Academic Programs
The requirements a student must complete for the student's degree program (major(s), concentration(s), and minor(s)) are those published in the catalog in effect at the time students officially declare their first major. The year of the official declaration of a student's first major is recorded on the student's record as the student's catalog year.
A student is welcome to declare a major at any point during the first year, and is required to do so by the end of the sophomore year. Concentrations and minors must be declared by the end of the fall semester of their senior year. Only under exceptional circumstances, after review and approval of a petition for special consideration, may a student change their degree program after the end of the junior year.
MAJOR
A major offers a structured set of undergraduate courses that provide students with the skills, methods, and essential content to prepare them to pursue research, scholarship, or artistic creation and expression in the academic field. Majors prepare students to synthesize the essential concepts, content, and methods of their academic field, and to establish central relationships among the materials covered in the separate courses that comprise their major. Majors also prepare students for postgraduate study, employment and their future as responsible members of their community.
Majors are expected to require a minimum of 32 units, but may require no more than 48 units. Majors may require, in addition, at most eight units of supporting/prerequisite coursework. Supporting/prerequisite coursework is not required for the major, does not factor into the major GPA, and does not count toward the required number of units for the major. Major programs are noted on the official transcript.
At least 64 units of coursework counting toward the Bachelor of Arts degree must be taken outside the major department. In any single semester, students are strongly discouraged from taking more than 12 units in a single department.
A student who wishes to complete more than one major must complete all requirements, including the Second-Stage Writing and the Comprehensive Requirement, for each major.
Occidental College currently offers the following majors:
Combined Major
The college has a small number of combined majors. A combined major at Occidental represents a field of study that combines two programs that already exist at the college. Combined majors, like majors, are a structured set of undergraduate courses that provide students with the skills, methods, and essential content to prepare them to pursue research, scholarship, or artistic creation and expression in the academic fields of the combined majors. Combined majors prepare students to synthesize the essential concepts, content, and methods of their academic field, and to establish central relationships among the materials covered in the separate courses that comprise their major, and also prepare students for postgraduate study, employment and their future as responsible members of their community.
Combined majors are capped at 64 units, and contain at most 32 units (and at least 20 units) from each of the two programs it combines. All prerequisites and supporting coursework are part of the combined major. Combined majors have a single Second-Stage Writing Requirement, and a single culminating Comprehensive Requirement. Combined majors do not have concentrations.
Students pursuing a combined major may not double major (neither in one of the supporting majors nor in another major at the college) and may not take a minor in either of the two majors. Students may not use a single course in a combined major to meet any other major requirement.
Occidental College currently offers the following combined majors:
Biochemistry (major only)
CONCENTRATION
A concentration is an area of specialization in the academic field of a student’s major. Concentrations provide students with additional knowledge and/or skills in an established sub-field of the academic field of a student’s major that would not be achieved simply by meeting the major requirements.
Concentrations are composed of an additional set of at least some (3 or 4) thematically and/or methodologically related courses beyond the requirements for the major (12-16 units). Concentrations are noted on the official transcript, but are not required to complete the major.
MINOR
A minor is a set of courses designed to provide students with some of the skills, methods, and content associated with an academic field. Minors provide students with a broad understanding of an academic field, but not the depth of knowledge gained by a major in that academic field.
Minors may have anywhere between 20 and 24 units. Minors may require, in addition, at most four units of supporting/prerequisite coursework. Supporting/prerequisite coursework is not required for the minor, does not factor into the minor GPA, and does not count toward the required number of units for the minor. Minor programs are noted on the official transcript. Minors are not required to earn the Bachelor of Arts degree.
In addition to the programs listed above (unless otherwise, designated), the following minors are also available to students:
Classical Studies
Education
Food Studies
Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies
German
Interdisciplinary Writing
Linguistics
Neuroscience
Public Health
Russian