No. The St. John’s College Program will remain as it is described in the Statement of the Program, offering discussion-based classes and focused on the Great Books reading list.

The new degree name will appear on transcripts beginning May 2027.

This degree has been recognized by the relevant educational authorities (Maryland Higher Education Commission, the New Mexico Higher Education Department, and the Higher Learning Commission) as a triple major. However, the college’s Program of Instruction is a coherent plan of study in the liberal arts, in which there are no departments and students do not choose a major.

The U.S. Department of Education has, since 1980, required all degrees to be classified according to major. While the college has never had majors, we have, to comply with this requirement, classified our degree as a degree in liberal arts. We will now classify it as a degree in philosophy, literature, and the natural sciences, because we think this better reflects what we study here to external audiences. The new classification will also make it easier for prospective students to find the college and offer additional benefits to international students.

No, all undergraduate students take an all-required, interconnected Program of Study and will graduate with the same degree equivalent to a triple major in philosophy, literature, and the natural sciences. Although there are some classes that offer choices in the junior and senior year (preceptorials), these do not constitute a choice of major or concentration.

The degree name change is only for the undergraduate degree.

The college has applied and is awaiting approval for STEM designation of the degree through the Student and Exchange Visitor Program under the Department of Homeland Security. Under current U.S. law, once approved, the natural sciences component would qualify international students for extended optional practical training (OPT). International students will be informed when the college receives approval for this change, which may take up to one year.

At this time, the college is unable to issue transcripts with the new degree name to alumni who graduated before May 2027. However, alumni are free to say that their degree is recognized as the equivalent of a triple major in philosophy, literature, and the natural sciences. There is no change to issued diplomas, which have always indicated, and will continue to indicate, the degree of “Bachelor of Arts.” Only the transcript includes the degree name of philosophy, literature, and the natural sciences.

Prior to the degree name change, transcripts included a statement from the Dean that the credit hours offered by the college were equivalent to two majors: one in history of mathematics and science, and the other in philosophy and two minors in classical studies and comparative literature. In evaluating the Program for an official change of CIP code (standardized codes developed by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics to identify and classify postsecondary programs of study across the United States), the Deans determined that “the natural sciences” more accurately captured the laboratory and mathematical elements of the Program. In addition, taking the “literature” and “classical studies” parts of the Program together would yield enough credits for a major in “literature.”