Ellen Roundey in cap and gown during graduation.

Undergraduate Graduation Requirements

Academic Requirements

Students are responsible for understanding their academic requirements and for tracking their own progress toward completing those requirements.

Though academic requirements of the College may change while a student is enrolled, it is expected that each student will meet the requirements outlined in the Catalog that is in effect at the time of matriculation to Hillsdale College as a degree-seeking student. The “Catalog of Entry” is considered applicable for students who leave the College and whose interrupted course of study is not longer than five years.

Changes in the general requirements for the baccalaureate degrees will not be applied so as to necessitate that currently enrolled students, or those absent for no more than a year, take additional courses beyond the number required for the degree sought.

Catalog Changes

The Catalog is a general summary of programs, rules, policies, and procedures for academic and student life, and is provided for the guidance of students. However, the Catalog is not a complete statement of all programs, rules, policies, and procedures in effect at the College. In addition, Hillsdale College reserves the right to change without notice any programs, rules, policies, and procedures that appear in the Catalog. Anyone seeking clarification on any of this information should consult with the Registrar.

General Graduation Requirements

The completion of the baccalaureate degree requires 124 semester hours of college work with an accumulative grade-point average of 2.000 (“C”). Students transferring to Hillsdale must earn an accumulative grade-point average of 2.000 (“C”) in all work taken at Hillsdale.

The College offers two baccalaureate degrees, each based on the completion of four years of study in the liberal arts. These differ in emphasis. The Bachelor of Arts degree stresses language, literature, and the arts. The Bachelor of Science degree stresses mathematics and the natural sciences. To graduate, a student must complete the requirements for one of these degrees.

To graduate, a student must complete the courses or course options as presented in the Core Curriculum.

To graduate, a student must complete the requirements for at least one major field of concentration, although more than one major field of concentration may be completed. A grade of “C-” or higher must be obtained in each of the courses counted toward a major field of concentration.

Requirements for a Bachelor of Arts Degree

For native speakers of English, a 12-semester-hour competency (through third-semester 201) level in French, German, Spanish, Latin, or Greek is required for the bachelor of arts degree and for certain pre-professional programs. This requirement may be satisfied only by successful completion of 201, or a higher-level course, on the Hillsdale campus.

Students who arrive with a 12-semester-hour competency in any of the above languages, as determined exclusively by the Hillsdale College placement test in that language, must take at least one course at Hillsdale College above the 201 level in the language of said demonstrated competency in order to satisfy the requirement. This upper-level course must be for at least three credit hours.

No student may fulfill the B.A. degree language requirement by means of the placement exam alone. Optionally, a student may elect another of the languages offered at Hillsdale to satisfy the B.A. requirement by successfully completing the (third-semester) 201 course in said language on campus.

If a student has more than four hours of Advanced Placement credit in French, German, or Spanish, or if a student has transferred or is expected to transfer more than four hours of French, German, or Spanish credit from another institution, said student is NOT eligible to take the CLEP exam in the corresponding language for credit.

Requirements for a Bachelor of Science Degree

Candidates must complete no fewer than 36 semester hours in mathematics and the sciences (biology, biochemistry, chemistry, computer science, physics, and psychology), including at least one year of laboratory science and at least a minor in the aforementioned sciences or mathematics. Candidates may be permitted, after consultation with the dean of natural sciences, to include a maximum of three courses from other specified areas.

Students having declared an exercise science or sport psychology field of concentration qualify for a Bachelor of Science degree without the requirement of an additional minor. Courses for those majors that are taught within the disciplines listed above may be counted toward the 36-hour requirement.