Eight Terms of Enrollment
A student must complete the requirements for the bachelor's degree in no more than eight terms of enrollment. Terms spent on a Year or Term Abroad, or in the Yale College Program at the Paul Mellon Centre in London during a spring term, or in the Peking University–Yale University Joint Undergraduate Program in Beijing, are considered the equivalent of terms of enrollment in Yale College. Note, however, that course credits earned in terms spent on a Year or Term Abroad may not be applied to acceleration by the early accumulation of thirty-six course credits all earned at Yale: see "Acceleration Policies" in this chapter. (Attendance at the Summer Program at the Paul Mellon Centre in London or the Yale Summer Session does not constitute a term of enrollment in Yale College.)
In exceptional circumstances, a student may petition the Yale College Committee on Honors and Academic Standing for permission to enroll for an additional term. Such a petition should be made no later than the beginning of a student's seventh term of enrollment; it should describe precisely, giving detailed information on specific courses, why it is impossible for the student to complete the requirements for a bachelor's degree within eight terms; and it should be accompanied by detailed, informative letters of endorsement from the student's director of undergraduate studies and residential college dean. For a student to exceed eight terms of enrollment usually means that another student cannot be admitted to Yale; a petition for a ninth term will therefore be approved only in extraordinary circumstances. The Committee on Honors and Academic Standing cannot grant permission for a ninth term in order for a student to undertake an optional arrangement not necessary for the acquisition of a bachelor's degree, such as, for example, the completion of two majors, or enrollment in the Program for the Simultaneous Award of the Bachelor's and Master's Degrees, or completion of the entrance requirements for graduate or professional school. A student given permission to enroll for a ninth term is not eligible for scholarship assistance from Yale, although other forms of financial aid may be available (see "Financial Aid Regulations" in the Yale College publication Undergraduate Regulations).
Graduation in fewer than eight terms of enrollment is possible: see "Acceleration Policies" in this chapter. Under no circumstances may a student graduate in fewer than six terms of enrollment, unless the student was admitted by transfer from another college or university. Transfer students should consult "Transfer Students" in this chapter.
