The Bachelor of Arts Degree
Bachelor of Arts Degree Requirements
Definitions
- Units: academic departments or administrative equivalents.
- Programs: lists of required and complementary courses (including prerequisites for required courses) prepared and maintained by units.
- Major Concentration: an academic program typically consisting of 36 credits taken from a unit's course offerings.
- Minor Concentration: an academic program typically consisting of 18 credits taken from a unit's course offerings.
Foundation Program (Overview)
If you enter McGill directly from high school or enter with 0–23 credits of Advanced Standing toward your 120-credit degree (i.e., you need 97 or more credits to complete your B.A.), you are automatically enrolled in the Foundation Year program, designed to provide a basic foundation in Arts prior to selecting your departmental program the following year. You may select via Minerva one of the following Foundation Program options:
Regulations
- Foundation Program core courses must be passed with a grade of C or better;
- Courses in U0 cannot be taken under the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grading option;
- Advanced Standing credits may possibly be used towards Foundation Year Program core requirements, see Transfer Credit and Advanced Standing.
For further details about the Foundation Year Program, see Foundation Program U0 and consult the Approved Foundation Year Courses List for your selection of courses. If you have further questions, consult Arts OASIS.
Note: If you need 96 or fewer credits to complete your B.A. degree requirements (three-year degree or less), you must select one or more academic programs at the time of registration. For information regarding individual academic program requirements, refer to the appropriate academic department offering that program. If you are unsure of which program to select, contact Arts OASIS.
Multi-Track Requirement
To complete a Bachelor of Arts degree at McGill, you must generally complete at least two academic program components (Major concentration, Minor concentration, Honours component, or Joint Honours component) in different subjects according to any of the following combinations:
- Major concentration + Minor concentration
- Major concentration + Major concentration
- Honours program + Minor concentration
- Joint Honours component+ Joint Honours component
- Faculty Program
- Note: Students who complete a Faculty Program are exempt from the Multi-Track degree requirement.
Regulations
At least one program component must be offered by an academic unit in the Faculty of Arts (list of programs offered by the Faculty of Arts) per the following:
- A student who completes a B.A. Major concentration offered by a unit outside of the Faculty of Arts must also complete a B.A. Minor concentration (Major + Minor) or B.A. Major concentration (Major + Major) offered by an academic unit in Arts.
- A student who completes a B.A. Honours program offered by a unit outside Arts must complete a Minor program concentration (Honours + Minor) offered by an academic unit in Arts.
- A student who completes a B.A. Joint Honours program that includes one Joint Honours component offered by a unit outside of Arts must complete either:
- A second B.A. Joint Honours component offered by an academic unit in the Faculty of Arts; or
- A second Joint Honours component offered by an academic unit outside of Arts + a B.A. Minor concentration offered by an academic unit in Arts.
Honours Program Requirements
The B.A. Honours program demands a high degree of focus and accomplishment. B.A. Honours programs contain additional credits of coursework and distinct program requirements in comparison to corresponding B.A. Major concentrations, including some courses specifically designed for Honours students. The Honours program typically consists of between 48 and 60 credits of courses. Honours and Joint Honours programs are designed to prepare students for graduate study, though the intellectual rigour of these programs has educational value independent of any use to which they are put.
Regulations
In addition to the Multi-Track requirement, the following regulations apply to the Honours program:
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To be registered in an Honours program after the first year, you must have attained a GPA and CGPA of at least 3.00 in the previous year, unless you have special permission from the department and the Associate Dean (Student Affairs).
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To complete an Honours degree, you must achieve a minimum CGPA of 3.00. The program GPA (the GPA of all required and complementary courses taken at McGill which constitute the Honours program) must be a minimum of 3.00, although academic units may set higher requirements for their program GPA.
- In addition to the completion of the Honours requirements, students must also complete a Minor concentration in another subject to satisfy the Multi-Track degree requirement.
- Note: Students who complete a B.A. Honours Faculty Program are exempt from the Multi-Track degree requirement to complete a Minor concentration in another subject.
- Note: exceptionally, the students who complete the B.A. Spécialisation enrichie Langue & littérature française – Études et pratiques littéraires do not need to satisfy the Multi-Track second-program requirement.
Joint Honours Program Requirements
A Joint Honours allows students to study two subjects or disciplines at a high level. Typically, a student completes a Joint Honours program by freely combining any two Joint Honours components in different subjects. A Joint Honours component typically consists of 36 credits, though it may contain between 30 and 48 credits, including some courses specifically designed for Honours. Students in Joint Honours programs must maintain high marks in both program and elective courses. Honours and Joint Honours programs are designed to prepare students for graduate study, though the intellectual rigour of these programs has educational value independent of any use to which they are put.
Regulations
The following apply to the Joint Honours program:
- To be registered in an Honours program after the first year, you must have attained a GPA and CGPA of at least 3.00 in the previous year, unless you have special permission from the department and the Associate Dean (Student Affairs).
- To complete a Joint Honours degree, a student must achieve a minimum CGPA of 3.0. The program GPA for Joint Honours (calculated based on all the required and complementary courses for the Joint Honours program) must be a minimum of 3.0, although the offering academic units may set higher requirements for the program GPA. The minimum program GPA requirement as determined by the academic unit must be satisfied for both Joint Honours components.
- Joint Honours programs satisfy the Multi-Track requirement, provided one of the academic programs is offered by an academic unit in Arts. If this condition is met, students are not required to complete a Minor concentration in addition to the two Joint Honours components.
Faculty Program Requirements
A Faculty program is an approved selection of courses constituting a concentration in an intellectually coherent and interfaculty field of studies. Faculty programs typically consist of at least 54 credits. Due to inherently interdisciplinary nature, students who complete a Faculty Program are not required to complete the normal B.A. Multi-Track requirements.
The Faculty of Arts currently recognizes the following Faculty Programs:
- Environment
- Population and Global Health (accepting students beginning 2026-2027)
Other Options: Science Minor Programs and Out-of-Faculty Programs
Science Minor Programs: If you want to register for a Minor program offered by the Faculty of Science, you must fulfil the Arts program requirements as indicated above, as well as complete any prerequisites for the additional program. Science Minor programs are listed at the webpage for Minors offered by other Faculties (approved for BA students)
Programs outside the Faculties of Arts or Science: If you want to register for a program offered by another faculty, please consult the OASIS website on this topic and refer to Programs Outside the Faculties of Arts or Science – For Arts Students.