General Education Requirements

Overview

The general education (GE) requirements provide opportunities for students to develop their writing, speaking, analytical, and interpretive skills, and to familiarize themselves with important divisions of knowledge. Individual departments determine which courses meet the general education requirements in their fields of study. Normally general education requirements are completed at Claremont McKenna College. Students must obtain approval from the appropriate department chair to use a non-CMC course or a substitute course toward a general education requirement. Courses taken to fulfill general education, major, and sequence requirements must be taken for a letter grade.

All students, irrespective of their major field(s) of study, must complete CMC’s core general education requirements. General education requirements in humanities and social sciences must be met by courses outside a student’s major field(s) of study, as detailed below. Students with individualized or interdisciplinary majors at CMC, except for the  Integrated Sciences Major  and the 3+2 Combined Program Major , must complete at least 6 general education requirements in the humanities and social sciences combined, including at least two in the humanities and at least three in the social sciences. Students with dual or double majors in the humanities or social sciences will usually be required to complete an additional course for general education requirements in appropriate field(s) of study.

Off-campus majors must complete a minimum of 3 CMC social science GE courses and 2 CMC humanities GE courses in fields of study not included in their major(s). If the off-campus major normally includes coursework comparable to courses which satisfy CMC social science or humanities GE requirements, the student will be required to complete an additional general education requirement in an additional field of study.  The Office of the Registrar will identify which social science and humanities GE requirements off-campus majors are responsible for completing at the time students declare an off-campus major..

Students entering the College as first year, first-time degree seeking students may not complete more than 4 general education requirements through transfer credit, including summer school, Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) examinations, study abroad, etc. Transfer students must consult the Registrar if they wish to complete any general education requirements off campus after enrolling at CMC. An overview of CMC’s current general education requirements is provided in the chart below, followed by additional information on each requirement.

Chart of the General Education Requirements

Students entering CMC may use the chart below as guide for their general education requirements. The course numbers refer to CMC courses, and the rules and numbers do not apply to courses at the other Claremont colleges.

Description of the General Education Requirements

First-Year Writing Seminar

This one-semester requirement is met by completing FWS010 CM - First-Year Writing Seminar , and must be taken during the first year. Students who earn a score of 5 on one of the English Advanced Placement (AP) exams may seek permission from the chair of the literature department to take another CMC literature course numbered 60 or higher to fulfill this requirement. Students who receive approval to substitute another course for FWS may not double count it for any other general education or major requirement. More information and a sampling of topics can be found in the catalog .

First-Year Humanities Seminar

All CMC students are required to take the foundational course FHS010 CM - First-Year Humanities Seminar . The courses of the FHS program give new students an introduction to some of the questions fundamental to individuals in their relationship to society and the world. Sections are offered by faculty members teaching in the different disciplines at CMC. Students must complete this course at CMC during the first or second semester in residence at the College. More information and a sampling of topics can be found in the catalog .

Foreign Language

This requirement is met by passing the third college semester of a foreign language. The foreign language requirement can also be completed by earning a score of 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement (AP) examination or a score of 6 or 7 on a Higher Level International Baccalaureate (IB) examination in a foreign language. Students who earn a score of 650 or higher on a College Board SAT Subject Test in French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Latin, or Spanish will also have completed the foreign language requirement. Students cannot complete the foreign literature requirement through tests or competency.

All new students, except for students who have provided the registrar with official copies of appropriate AP, IB, or SAT2 test scores, take a language placement examination designed by the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures prior to registration. Students who through this examination are placed in the fourth semester (or higher) of a foreign language will have completed the foreign language requirement. These students are encouraged, but not required, to continue their language study. The placement exam is only given to new students prior to enrollment at CMC. Students who have studied a foreign language not offered at The Claremont Colleges should contact the chair of the department to arrange for testing.

Students with demonstrated native proficiency in a language which is not offered for testing at The Claremont Colleges may satisfy the foreign language requirement by one of the following methods: 

• Graduation from high school where the primary language of instruction was a language other than English. (For Chinese, graduation from middle school is acceptable.)
• Successful completion of the 10th-year exam in Hindi or another language of the Indian Subcontinent
• A certified statement from a tenured modern or classical language faculty member from another regionally accredited American college or university which attests to the student’s ability to read, write, and speak a non-English language with native proficiency.

Students seeking to satisfy their foreign language General Education Requirement by examination or demonstration of native proficiency must provide appropriate original documentation to the CMC Registrar’s Office within one year of matriculation to CMC.

Mathematics/Computer Science

Any course offered by the CMC Department of Mathematical Sciences may satisfy the general education requirement. Any computer science course or calculus course offered at the other undergraduate Claremont Colleges may also satisfy the general education requirement. Students may take a pre-calculus course either in Claremont or off-campus for credit towards graduation but not for the general education requirement in mathematics. All new students will have the opportunity to attend a mathematics and computer science information session prior to registration in the fall.

Lab Science

All CMC students must complete one lab science course to fulfill the Lab Science requirement. Every CMC student in the class of 2028 must complete SCI010L CM  offered by the Kravis Department of Integrated Sciences by the end of the second year at CMC. For students in the classes of 2025, 2026, and 2027 (including transfer students), please see the Kravis Department of Integrated Sciences FAQ for additional information about satisfying the Lab Science requirement.

Physical Education

The College requires all students to complete three semesters of physical education. Two seasons of participation in a team or club sport will also fulfill the physical education requirement. All students are expected to complete this requirement during their first two years, except for those excused by the Chair of the Department of Physical Education for medical reasons or because of prior military service.

Senior Thesis

The senior thesis should serve as a capstone experience to a student’s undergraduate education. Students must complete a senior thesis in at least one of their majors, under supervision of a faculty reader who teaches within that major, unless granted a special exception. CMC students with an off-campus major may register for a senior thesis in that major under the appropriate course number at the major’s sponsoring college. CMC students may use this thesis in lieu of the senior thesis at CMC. If the off-campus major does not offer a senior thesis under its own course number, students must register for the senior thesis at CMC. Students who have a CMC major and an off-campus major may choose to complete the senior thesis in one or both majors. Students who wish to do a 2-semester, 2-credit project register for a senior research course in the first semester and for senior thesis in the second semester. Neither the senior thesis nor the research course may be counted as a course for the major.