policy information.
All students must complete two units of physical education, taken by the end of the sophomore year. Junior transfer students must complete one unit. This requirement can be met via transfer credit as long as your previous institution records it on their official transcript.