Distributional Requirements
All students in Yale College must fulfill distributional requirements in order to qualify for the bachelor's degree. For a general introduction to the distributional requirements and a definition of the disciplinary areas and skills categories, refer to chapter I.
1. Distributional requirements for the freshman, sophomore, and junior years. Students must partially fulfill the distributional requirements during the freshman, sophomore, and junior years in order to be eligible for promotion.
Distributional requirements for the freshman year: Students must have enrolled for at least one course credit in two skills categories by the end of the second term of enrollment in order to be eligible for promotion to sophomore standing. They may elect no more than four course credits in a single department, and no more than six course credits in a single disciplinary area, except that a student taking a laboratory course may elect as many as seven course credits in the sciences.
Distributional requirements for the sophomore year: Students must have enrolled for at least one course credit in each of the three disciplinary areas and for at least one course credit in each of the three skills categories by the end of the fourth term of enrollment in order to be eligible for promotion to junior standing.
Distributional requirements for the junior year: Students must have completed all of their skills requirements by the end of the sixth term of enrollment in order to be eligible for promotion to senior standing.
2. Multiple distributional designations. Although some courses may carry more than one distributional designation, a single course may be applied to only one distributional requirement. For example, if a course is designated both Hu and So in the course listings in chapter III, it may be applied toward either the humanities and arts requirement or the social science requirement, but not both. Similarly, if a course is designated QR and Sc, it may be applied toward either the quantitative reasoning requirement or the science requirement, but not both.
A course with multiple distributional designations, once applied toward one distributional requirement, may subsequently be applied toward a different distributional requirement. During the summer after each academic year, the Registrar's Office optimizes the use of each student's completed courses toward fulfillment of the distributional requirements.
3. Foreign language distributional requirement. All students are required to engage in the study of a foreign language while enrolled in Yale College. The most common paths to fulfillment of the foreign language distributional requirement are illustrated in a chart in the "Academics" section of the Yale College Web site.
Students who matriculate at Yale with no previous foreign language training must complete three terms of instruction in a single foreign language. This requirement is fulfilled by the completion of courses designated L1, L2, and L3 in the course listings in chapter III.
Students who have taken the Advanced Placement examination in French, German, Latin, or Spanish and who present a score of 5 are recognized as having completed the intermediate level of study. Scores of 6 or 7 on the International Baccalaureate Advanced-Level examination are also accepted as evidence of intermediate-level accomplishment. Students at this level fulfill the language distributional requirement by completing one course designated L5 in the course listings in chapter III. Alternatively, they may successfully complete instruction in a different foreign language through the level designated L2.
Students who have studied a foreign language before matriculating at Yale but who have not achieved a score of 5 on the Advanced Placement test in French, German, Latin, or Spanish must take a placement test offered by the appropriate language department. Dates and times of placement tests are given in the Calendar for the Opening Days of College and in the departmental program descriptions in chapter III of this bulletin. The departmental test determines whether students place into the first, second, third, or fourth term of language study (courses designated L1, L2, L3, or L4 in the course listings in chapter III), or whether they qualify for language courses beyond the fourth term of study (L5).
Students who place into the first term of a foreign language must complete three terms of instruction in that language, designated L1, L2, and L3 in the course listings in chapter III.
Students who matriculate at Yale able to place into the second term of a foreign language must successfully complete three terms of instruction in that language, designated L2, L3, and L4 in the course listings in chapter III. Alternatively, they may successfully complete instruction in a different foreign language through the level designated L3.
Students who matriculate at Yale able to place into the third term of a foreign language must successfully complete two terms of instruction in that language, designated L3 and L4 in the course listings in chapter III. Alternatively, they may successfully complete instruction in a different foreign language through the level designated L3.
Students who matriculate at Yale able to place into the fourth term of a foreign language must successfully complete one term of instruction in that language, designated L4 in the course listings in chapter III. Alternatively, they may successfully complete instruction in a different foreign language through the level designated L3.
Students who matriculate at Yale able to place into the fifth term of a foreign language must successfully complete one term of instruction in that language, designated L5 in the course listings in chapter III. Alternatively, they may successfully complete instruction in a different foreign language through the level designated L2.
Students who demonstrate by examination at Yale that they are native speakers of a language other than English must successfully complete instruction in a third language, neither English nor the native language, through the level designated L2. Alternatively, students in this category who present a secondary school transcript showing that the language of instruction was other than English may fulfill the foreign language requirement by completing ENGL 114a or b, 120a or b, or 450b.
In order to promote firsthand experience in foreign cultures and the learning of language in real-world settings, students are permitted to apply toward the satisfaction of the foreign language requirement the completion of an approved study abroad program in a foreign-language-speaking setting if they have first completed or placed out of a language course designated L2 in chapter III. A student may seek permission from the appropriate director of undergraduate studies or the director of the Center for Language Study to substitute a term or a summer abroad in an approved program for intermediate or advanced language study at Yale (L3 or higher). Study abroad may be used in place of L1 and L2 courses only if it is part of a Yale College program. Study abroad opportunities are described in chapter I under the heading "International Experience."
