Curriculum: Degree Requirements

Credit System

The course unit is the basic measure of academic credit. For transfer of credit to other institutions, the College recommends equating one course unit with 4 semester hours. Half unit courses equate to 2.0 semester hours. The College offers a small number of quarter unit courses in music and these courses equate to 1.0 semester hour. Half unit and quarter unit courses may not be accumulated to qualify as course units for graduation; however, these courses are included in GPA calculations. Half unit and quarter unit courses may be accumulated to qualify as course units for graduation toward the 36 unit Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Music Education Degrees.

Requirements for the Degree

The College confers four undergraduate degrees: Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Bachelor of Music (B.Mus.), and Bachelor of Music Education (B.M.E.). The general graduation requirements are the same for all degree programs except where indicated for B.Mus., and B.M.E degree students.

• 32 course units (may include a maximum of 1.00 unit of music ensembles and 1.00 unit of music applied lessons)
• 36 course units for the B.Mus. and B.M.E. degrees
• Minimum accumulative GPA of 2.00 and a GPA of 2.00 in the major field
• Fulfillment of the goals of the Gettysburg Curriculum
• Minimum of the last year of academic work as a full-time student in residence at Gettysburg College or in an approved College program.
• Discharge of all financial obligations to the College

A list of the specific courses that may be used to satisfy the curricular goals may be found on the Registrar's web page. Curricular goals may be satisfied, with or without course credit, by students who can qualify for exemption. (See Exemption from Degree Requirements). Individualized study courses and internships may not be used to fulfill curricular goals.

The Gettysburg Curriculum

The overarching goal of the Gettysburg College Curriculum is the development of lifelong learners who

• Are able to acquire and process information and ideas in multiple ways
• Are integrative thinkers
• Are skilled in communication
• Are prepared for the responsibilities of informed citizenship

Students demonstrate their progress toward achieving these goals through their performance in a range of courses or comparable faculty-sponsored experiences, their completion of a major field of study, and their ability to demonstrate connections across the curriculum.

The Gettysburg College Curriculum has four core components:

Modes of Inquiry

All students must take five distinct courses in which they produce works representative of the arts, formal sciences, humanities, laboratory-based natural sciences, and social sciences. These courses may also overlap with those that students take to satisfy requirements in the Perspective and Social Change area or their major.

• Arts (1 course)
• Humanities (1 course)
• Formal Science (1 course)
• Natural Science with lab (1 course)
• Social Science (1 course)

Classes counting for First-Year critical skills and/or Gettysburg Seminars may not count toward Modes of Inquiry. Classes counting for the Modes of Inquiry courses may also satisfy one of the Perspectives and Social Change requirements.

Perspectives & Social Change

By fulfilling these requirements, students will gain an increased awareness of how cultural contexts and identities intersect and shape perspectives and behaviors, understand how power and oppression are manifested in one’s lives and communities, and develop skills to communicate across diverse groups of people.

• Non-Native Language (2 courses in sequence in the same language). All students will take a two course sequence in the same language. AP Credit can be used for one of these courses. International students whose native language is not English may petition the Academic Standing Committee regarding this requirement. Those students who may be seeking information regarding accommodations should contact the Center for Student Success. 
• Identities and Culture (1 course). Identities and cultural contexts impact one’s worldview and perspectives. The ability to meaningfully engage with culturally different others and recognize how thoughts and behaviors could be socio-culturally grounded will help students to develop intercultural competence. All students will take a course that considers how identities and cultural contexts (within and/or outside the U.S.) intersect with, reflect, and shape one’s perspectives and experiences. This course will develop students’ analytical and reflective abilities to help them understand how cultural worldview frameworks are developed and increase their cultural self- awareness.
• Race, Power, and Equity (1 course). All students will take a course that considers the institutional, structural, and cultural components of race, power, and inequity. The course goes beyond recognition of racial differences to explore power structures behind racial differences.

Your Gettysburg education doesn’t end with the Academic Program. Knowledge and enduring skills at Gettysburg College are practiced and deepened through our Guided Pathways program, which provides students with an intentional approach to their co-curricular experiences. Every incoming student will have the opportunity to align their interests with on-campus experiences within a thematic Guided Pathway.

Classes counting toward First-Year Critical Skills and Gettysburg Seminars may not count toward Perspectives & Social Change.

Gettysburg Seminars

• First-Year Seminar (first year, 1 course). The Gettysburg Curriculum begins with our first-year seminars, which offer small, intense intellectual communities that foster active learners engaged with a wide range of topics.
• Sophomore-Year Seminar: Communities & Change (sophomore year, 1 course) During their sophomore year students take a course in which they consider the structures and processes that facilitate local, national, and/or global community engagement and learn how they can be agents of change.

First-Year Critical Skills

• First-Year Writing (1 course) - May be satisfied by an FYS with an attribute of FY Writing OR other courses approved for this category. During their first year, all Gettysburg students take a course that introduces them to the foundational concepts and skills they need to develop as flexible, effective communicators. Students can expect to create texts for a variety of audiences and purposes and to use writing not just as a means of communicating but as a means of thinking and learning.
• First-Year Data & Society (1 course) - May be satisfied by an FYS with an attribute of FY Data & Society OR other courses approved for this category. Gettysburg students take a course in their first year in which they learn basic skills of data literacy and discuss the process of data collection and the use (and misuse) of quantitative information. Students learn about these topics within the context of issues of social importance and will understand the tools of data analysis as well as the limitations that are often encountered when gathering and interpreting data.

The Gettysburg Curriculum

The Gettysburg Curriculum aims to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to navigate a rapidly changing global environment and seeks to inspire our students to lead lives of meaning, service, and consequence.

