Academic Program Planning

Students are encouraged to use their own interests as the key to engage with the subject matter and to choose the course of study most meaningful to them. Dons and students work together to design educational plans and approaches best suited to the students’ needs. The College’s degree requirements are designed to foster these ideals, as well as to expose students to different means and methods of learning and to a variety of subjects.

Students are responsible for knowing and satisfying degree requirements. Course requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree are as follows:

1. Satisfactory completion of 120 credits, at least 60 of which must be Sarah Lawrence credits
2. Satisfaction of the residency requirement with:
   1. A minimum of two consecutive years of full-time study at the Bronxville Campus (Global education semesters may not be used to fulfill academic residency requirements.)
   2. Successful completion of full-time study at Sarah Lawrence in Bronxville for either the junior or senior year
3. Fulfillment of the distribution and lecture requirements, as outlined in the following sections

Students are expected to track their academic progress and degree requirements by regularly reviewing their Credits by Distribution Area and Unofficial Transcript, both available on MySLC.

Academic standing and enrollment requirements are designed to support students in maintaining consistent advancement toward the completion of their degree. This policy enables the College to track academic progress and identify when a student might benefit from additional support or resources. The requirements serve as both a safeguard and a scaffold: a way to recognize when a student may need intervention and a framework to help students chart their way through the College in a timely and consistent manner.

While these requirements align with federal requirements for Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), which are necessary for continued financial-aid eligibility, they go further by considering factors unique to our open curriculum and narrative evaluations. As such, student evaluations continue to play a primary role in assessing student progress.

Academic Enrollment and Completion Requirements
The minimum academic standards required to remain in good academic standing and continue enrollment from semester to semester are as follows:

Full-Time Status: Students must be enrolled in at least 12 credits per semester. First-year students must be enrolled in 15 credits per semester. Exceptions apply for students with approved accommodations, including a reduced course load, or for students on part-time status.

Minimum Grade Expectation: Students are expected to earn grades of C or higher in their courses. Earning grades below this threshold—particularly in multiple courses or over consecutive semesters—will prompt an academic review.

Course Completion: Students are expected to complete at least two-thirds, or 67%, of total attempted credits each semester. Failure to do so will prompt academic review.

Academic Standing Review and Intervention

Regular Monitoring: Academic performance for undergraduate students is reviewed by the Committee on Student Work at the end of each semester to ensure that students are meeting academic standing and enrollment requirements. That review begins with reading student evaluations but also takes into account grades below C.

Academic Status: Students whose evaluations reveal academic concerns or who fail to complete the required percentage/number of attempted credits in a semester will receive a letter from the Office of the Dean of Studies regarding their academic status. Such letters range in severity from academic concern, warning, or probation to suspension. Students receive a letter commensurate with the level of concern, taking into account their broader academic history.

Support and Advising: Students on probation are required to meet with their class dean and their don to create a plan for improvement, which may include tutoring, academic coaching, counseling, or reduced course loads.

Academic Enrollment Requirements for Students on Reduced Course Loads

Eligibility: Students approved for a reduced course load due to disability, health, or Title IX accommodations must meet adjusted academic enrollment requirements determined on a case-by-case basis. See the Special Arrangements section of this Student Handbook for the full Reduced Case Load policy.

Monitoring: Academic standing for students on a reduced course load is evaluated based on the number of credits for which they are enrolled, ensuring that those students meet the proportional progress requirements.

Impact of Leave of Absence and Academic Standing

Impact on Progress: Students on probation who take an approved leave of absence retain their academic status upon return.

Re-Entry: Students returning from a leave of absence are encouraged to meet with their don and class-year dean to create a plan for re-entry to ensure that the student can meet academic standing and enrollment requirements moving forward.

Failure to Meet Academic Standing and Enrollment Requirements

Academic Status Change: Students who do not meet academic standing and enrollment requirements face a range of possible actions when put on an academic status change, which refers to designations such as academic concern, warning, probation, or suspension.

Students are required to complete a minimum of 20 credits in lecture courses at Sarah Lawrence and are strongly encouraged to do so prior to their senior year. The lecture requirement may also be met with five credits for every 15 transfer credits and/or with each Sarah Lawrence global education semester. Exceptions are not made to the lecture requirement.

Sarah Lawrence seeks to give its students a broad and balanced liberal-arts background and, as such, does not impose specific course requirements. For this reason, students plan their programs with their dons in accordance with the following guidelines:

1. The curriculum consists of four academic areas: creative and performing arts, history and social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences and mathematics. Degree candidates are required to complete a minimum of 10 credits in at least three of the four academic areas. Information systems and practicum courses do not satisfy distribution credit requirements.
2. Within the 120 degree credits, a maximum exists for each of the four academic areas. Students may take no more than:
   1. 60 credits in creative and performing arts (never waived)
   2. 80 credits in humanities
   3. 80 credits in history and social sciences
   4. 80 credits in natural sciences and mathematics
3. No more than 50 credits may be in a single discipline (e.g., mathematics or literature or photography).

The disciplines included within each academic area are as follows:

Creative and performing arts: dance; music; visual arts, which includes digital imagery, drawing, filmmaking, screenwriting, media arts, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture; theatre, writing

History and social sciences: anthropology; Asian studies; economics; environmental studies; geography; history; politics; psychology; public policy; science, technology, and society; sociology

Humanities: art history, dance history, film history, language, literature, LGBTQ studies, media studies, music history, philosophy, religion

Natural sciences and mathematics: biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, physics, environmental science

Students are expected to enroll in successive fall/spring semesters. If a student is not enrolled on the Bronxville Campus, it must be for one of the following approved reasons:

• Studying on a global education program
• Taking a leave of absence for personal or medical reasons
• Taking a leave of absence for full-time study at another institution
• Seniors completing their final degree semester with off-campus study

View the appropriate section of the Student Handbook for more details on each of the above approved reasons.

Students not actively enrolled by the first day of the fall or spring semester are withdrawn for failure to return.

Full-time enrollment requires students to be enrolled in at least 12 credits. International F-1 students must be enrolled full-time in order to maintain visa status. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors may register for up to 18 credits at no additional tuition. Semester credits over 18 are charged the regular per-credit tuition rate. Students, excluding first-years, are permitted a maximum of two semesters at part-time enrollment, not including semesters on an approved reduced course load. View more information in the Part-Time Enrollment section of this handbook. First-year students are required to be enrolled full time in three five-credit courses unless approved for a reduced course load.

In order to advance their curricular and academic interests, students may occasionally wish to seek an exception to the residency or distribution requirements. Students requesting exceptions to the College’s academic policies must email a letter of appeal to the Committee on Student Work at deanofstudies@sarahlawrence.edu. The letter should state the requirement or policy for which the exception is requested and provide a rationale for why the exception should be made. Students are encouraged to request an accompanying letter of support from their don. When possible, requests for exceptions should be submitted to the Committee on Student Work in the semester prior to the one for which the exception is requested.

The following academic policies are never waived:

• 60-credit creative/performing arts maximum
• 20-credit lecture minimum
• converting a five-credit course to three credits