Student Life

Academic Policies

Academic Regulations

The Academic Regulations are the master compilation of the College’s commitments, policies, and procedures regarding the academic program. Review these regulations for familiarity with curricular opportunities, to assist in the planning of an academic trajectory, and to understand the specific rules involved.

Academic Programs

Haverford's intentionally diverse curricular requirements ensure that our students are well-rounded, expansive thinkers. Students take courses in each of three major academic divisions for a variety of ideas, concepts, and intellectual approaches. Students declare a major by the end of sophomore year, when they begin a deep and detailed inquiry into one discipline that culminates in a comprehensive senior thesis.

Committee on Student Standing and Programs (CSSP)

The Committee on Student Standing and Programs (CSSP) reviews individual students’ petitions for exceptions to academic regulations. In this function, it supports students who are navigating academic challenges, as well as those requesting to waive requirements and to make alterations to individual programs in line with the College’s Academic Flexibility Program as described in the current College Catalog. The Committee has the responsibility for acting on all student petitions for exceptions to the Academic Regulations.

Program Declaration

At Haverford, students declare a major in their fourth semester, by the end of pre-registration in April. Here is some information that will help you navigate the process.

Writing Program

The Writing Program encourages students to become rigorous thinkers and writers who can construct arguments that matter, craft prose that resonates with their intended audience, and write effectively within the fields of academic discourse.

Wellness

The staff at Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) listen carefully to the concerns students have about their lives in a safe, supportive and confidential setting.

Time Away

Taking time away from Haverford can be a valuable and transformative experience for students. Leaves of absence can be for various reasons, such as personal, medical, or academic purposes. Through close collaboration with students and campus partners, our goal is to provide an organized, supportive, and streamlined process for leaves and returns.

Course Selection

Degree Requirements

Haverford is a liberal arts college, and its curriculum is designed to help its students develop the capacity to learn, to understand, to think critically, to make sound and thoughtful judgments, and to contribute to knowledge. Haverford’s degree requirements seek to accomplish these objectives through breadth of study (as embodied in general education requirements) and depth of study (as embodied in the departmental major requirement).

General Education Requirements

A liberal arts education requires a sense of the breadth of human inquiry and creativity. The human mind has explored the myriad facets of our physical and social environments; it has produced compelling works of art, literature, and philosophy. Every student is encouraged to engage a full range of disciplines—fine arts, the written word, empirical investigation, economy, and society—in order to become a broadly educated person. As a step toward this goal, students must fulfill the requirements that follow.

Foundations

These courses provide students with the essential foundations for studying many different domains of knowledge, and should be fulfilled as early as possible.

Domains

In addition to fulfilling the Writing, Language, and Quantitative/Symbolic Reasoning requirements noted previously, students are required to complete a minimum of two course credits in each of three Domains of Knowledge within the curriculum.

Pre-Professional Advising

Learn more about graduate and professional school, including law school, health professions school, and the full range of graduate school programs. You can also schedule an advising appointment with the Director of Pre-Professional Advising to discuss graduate and professional school programs that might be a good fit for your academic, extracurricular, career, or personal interests.

Center for Career and Professional Advising

Pre-Health Advising

Advice and support for Haverford students and alumni in their exploration of the full range of health professions, including medicine, dentistry, MD-PhD programs, public health, veterinary medicine, physical therapy, and other allied health professions. From Academic preparation to opportunities to internships, volunteering, and other modes of gaining first-hand experience with patient care. Medical schools and other schools of the health professions look for applicants who have demonstrated success in a rigorous liberal arts curriculum during their undergraduate education. Health professional schools do not require that students major in a science discipline as long as students demonstrate excellent work and passion for their science courses. Successful applicants are well-rounded, mature, motivated, curious, intellectually and socially engaged individuals, with a strong capacity for hard work, and a demonstrated commitment to service and to working with diverse populations.

Pre-Law Advising

Law school can be an incredibly significant, meaningful, and career-defining endeavor, academically and professionally. The Pre-Law office can help you make this decision and answer the important question: Why do you want to attend law school?The Pre-Law office can help you explore this exciting field of study and help you decide whether law school is your best next step after Haverford. Guidance on timeline and nature of law school applications, academic planning, admissions strategies, and the different facets of the legal profession.

Pre-Accelerated Masters in Engineering and City and Regional Planning

Through strategic alliances with CalTech, the University of Pennsylvania, and Villanova University, Haverford students can earn accelerated masters in Engineering or City and Regional Planning.