As some of you may know, Carleton is currently rewriting its graduation requirements for the first time in forty years. At the Education and Curriculum Committee meeting this week, we looked over the big plan for the new requirements. Here are some key changes:

• A required First Year Seminar taken for credit.
• All students required to take one class “analyzing” art and one class “creating” art.
• “Approved” Club Sports will be receive credit in the same way Varsity Sports do.
• New distro categories, most likely based on “skill sets.”
• Students required to spend senior year on campus.
• At least 198 of 210 credits must be earned from Carleton courses. This means nobody will be coming in with 50 credits from AP tests.

The last two changes are designed to make the graduation policy more equitable. Students from privileged backgrounds who were able to take a bunch of AP tests currently have the option of graduating early and saving $30,000. Under the new requirements, this wouldn’t be possible.

I’ll provide more details as I get them, and I’ll write a summary of the proposed replacement of RAD (Recognition and Affirmation of Difference).