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McGill.ca / Overview / Faculties and Schools / Arts / Undergraduate / Degree Requirements for the Faculty of Arts

About Program Requirements

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If you need 97 or more credits to complete your degree requirements (four-year degree), you are automatically registered in the Freshman/Foundation Year Program and are expected to select one of the Freshman/Foundation Year program concentrations from the Registration Menu on Minerva. For more information, refer to mcgill.ca/oasis.

If you need 96 or fewer credits to complete your B.A. degree requirements (three-year degree or less), you must select a program at the time of registration. You may select the Multi-track system, Honours program, Joint Honours program, or Faculty program. For more information, please refer to the appropriate department: mcgill.ca/arts/departments-programs. If you are unsure of which program to select, contact a faculty advisor in Arts mcgill.ca/oasis/.

Programs, Courses and University Regulations—2024-2025 (last updated Mar. 15, 2024) (disclaimer)

Freshman/Foundation Year Program (Overview)

Bachelor of Arts Freshman/Foundation Year Program Overview

If you enter McGill directly from high school or enter with 0-23 credits of Advanced Standing, you must complete the Freshman/Foundation Year Program core requirements (18 credits), designed to provide a basic foundation prior to selecting a departmental program the following year. You may select one of the following Freshman/Foundation Year Program options on Minerva:

  • General option
  • French option

Regulations to remember:

  • Freshman/Foundation Year Program core courses must be passed with a grade of C or better;
  • Courses in U0 cannot be taken under the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grading option;
  • Advanced Standing credits may possibly be used towards Freshman/Foundation Year Program core requirements, see Transfer Credit and Advanced Standing.

For further details about the Freshman/Foundation Year Program, see Freshman/Foundation Year U0 and consult the Approved Foundation Courses list for your selection of courses. If you have further questions, consult OASIS.

Programs, Courses and University Regulations—2024-2025 (last updated Mar. 15, 2024) (disclaimer)

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) - Freshman/Foundation Year - General (30 credits)

The Bachelor of Arts Freshman/Foundation Year is designed to ensure that students gain a broad foundation for the three-year degree program. It is comprised of 24-30 credits. In the General option, students develop their own program of study using courses from the social sciences, humanities, languages, and/or math and sciences. ...

For more information, see Freshman/Foundation Year - General (30 credits).

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) - Freshman/Foundation Year - French (30 credits)

The Bachelor of Arts Freshman/Foundation Year is designed to ensure that students gain a broad foundation for the three-year degree program. It is comprised of 24-30 credits in one of two program options. In the "En français" or French option, students choose up to 18 credits from a variety of courses conducted in French. These credits may be comprised wholly of...

For more information, see Freshman/Foundation Year - French (30 credits).

Departmental Programs for Bachelor of Arts

Departmental Programs for Bachelor of Arts

If you need 96 or fewer credits to complete your degree requirements, you are required to have an approved program (Multi-track, Honours, Faculty), and to select your courses in each term with a view to timely completion of your degree and program requirements. No course may fulfil the requirements for more than one program or concentration requirement. You must complete one of the following program streams:

Bachelor of Arts Degree: Multi-Track System

Bachelor of Arts Degree: Multi-Track System

To recognize the diversity of student backgrounds and interests, the Faculty of Arts offers a 90-credit multi-track system that includes a major concentration complemented by at least a minor concentration and that may be completed in one of the following ways:

Options
A Major Concentration (36) + Minor Concentration (18) + 36 credits of electives
B Major Concentration (36) + Major Concentration (36) + 18 credits of electives
C Major Concentration (36) + Minor Concentration (18) + Minor Concentration (18) + 18 credits of electives
Regulations
  • Within option A and option B, all concentrations must be in different academic units.
  • Within option C, one of the minor concentrations may be in the same unit as the major concentration. If you pursue a same-unit minor concentration, you will substitute additional complementary (non-required) courses to a total of 18 credits for any courses completed as a part of your major concentration within that unit.
  • All credits must be at the 200 level or above. If the Major or Minor program is more than 36 credits (Major) or 18 credits (Minor), then courses at the 100 level may be counted. Courses designated as prerequisties must be included in the program.
Definitions
  • Units: academic departments or administrative equivalents.
  • Programs: lists of required and complementary courses (including prerequisites for required courses) prepared and maintained by units.
  • Major Concentration: a program of 36 credits taken from a unit's course offerings.
  • Minor Concentration: a program of 18 credits taken from a unit's course offerings. Expandable Minor Concentrations are those which can, on the completion of 18 additional approved credits, be expanded into a Major Concentration within the appropriate unit.

Bachelor of Arts Degree: Honours Program

Bachelor of Arts Degree: Honours Program

Honours programs demand a high degree of specialization, and require you to satisfy specific departmental and Faculty Honours requirements while maintaining a good Academic Standing. They are designed to prepare you for graduate study.

Regulations
  • To be registered in an Honours program after the first year, you must have attained a GPA and CGPA of at least 3.00 in the previous year, unless you have special permission from the department and the Associate Dean (Student Affairs).
  • To complete an Honours degree, you must achieve a minimum CGPA of 3.00. The program GPA (the GPA of all required and complementary courses taken at McGill which constitute the Honours program) must be a minimum of 3.00, although academic units may set higher requirements for their program GPA.
  • In addition to the completion of the Honours requirements, you must complete at least a Minor concentration in an academic unit other than the one in which the Honours requirements are satisfied.
  • All courses counted towards Major or Minor Concentrations, Honours or Joint Honours Programs, or Faculty Programs must be taken at the 200 level or above.

Bachelor of Arts Degree: Joint Honours Program

Bachelor of Arts Degree: Joint Honours Program

If you want to study at the Honours level in two disciplines, you can combine Joint Honours program components from any two Arts disciplines; see Joint Honours Programs for a list of available programs. Each Joint Honours component consists of a maximum of 36 required and complementary credits (not including program prerequisites). In cases where a minimum of 24 credits are in courses normally restricted to Honours students, the total of required and complementary credits may be as few as 30.

To complete a Joint Honours degree, you must achieve a minimum CGPA of 3.00. The program GPA (the GPA of all required and complementary courses taken at McGill which constitute the Joint Honours program) must be a minimum of 3.00, although academic units may set higher requirements for your component of the program GPA.

Bachelor of Arts Degree: Faculty Programs

Bachelor of Arts Degree: Faculty Programs

A Faculty program is an approved selection of courses constituting a concentration in an intellectually coherent and interfaculty field of studies. These courses must include approved selections from one of the following:

  • The Faculties of Arts and of Science, and at least one other faculty
  • The Faculty of Arts, and at least one faculty other than the Faculty of Science
  • The Faculty of Arts currently recognizes the Faculty program in Environment

Bachelor of Arts Degree: Science Minor Programs and Out-of-Faculty Programs

Bachelor of Arts Degree: Science Minor Programs and Out-of-Faculty Programs

Bachelor of Arts Degree - Science Minor Programs: If you want to register for a minor program offered by the Faculty of Science, you must fulfil the Arts program requirements as indicated above, as well as complete any prerequisites for the additional program. If you're interested, you must write to the Associate Dean of Arts (Student Affairs), including with your request written approval from the Science Minor advisor.

Bachelor of Arts Degree - Programs outside the Faculties of Arts or Science: If you want to register for a program offered by another faculty, please consult the OASIS website on this topic and read Programs Outside the Faculties of Arts or Science – For Arts Students.

Programs, Courses and University Regulations—2024-2025 (last updated Mar. 15, 2024) (disclaimer)
Faculty of Arts—2024-2025 (last updated Mar. 15, 2024) (disclaimer)
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