Five College Courses
Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts have for some time combined their academic activities in selected areas for the purpose of extending and enriching their collective educational resources. Certain specialized courses not ordinarily available at the undergraduate level are operated jointly and open to all. In addition, students in good standing at any of the five institutions may take a course, without cost, at any of the other four if the course is significantly different from any offered on their own campus and they have the necessary qualifications.
The course must have a bearing on the educational plan arranged by the student and his or her advisor. Professional, technical and vocational courses are not generally open for Five College interchange credit. Those courses accrue credit toward degrees other than the Bachelor of Arts degree which is offered at Amherst College. Individual exceptions must be approved by both the advisor and Dean of the Faculty on the basis of the student’s complete academic program at the College.
The Premedical Committee reminds health pre-professional students that required courses (biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics) should normally be taken at Amherst College and not at other Five College institutions.
To enroll in a Five College course, an Amherst student must have the approval of his or her advisor and the Dean of the Faculty. Only under special circumstances will permission be granted by the advisor and the Dean of the Faculty for an Amherst student to enroll in more than two Five College courses per semester. If permission to enroll in a course is required for students of the institution at which the course is offered, students from the other Five Colleges must also obtain the instructor’s permission to enroll.
Free bus transportation among the five institutions is available for interchange students.
Students interested in such courses will find more information on the Registrar’s website. Lists of courses being offered by the other institutions are accessible there and on the other institutions’ websites.
Other aspects of Five College cooperation are described in the Student Code of Conduct.