Yale College does not have a core curriculum but ensures breadth of study through distributional requirements. New courses may be assigned distributional designations as part of the approval process; the DUS and/or the instructor should propose designations for new courses when submitting the course proposal.

Yale College students are required to take 2 Humanities courses, 2 Social Sciences courses, 2 Language courses, typically (but not always) at the L5 level, 2 Quantitative Reasoning courses, 2 Science courses, and 2 Writing courses. For more information about these requirements, see YCPS, Section A, Requirements for the B.A. or B.S. Degree

Humanities and Arts Courses and Social Science Courses

The Course of Study Committee is responsible for certifying courses as meeting the humanities and arts requirement and the social science requirement. In very rare cases, a course may carry both Hu and So designations, but only if it is fully interdisciplinary in nature. For more information, see the DUS Handbook.

Language Courses

The Language Study Committee is responsible for certifying courses as meeting the language requirement. For further information, contact the Center for Language Study.

Quantitative Reasoning Courses

The Science and Quantitative Education Office is responsible for certifying courses as meeting the quantitative reasoning requirement. For further information, contact Dean Sandy Chang. A course proposal for a potential QR course should be accompanied by a description of the course requirements—the number of exams, number of problem sets, etc.—as well as examples of exercises to be included in the problem sets and exams. For courses with assigned projects, a description of expectations as to the QR component of the project should be included.

Science Courses

The Science and Quantitative Reasoning Education Office is responsible for certifying courses as meeting the science requirement. For further information, contact Dean Sandy Chang. Examples of problem sets and exam questions should accompany course proposals for potential SC courses. For courses with assigned projects, a description of expectations as to the science component of the project should be included.

Writing Courses

The Writing Center Advisory Committee is responsible for certifying courses to meet the writing requirement. No course may offer WR sections without the approval of this committee. For further information, contact Dean Alfred Guy.