Summary of Weinberg College Degree Requirements

Updated July 2009

I. Residence

Of the 45 units required for the degree, the last 23 must be taken while registered as an undergraduate at Northwestern University.  You must be registered in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences for the last three quarters preceding the granting of the degree. (See the Undergraduate Catalog for information on Northwestern's Undergraduate Residence Requirement.)

II. Writing Proficiency

You must demonstrate proficiency in writing before you graduate. Detailed information on this requirement is available from the Writing Program, Crowe Hall 2-178, 1860 Campus Drive, 847-491-7414.

III. Foreign Language Proficiency

You must demonstrate proficiency equivalent to two years of college-level instruction in a classical or modern foreign language. You may not use the P/N option in courses taken toward meeting this requirement. Detailed information on the foreign language requirement is available from the Weinberg College Office of Undergraduate Studies and Advising, 1922 Sheridan Road, 847-491-7560, e-mail: wcas-adviser@northwestern.edu.

IV. Freshman Seminars

You must complete two Freshman Seminars during the freshman year, typically one in the fall and one in the winter or spring. P/N registration is not allowed in Freshman Seminars.

V. Distribution Requirements

Two units must be completed in each of the following areas:

All courses counted toward Distribution Requirements must be approved for the year in which they are taken. Courses from many departments and programs count in each area. For current and previous years’ lists, see Courses Fulfilling Distribution Requirements.

Approved distribution courses scheduled to be offered each academic quarter can be found on the Registrar's website.

Courses taken P/N do not count for Distribution Requirement credit. Courses taken under "target grade" registration (currently available in the Schools of Education and Social Policy, Music, and Communication) do not count for Weinberg Distribution Requirement credit, even if they result in a regular letter grade.

Some "interdisciplinary studies" courses have been approved for inclusion in more than one distribution area. If you take such a course, you can choose in which eligible area to count it. However, your second distribution course in that selected area cannot be another interdisciplinary course. For example, if you elect to count CLASSICS 210, Early Western Civilization, in Area IV, then your second Area IV distribution course must be selected from courses that count only toward Area IV.

A maximum of two AP or IB credits may be counted toward the Distribution Requirements. The two credits may not be applied to the same Distribution Requirement area. (Students who entered prior to Fall 2006 may count up to six AP or IB credits toward these requirements.) Detailed information on AP and IB scores which can confer Distribution Requirement credit for each entering class is available online.

You may not satisfy Distribution Requirements through course work from other universities.  If you are a transfer student or studying on an affiliated study abroad program, special exceptions to this rule may apply to you.  Consult the Office of Undergraduate Studies and Advising.

VI. Major Program

You must complete a major as described in detail in the Weinberg College section of the Undergraduate Catalog , including prerequisites, major courses, and related courses. Transfer students must complete at least four courses in their major at the 300-level while at Northwestern University. A major must be declared no later than the beginning of your junior year.

All courses in the major program must be completed with grades of C- or better. Grades of P (Pass) are not acceptable in major and related courses.

Students in Weinberg College are not required to complete a minor. Beginning in Fall 2009, a student's total number of majors plus minors may not typically exceed three. Exceptions require permission from the Weinberg College Advising Office and cannot be granted during the freshman year. (This replaces a previous rule limiting students to at most one minor.)

Several rules restrict the counting of any course toward more than one major or minor.

A list of majors, as well as minors, currently offered by Weinberg College can be found online.

SOME RULES OF WEINBERG COLLEGE

1. You must file an application for the degree one year in advance of the date of graduation.  Application forms are available online and in the Office of the Registrar, Rebecca Crown Center.
2. You are expected to register for three or four courses each quarter.  Permission to register for more than four-and-a-half units may be granted by the Office of Undergraduate Studies and Advising.  Permission is routinely granted to upper-class students whose grade-point average for the preceding quarter was 3.00 or higher; freshmen must have at least a 3.50 average for the previous quarter.
3. Qualified students may take courses offered by other schools on the Evanston campus, but they may not register for more than two such courses in any quarter.
4. No more than eleven units offered by other schools of the University may be counted toward the BA degree. No more than three of these credits may be applied music courses.  Approved School of Continuing Studies courses in Weinberg disciplines do not count toward this limit.
5. School of Continuing Studies courses may be counted toward a Weinberg BA degree only if they are similar to ones offered in the regular curricula of the Evanston undergraduate schools. Weinberg students must receive permission from the Office of Undergraduate Studies and Advising to register for courses in the School of Continuing Studies.
6. Independent Study (399) is generally open to juniors and seniors; department permission is required. In some cases, sophomores may also enroll in 399. A student may not register for Independent Study to make up a deficiency incurred by failure or incomplete courses.  A student may not register for more than two units of credit in 399 in any one quarter.  No more than nine units of 398 and 399 may be counted toward degree requirements.
7. If you intend to pursue courses elsewhere which will be submitted for Northwestern credit, you must secure prior approval from the Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College Office of Undergraduate Studies and Advising, 1922 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-4030, 847-491-7560, wcas-adviser@northwestern.edu. A form for requesting credit is available online.

Updated July 2009

Northwestern University reserves the right to change without notice any statement in this document concerning, but not limited to, rules, policies, curricula, and courses.