Students who have taken a course in a foreign language at another institution and who wish to offer that course toward fulfillment of the foreign language distributional requirement must pass a foreign language examination administered at Yale by the appropriate director of undergraduate studies or the director of the Center for Language Study.
Intensive language courses provide the equivalent of a full year of instruction in a single term. A course designated L1–L2 in the course listings in chapter III fulfills both the L1 and the L2 levels of the foreign language distributional requirement. Similarly, a course designated L3–L4 satisfies both the L3 and the L4 levels.
Not all of the languages offered in Yale College are offered at all levels, and it may not be possible to fulfill the language requirement in some of them. Languages currently offered in Yale College are Akkadian, Arabic, Chinese, Coptic, Czech, hieroglyphic Egyptian, French, German, ancient Greek, modern Greek, biblical Hebrew, modern Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, isiZulu, Italian, Japanese, Kiswahili, Korean, Latin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Sanskrit, Spanish, Syriac, Tamil, Turkish, Vietnamese, and Yorùbá. Students wishing to fulfill the foreign language requirement in a less commonly taught language should consult the director of undergraduate studies in the relevant department to verify that the appropriate level of study will be offered. Students who have intermediate- or higher-level proficiency in a language other than those listed here (including American Sign Language) should consult the appropriate director of undergraduate studies or the director of the Center for Language Study to arrange for a placement examination.
Students who, for medical reasons, are not able to complete the language requirement may petition the Committee on Honors and Academic Standing for a waiver of the requirement. In granting such a waiver, the committee will normally require that a student complete four course credits in the study of a specific non-English-speaking culture.
4. Courses taken on the Credit/D/Fail basis. A student may not apply any course credit earned on the Credit/D/Fail basis toward satisfaction of the distributional requirements for the junior year nor for the distributional requirements for the bachelor's degree.
5. Independent study courses. A student may not apply any course credit earned through independent study courses toward satisfaction of any of the distributional requirements.
6. Acceleration credits. Acceleration credits may not be employed to satisfy the distributional requirements for the bachelor's degree, nor may they be employed to meet the distributional requirements for the freshman, sophomore, or junior years.
7. Course credit earned at Yale before matriculation. Course credit earned at Yale before a student's matriculation, either at Yale Summer Session or in the Nondegree Students program while the student was enrolled as a secondary school student in the New Haven area, may be applied to the distributional requirements for the bachelor's degree and to those for the sophomore and junior years, but it may not be applied to the distributional requirements for the freshman year.
8. Course credit from outside Yale. Course credit earned at another university may be applied toward the distributional requirements for the bachelor's degree and to those for the sophomore and junior years whether or not it is counted toward the 36-course-credit requirement for graduation. Credit from outside Yale may not be applied toward the distributional requirements for the freshman year. See "Credit from Other Universities" in this chapter. Note particularly that Yale does not award course credit or distributional credit for courses completed at another college or university before the student graduated from secondary school.
9. Major programs. Courses taken in fulfillment of a student's major requirements may be applied toward satisfaction of the distributional requirements for the freshman, sophomore, and junior years and toward the distributional requirements for the bachelor's degree.
10. Permission for a partial waiver of the distributional requirements for the freshman year. If, with the permission of the residential college dean, a freshman enrolls in a program of study for the first two terms of enrollment worth more than nine course credits, the dean may waive the year limit on the number of course credits that a student may elect in a single department or disciplinary area. Under no circumstances may a student be promoted to sophomore standing without having enrolled for at least one course credit in two skills categories (foreign language, quantitative reasoning, writing).
11. Permission to postpone fulfillment of the distributional requirements for the sophomore year. A student may petition the Committee on Honors and Academic Standing for permission to fulfill the distributional requirements for the sophomore year in the fifth term of enrollment. Such a petition must be filed no later than the date of midterm of the fourth term of enrollment; it should explain the sound academic reasons why these requirements cannot be satisfied within four terms of enrollment and give an exact description of how they shall be fulfilled in the fifth term. Students who have not fulfilled the distributional requirements for the sophomore year by the end of the fourth term of enrollment and who have not been granted permission by the Committee on Honors and Academic Standing to postpone their fulfillment will normally not be promoted to junior standing.
12. Permission to postpone fulfillment of the distributional requirements for the junior year. In exceptional circumstances, a student may petition the Committee on Honors and Academic Standing for permission to fulfill the distributional requirements for the junior year in the seventh term of enrollment. Such a petition, which must include the written support of the residential college dean and, where applicable, that of the director of undergraduate studies in the student's major, should be filed no later than the date on which the student's course schedule is due in the sixth term of enrollment; in no case will a petition be accepted later than the date of midterm in the sixth term of enrollment. It should explain the sound academic reasons why these requirements cannot be satisfied within six terms of enrollment and give an exact description of how they shall be fulfilled in the seventh term. Students who have not fulfilled the distributional requirements for the junior year by the end of the sixth term of enrollment and who have not been granted permission by the Committee on Honors and Academic Standing to postpone their fulfillment will normally not be promoted to senior standing.
