Yale College’s academic requirements are designed to ensure that all students are exposed to a broad variety of fields of inquiry and approaches to knowledge.
Yale College’s academic requirements, together with a student’s major requirements, comprise the foundation of an undergraduate education at Yale. As students fulfill the area and skills distributional requirements, they engage in critical thinking across a wide variety of disciplines.
Area Requirements
- two course credits in the humanities and arts
- two course credits in the sciences
- two course credits in the social sciences
Skills Requirements
- two course credits in quantitative reasoning
- two course credits in writing
- course(s) to further their foreign language proficiency
Depending on their level of language proficiency at matriculation, students may fulfill the foreign language requirement with one, two, or three courses or by a combination of course work and approved study abroad. The Language Chart offers an overview of language requirements for most students. Students from non-English-speaking countries who demonstrate native proficiency in a language other than English should consult their residential college dean.
