Policies Governing Double Counting Courses

Students may use a single course to fulfill more than one requirement across the curriculum. This is known as double counting. Different policies apply to different components of the curriculum.

Courses may be double counted between a Foundational Approach and the Sector Requirement, and between a Foundational Approach and the major, but not among two or more Foundational Approaches.

This means that the Writing, Quantitative Data Analysis, Formal Reasoning and Analysis, Cross-Cultural Analysis, Cultural Diversity in the U.S. and Language Requirements must all be fulfilled using separate courses.

  • Each major has a designated Sector that will be auto-completed upon the declaration of the major. The remaining Sectors must be fulfilled by non-major courses.
  • One course cannot be used to fulfill more than one Sector (i.e., each of the Sectors must be fulfilled using a different course).
  • If a student declares a second major that auto-completes the same Sector as their first major, a major advisor will make an exception to auto-complete a different Sector.
  • Students in majors that allow courses from both the Living World and Physical World to fulfill their major requirements will have both of those Sectors auto-completed. Majors which have two Sectors auto-completed include, but are not limited to, Neuroscience, Biology, Biophysics and Earth Science.
  • Major departments may have additional rules limiting double counting between more than one major.
  • There is no limit to the number of courses that may be double counted between General Education Requirements and requirements for a minor.
  • Courses being used to fulfill the Language Requirement Substitution may not also be used to fulfill any other General Education or any Major Requirement. 

In any submatriculation program, a maximum of 4 c.u. at the graduate level may be included toward both the B.A. and the M.A. These four courses may be part of the Major Requirement or the electives of the undergraduate program, but may not include courses in independent study. Some graduate programs may permit fewer than four courses to be double counted.

For students in the B.A./J.D. submatriculation program, no more than eight courses in all can be double counted toward both degrees.