Academic Policies

Applying Academic Work at Trinity toward the Columbia BA Degree

The coursework that Dual BA Program students undertake in years one and two at Trinity may be used toward completion of their general degree, major, and Core Curriculum requirements, or a combination of the three. Students work with their Columbia University academic advisors and major departments to determine how their coursework at Trinity College Dublin will be credited toward their studies at Columbia, and will have their transcripts from Trinity evaluated annually for eligible transfer credit. General policies regarding the transfer of academic credit can be found on the GS website. In general, three types of credit are assigned at Columbia: credit toward the major, credit toward the Core Curriculum, and elective credit toward the BA degree. Trinity courses with third honors (40-49%) or higher grades are typically considered eligible for transfer toward fulfillment of the Columbia Core Curriculum. 

Credit Toward General Degree Requirements 

Before the start of their third year, Dual BA students will receive the maximum 60 allowable transfer credits toward the 124 credit minimum required for the Columbia undergraduate degree for coursework completed at Trinity.

Credit Toward the Major

Credit toward the major at the point of the commencement of Columbia coursework is determined in consultation with the academic department where the student plans to declare a major. Students should consult the academic requirements enumerated on the major page for details; majors at Columbia range in required point count from 29 to 88. Students should expect to complete the majority of the requirements for their Columbia major at Columbia; however, in most cases, students will receive credit toward the major for coursework completed at Trinity.

Approved majors and course credit guidelines for the Dual BA Program may be found on the Majors and Concentrations page. Please note that this list is subject to change and expansion.

Credit Toward the Core Curriculum

The GS core requirements provide the foundation for a traditional liberal arts education, assuring that students develop critical skills in writing and quantitative reasoning while exposing them to a range of knowledge and disciplines. Trinity courses with third honors (40-49%) or higher are considered eligible for transfer toward fulfillment of the Columbia Core Curriculum. 

  • University Writing: All Dual BA Program students not majoring in English must complete this course at Columbia.

  • Literature/Humanities (six points of coursework—the literature component must be taken at Columbia): Most students will be able to complete the Humanities requirement at Trinity but must take Literature at Columbia.

  • Language (four terms or the equivalent): Students following the Classics, Ancient History, and Archaeology, European Studies, and Middle Eastern and European Languages and Cultures academic track will likely have this requirement fulfilled by previous Trinity modules. Most other majors will begin the language at Trinity and complete the requirement at Columbia.

  • Art Humanities: Dual BA Program students not majoring in History of Art and Architecture complete this course at Columbia.

  • Music Humanities: Dual BA Program students complete this course at Columbia.

  • Global Core (six points of coursework): Many students will be able to complete one or more Global Core courses at Trinity in consultation with their GS academic advisor. 

  • Contemporary Civilization/Social Sciences (six points of coursework): Most students will complete one or both of these requirements at Trinity.

  • Quantitative Reasoning (one term or the equivalent): Some students may satisfy this requirement through the Irish Leaving Certificate Higher Level Maths Exam, French baccalauréat, SAT, or ACT. 
     
  • Science (three terms or the equivalent): Some non-science majors may be able to complete up to two terms of Science coursework at Trinity though Trinity electives.