In an effort to promote exploration earlier in students’ college careers, the College has implemented a new policy requiring completion of educational requirements by the end of junior year. Juniors whose requirements remain incomplete by the end of the academic year must have advisor permission to be excepted from this policy and devise a plan to complete them.

The College’s requirements consist of one full credit course in each of five distribution areas and three curriculum divisions, along with a first-year writing seminar. The requirements are intended to preserve the College’s expansive liberal arts curriculum without interrupting students’ personal academic pursuits and major requirements.

Students often delay distribution requirements to avoid courses that appear strenuous or incompatible with their interests. Deferring classes, registrar Martina Duncan said, often causes scheduling inconveniences and contradicts the requirements’ inherent aim.

“Each year we have students trying to complete these requirements late in their Bowdoin careers, and this is counter to the purpose of these requirements, which is to expose students to the breadth of the liberal arts so they can further explore subjects of interest,” Duncan said.

The updated policy seeks to counteract the tendency to specialize early by incentivizing students to engage with various courses of study prior to major declaration. Proponents of the recent policy argue that earlier completion will allow upperclassmen to pursue upper-level electives and off-campus study with greater freedom. Eliminating the stress of unfinished requirements provides upperclassmen with increased scheduling flexibility, allowing them to devote their precious remaining course hours to attaining their degree.

“We hope this will allow students and advisors to continue to thoughtfully plan the student’s journey to the degree,” Duncan said. “Additionally, we hope this will allow the College to plan the needed course offerings with more advance notice.”

Current juniors will be allowed to complete their distribution requirements their first semster of senior year. First years and sophomores, however, must comply with the new standards. Although the administration anticipates minimal change, some students expressed reservations about the policy.

“I got a lot of my distribution requirements done in the first semester, but I will say, for pre-med and science majors, it’s highly recommended not to [take two lab courses simultaneously] while taking most performing or visual arts classes, making it really hard to complete some of the requirements,” Jessica Penilton ’28 said.

Mitra Hu-Henderson ’28 voiced concerns that time-constrained requirements may inadvertently encourage students to check compulsory boxes rather than pursue classes out of curiosity.

“The requirements broaden people’s horizons before declaring their major, but I also think students shouldn’t be taking a distribution requirement solely for the sake of fulfilling it,” Hu-Henderson said.