There are two hallmarks of the Gettysburg Curriculum:

1. We ask students to be self-reflective, to write and think in ways that express a growing self-awareness about the progress and impact of their education.
2. We ask students to make connections in what they are learning, to see relevant implications across courses, to achieve an education that is more than a transcript of self-contained courses.

While completing their studies at Gettysburg College, students must complete 32 course units, a major field of study (including a major capstone experience), and the following curricular requirements.. For Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Music Education, students must complete a total of 36 course units.

Guidelines

The Gettysburg Curriculum includes specific guidelines for fulfilling academic requirements. Gettysburg Seminars can also count toward First-Year Critical Skills, such as First-Year Writing. However, courses taken for First-Year Critical Skills or Gettysburg Seminars cannot be applied toward Modes of Inquiry or Perspectives & Social Change.

Some courses may fulfill both a Mode of Inquiry and a Perspectives & Social Change requirement.

First-Year Critical Skills may be completed through designated First-Year Seminars or other approved courses.

Individualized study courses and internships do not count toward curriculum requirements. If a course is categorized under both Identities & Cultures and Race, Power & Equity, students may only use it to fulfill one requirement, and two distinct courses must be taken for these areas.

Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory graded courses do not fulfill Gettysburg Curriculum requirements. For questions about First-Year Critical Skills or Gettysburg Seminars, students should contact Professor William O’Hara at wohara@gettysburg.edu.

For students who entered Gettysburg College prior to Fall 2025

The curriculum is structured around four key elements:

Multiple Inquiries

Gettysburg College students are required to engage in multiple forms of inquiry -- in the humanities, the arts, the social sciences, and natural sciences -- in a self-conscious and intentional way. We expect students to learn a variety of approaches, to apply them aptly, and to understand their value and their limitations.

Integrative Thinking

We believe our graduates should know how to integrate what they have learned. It is not enough to have compartmentalized knowledge. Integrative thinking is required to create solutions, to develop new ideas, to exert leadership.

Communication Skills

Today we are all drowning in information. An effective education must teach students how to evaluate information, to marshal relevant evidence persuasively, and to communicate effectively -- in person, in writing, and in technologically enhanced ways.

Informed Citizenship

We want our graduates to be at home in the world and to be engaged citizens with a global perspective. Understanding and valuing forms of difference, entering another worldview through language, study in another land -- these are valuable in shaping a sense of engagement in the world.

Major Requirements

Each student must successfully complete the requirements in a major field of study. Most majors consist of eight to twelve courses and may include specific courses from one or more other departments and/or programs. No more than twelve courses may be required from a single subject area, with the exception of the B.Mus. and B.M.E. degrees. Since the general graduation requirements are essentially the same for all degree programs, students completing the major requirements leading to two different degrees must choose which degree to receive at graduation. (Requirements of the various majors are listed in the department and program introductions in the Courses of Study section.)

The following are major fields of study at Gettysburg College:

Bachelor of Arts:

• Ancient Greek and Roman Studies
• Africana Studies
• Anthropology
• Art History
• Art History and Museum Studies
• Art Studio
• Biology
• Business, Organizations, and Management
• Chemistry
• Cinema and Media Studies
• Communication Studies
• Computer Science
• East Asian Studies - China
• East Asian Studies - Japan
• Economics
• English
• English with Writing Concentration
• Environmental Studies
• Finance
• French
• German Studies
• Greek
• Health Sciences
• History
• International and Global Studies
• Mathematics
• Music
• Philosophy
• Physics
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Public Health Policy
• Public Policy
• Religious Studies
• Sociology
• Spanish
• Spanish/Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies
• Theatre Arts
• Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Bachelor of Science:

• Biology
• Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Chemistry
• Computer Science
• Environmental Studies
• Finance
• Health Sciences
• Mathematical Economics
• Physics

Bachelor of Music:

• Music Performance with tracks for Keyboard, Strings, Voice, Winds and Percussion

Bachelor of Music Education

• Music Education

Optional Minor:

Students may declare a minor concentration in an academic department or area that has an established minor program. Not all departments offer minor programs.

A minor shall consist of six course units, no more than two of which shall be 100-level courses. Because of the language required, an exception to the two 100-level course limitation may occur in classical studies. Students must maintain a 2.00 average in the minor field of study. Although a certain minimum number of courses constitute a minor field of study, all courses in the minor field will be considered in determining the minor average.

Minors are offered in all major fields listed earlier, except for music education, music performance, psychology, International & Global Studies, Spanish/Latin American Studies, Finance, Public Health Policy and Public Policy. In addition, minor fields of study are possible in the following areas:

• Business
• Civil War Era Studies
• East Asian Studies
• Educational Studies
• Greek
• Judaic Studies
• Latin
• Latin American Studies
• Middle East and Islamic Studies
• Neuroscience
• Peace and Justice Studies
• Public History
• Writing

Academic Internships

Gettysburg College students have the opportunity to participate in internships during their four years of study. All students who wish to participate in an internship should schedule an appointment with a career counselor in the Center for Career Engagement, which maintains information on internship sites located in both the United States and abroad, as well as resources that can connect students to even more opportunities. The Center staff will also educate and assist students in looking for an internship site in their geographic location of preference. Internships taken for academic credit are carefully designed to provide a program with a substantial academic component, as well as practical value. These interns are generally advised by a faculty member within a student's major field of study. Academic credit is awarded by the appropriate department once the student completes the requirements of the department. Internships provide students with a valuable opportunity to apply academic theory to the daily task of business, nonprofit, and government settings. This experience also helps students identify career interests and gain valuable work experience. Students are encouraged to begin the process of finding an internship early in their college career.