All College Requirements
These requirements apply to students entering CC before Fall 2020 and Fall 2020 transfers. For students beginning Fall 2020, please see the General Education webpage.
In order to graduate from Colorado College you need to fulfill the following requirements:
- meet the established all-college requirements (see below);
- identify and complete a major;
- complete 32 units of coursework;
- maintain a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 or higher.
As you choose your FYE, you should consider whether it will help you fulfill your all-college requirements for graduation.
All-College Requirements - an overview
For details, see the Course Catalog.
First-Year Experience (FYE) Seminar
- A two-block course (linked individual courses or two-block course) that you take as your first course on campus (2 units)
Critical Perspectives
- (G) Global Cultures (1 unit)
- (S) Social Inequality (1 unit)
- (I or L) Scientific Investigation of the Natural World, Inquiry or Lab (2 units, including at least one lab or field course)
- (Q) Quantitative Reasoning (1 unit)
Courses may meet more than one designation (for example, a course may be designated both "Social Inequality" and "Global Cultures") but students must choose one designation or the other, except in the case of "Quantitative Reasoning," which may be fulfilled along with any of the other Critical Perspectives requirements. Courses of one half unit credit, and, independent study and reading courses do not count toward Critical Perspectives requirements.
Foreign Language Requirement
- (Lang) Two blocks of college-level language (2 units)
Writing Requirement
All CC students are required to demonstrate proficiency in writing as part of the All College Requirements. Below you will find information regarding the CC writing requirement for the following student groups:
- Students entering Fall 2020 and following
- Students entering between Fall 2017 and Spring 2020
- Students entering between Fall 2010 and Spring 2017
- Transfer students
Students Entering Between Fall 2017 and Spring 2020
Beginning in Fall 2017, students receiving a Writing Evaluation of "needs work" in either or both blocks of their FYE class will complete at least one of the following prior to their fourth semester on campus:
- Any Writing Intensive course (including summer WI courses)
- Adjunct courses:
- GS260: Writing Enhancement (.5 units)
- Extended format courses
- Half-block courses
Students Entering Between Fall 2010 and Spring 2017
All students who entered CC between Fall 2010 and Spring 2017 will demonstrate Writing Progress in the form of a successfully evaluated First-Year Portfolio or subsequent coursework in classes emphasizing writing.
Writing evaluated in the First Year Portfolio will include an essay from FYE, a paper completed in a first-year course other than FYE, and an essay reflecting on these two writing samples and your experience as a writer during your initial year at CC.
First-Year Portfolios, submitted no later than the end of block 8 (block 4 for Winter Starts), will be evaluated by a team of CC faculty, with all portfolios receiving at least two independent readings. Portfolio readings will result in one of two outcomes: an evaluation of complete work or an assessment indicating work in-progress.
- A portfolio assessed as complete meets the following criteria: evidence of sufficient course-grounded first-year writing and a reflective essay which serves as useful self- analysis and an evidence-grounded appraisal of growth as an early undergraduate writer. An evaluation of complete fulfills the Writing Progress (formerly Writing Proficiency) graduation requirement.
- A portfolio assessed as in-progress grants a writer an additional semester to work on his or her early undergraduate college writing and self-assessment. An in-progressevaluation may result from insufficient evidence of writing in first-year courses, or a reflective essay deserving of significant revision or more fully developed and grounded self-appraisal. Deadline for resubmission of in-progress portfolios will be the end of the semester following initial submission.
Students submitting portfolios evaluated as in-progress or students failing to submit a portfolio by the conclusion of their first year can also fulfill the Writing Proficiency requirement in one of several ways.
- Successful completion of a Writing Intensive (WI) course, with an evaluation of competency from the instructor of record in case of grades below C--/S.
- Successful completion of a Writing in the Discipline course taken in conjunction with a GS260 Writing Enhancement or a GS 257 Topics in Reading and Rhetoric adjunct.
- Successful completion of two Writing in the Discipline courses.
Transfer Students
To meet the Writing Progress requirement as a transfer student, there are a few options:
- If you have taken a First-Year Composition (FYC) course/seminar at another institution, please submit your transcript, the course name and number, and the syllabus to the Registrar for evaluation.
- If you have not taken a FYC course at another institution, but have taken a Writing Intensive (WI) course (15-20 pages of polished writing) at another institution, please submit your transcript, the course name and number, and the syllabus to the Registrar for evaluation.
- If you have not taken either a FYC or a WI, you should register for a CC Writing Intensive course in the near future. You have until graduation to take and pass a WI, but the sooner, the better! CC requires, for students who did not complete the First Year Experience here and/or the portfolio (classes of 2019 & 2020 only), a Writing Intensive course for graduation. You can find the list of WI courses through the Banner course schedule page or on the Writing Intensive page on the CC website.
Major Requirements
The online Course Catalog includes detailed descriptions of the majors and minors Colorado College offers.