Degrees and Requirements - All Campuses

Linfield is a comprehensive college with a strong commitment to study in the liberal arts and sciences. The curriculum seeks to overcome intellectual provincialism, underscore the centrality of how one learns, provide a historical context, relate ideas to social structures, and affirms the importance of values in human life. The liberal arts curriculum is coherent and useful in preparing students to seek knowledge and improve skills throughout their lives. Linfield’s curriculum is designed to help people develop their full humanity, with an emphasis on freedom of mind and spirit. It also illuminates their shared cultural heritage, and involves students and teachers alike in the fundamental concerns upon which the future depends.

The academic program is available on a year-round calendar with 15-week fall and spring semesters, a four-week January term, and a 10-week summer term. A typical semester course load for a student is 12-16 credits.

The student’s program of studies will include courses in four categories: general education, major study in an area of interest, electives providing variety and stimulation, and paracurricular courses with a practical activity-centered orientation.

Degrees Offered

The college offers three undergraduate degrees. Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Science (BS) degrees are available on the
McMinnville Campus, through the Division of Continuing Education’s Adult Degree Program, and on the Portland Campus. The
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree is available on the Portland Campus and to students in the RN to BSN program.

Requirements Distinguishing BA From BS Degree

Candidates for the BA degree must satisfy a foreign language requirement by successfully completing two semesters of study in one language at the elementary level (101, 102) for a total of eight credits, or one semester of an intensive elementary-level course for five credits (105), or one semester at or above 201, or RELS 200 and 201 (Greek), or RELS 202 and 203 (Hebrew) in the Religious Studies Department. Students entering from high school with language experience or transfer students who have not fulfilled the language requirement take a placement test to determine their appropriate class levels. No college credit for high school course work in language will be allowed without departmental evaluation of a student’s proficiency. Waiver of the language requirement is by examination. The language requirement should be completed in the student’s first year. Prospective language students with a weak foundation in English grammar skills are strongly urged to take ENGL 125. Students whose native language is not English are exempt from the foreign language requirement.

Candidates for the BS degree must successfully complete two courses of at least three credits each in a single department, chosen from the following: anthropology, biology, chemistry, computer science, economics, environmental studies, mathematics, physics, political science, psychology, or sociology. These courses must be (a) outside the department which offers the major, and (b) beyond the Linfield Curriculum. If a student completes two majors, the BS degree requirement may be fulfilled by two courses from either major.

To obtain a bachelor’s degree, students must meet the following requirements: