The requirements listed below pertain to all students matriculating in August 2025 and January 2026.
All sections below must be completed to graduate.
Overall Required Credits (120 credits)
- Total: 120 credits
- Human Ecology: 45 credits (courses from DEA, FSAD, HD, NS, PUBPOL at any level or HE at the 3000/4000 level)
- Human Ecology, outside the major: 11 credits (from DEA, HD, NS, PUBPOL at any level or HE above 1500 level).
1. HD Introductory Course (3 credits)
- HD 1130 Introduction to Human Development
2. Developmental Psychology (6-7 credits)
Choose two courses from the list:
- HD 2090 Mechanisms in Developmental Psychology
- HD 2150 Infancy and Childhood
- HD 2170 Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood
- HD 2180 Adulthood and Aging
- HD 2510 Social Gerontology: Aging and the Life Course
3. HD Depth Coursework (6-8 credits)
- One HD 3000-level course
- One HD 4000-level course.
HD 4000, 4010, 4020, 4030, 4980, and 4990 cannot count for this requirement.
4. HD Breadth Course (2-4 credits)
Students must take one course from one of the five areas (Translational Research, Social and Environmental Influences, Cross-Cultural Perspectives, The Person in Context, or Engaged Learning)
Breadth courses can be found in the Degree Requirements section of the Human Development page.
5. Additional HD Coursework (14-19 credits)
In addition to completing the above required course work, students must complete the remaining credits, totaling up to at least 35 HD credits.
Credits from Areas 1-5, plus Area 6 and Area 10, should add up to 40
Up to 12 credits from HD 4000, 4010, 4020, and 4990 can count toward this requirement.
HD coursework used for Area 6 cannot be used here.
6. Research Methods/Scientific Literacy (2-4 credits)
Choose one of the following:
- BIOG 1500 Investigative Biology Laboratory
- COMM 2820 Research Methods in Communication Studies
- GOVT 3999 How Do You Know That?
- HD 2830 Research Methods in Human Development
- HD 2930/PSYCH 2930 Data Science for Social Scientist I
- HD 4765 How to Think Like a Scientist
- INFO 2950 Introduction to Data Science
- PSYCH 3240 Behavioral Neuroscience Lab
- PSYCH 3020 - Methods in Neuroscience
- STS 2011 What is Science?
7. CHE Core Curriculum (5 credits)
Students must complete all three courses in their first three semesters:
- HE 1800 Blazing Your Trail in Human Ecology
- HE 1850 Introduction to Human Ecology
- HE 2000 Social Justice, Thriving, and the Human Experience
8. First-Year Writing Seminars (6 credits)
The two required first-year writing seminar courses must be completed during the first two semesters at Cornell.
9. Social Science (6 credits)
Any two courses with the Course Distribution SSC-AS, ETM-AS, SBA, or KCM
Courses cross-listed with Human Development cannot be used to fulfill this requirement
10. Humanities (3-4 credits)
Choose any course with the Course Distribution Historical Analysis (HA or HST-AS), Literature and the Arts (LA or ALC-AS), or Cultural Analysis (CA).
11. Quantitative Analysis (3-4 credits)
Choose one of the following:
- AEM 2100 Introductory Statistics
- BTRY 3010 Biological Statistics I
- ILRST/STSCI 2100 Introductory Statistics
- PUBPOL 2100 Introduction to Statistics
- PSYCH 2500 Statistics and Research Design*
- ILRST 3110/STSCI 3110/ECON 3110 Probability Models and Inference for the Social Sciences
- STSCI 2150 Introductory Statistics for Biology
- SOC 3010 Evaluating Statistical Evidence
*PSYCH 2500 is strongly recommended for HD majors.
No AP Credit allowed. Must be taken at Cornell.
12. Natural Science I (3-4 credits)
Choose one of the following:
- BIOG 1140 Foundations of Biology
- BIOMG 1350 Introductory Biology: Cell and Developmental Biology
- BIOG 1440 Introductory Biology: Comparative Physiology
- BIOG 1445 Introduction to Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, Individualized Instruction
- AP Biology score of 5
If AP isn’t used to satisfy the requirement, then the course must be taken at Cornell.
No lab is required.
13. Natural Science II (3-4 credits)
Any 3-4 credit course with a Course Distribution PBS, BIO-AS, PHS-AS, BIOLS-AG, or BIONLS-AG (HD courses with Course Distribution PBS-HE courses cannot be used).
No AP credit allowed. Course must be taken at Cornell.
14. Additional Distribution Coursework (12 credits)
Any course with the Course Distribution PBS, ALC-AS, ETM-AS, HST-AS, SCD-AS, SSC-AS, SDS-AS, SMR-AS, BIOLS-AG, BIONLS-AG, SBA, KCM, MQR, LA, CA, or HA. Language courses may count here.
15. Electives (Variable)
Any courses that are not taken in Areas 1-14 above count as electives.
16. Physical Education Requirement (2 courses)
Physical Education must be completed in order to graduate. However, physical education does not count toward college and university minimum credit requirements for full-time status, nor does it count towards the 120 credits required for graduation.
17. Swim Test Requirement
A successful swim test must be completed in order to graduate.
Honors Program (optional)
HD majors have the option to complete the Human Development Honors Program, a two-year program where students are expected to defend an original research thesis. You must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher and complete your first statistics class before applying in the fall of your junior year.
College Policies
TOTAL CREDITS TO GRADUATE = 120
• Students must complete 120 credits toward graduation.
• A maximum of 15 credits of AP credit and in absentia credit can count towards the 120 total credits.
• A maximum of 15 credits of Study Abroad/Exchange, Cornell-In-Washington or Capital Semester can count towards total electives.
45 HE credits:
Courses from: DEA, FSAD, HD, NS, PUBPOL at any level or HE above 1500 level
• Students must complete a minimum of 45 Human Ecology credits.
• HE non-departmental courses at the 1500-level and below do not count toward the 45 HE credits.
• Students must enroll in a minimum of one 3-credit course each semester in HE for their first four semesters, excluding winter and summer sessions.
11 credits HE credits outside the major:
Courses must be from DEA, FSAD, HD, PUBPOL at any level or HE above 1500 level.
• Students must complete a minimum of 11 HE credits outside of the Division of Nutritional Sciences (DNS). All DNS courses are listed under the course code “NS”.
• FWS, HE non-departmental courses below the 1500 level, Statistics and Research Methods courses (PUBPOL 2100, PUBPOL 3120, DEA 3550, or
HD 2830), Special Studies (4000, 4010, 4020), and teaching assistantships (4030) do not count toward this requirement.
• These can be taken S/U only if course is NOT used to fulfill a curriculum requirement [Areas 1-18 on the following pages].
HUMAN ECOLOGY CORE COURSES: Within these required 11 credits listed above, 5 credits will come from the following courses.
- HE 1800 Blazing Your Trail (1 credit)
Required in the first fall semester of matriculation to HE (first-year students only) - HE 1850 Introduction to Human Ecology (1 credit)
Required in the first spring semester of matriculation to HE Human Ecology (first-year, internal & external transfers) - HE 2000 Social Justice, Thriving, and the Human Experience (3 credits) (updated course name effective Fall 2025)
First-Year students will complete HE 2000 in their third semester.
Internal and external transfer students must complete HE 2000 in their first fall in Human Ecology.
Pass/Fail Courses (S/U)
- S/U grading option may not be used for any required course unless it is the only grade option offered for that course.
- S/U may be used for the 9 HE credits outside the major and for electives.
- Students may apply no more than 12 credits of S/U toward graduation requirements. If a required course is only offered S/U, it will not count toward this limit. Students may take more S/U courses if they choose, but the additional credit will not be applied toward graduation.
- The deadline for changing grade options is the 57th calendar day of the semester, the same as the “drop” deadline.
Special Study Courses (4000, 4010, 4020, 4030)
- A maximum of 12 credits of special study course work from Human Ecology or other colleges will count toward the 120 overall credits. Courses will be indicated on the class roster with a Component of either IND or RSC. (Additional credits can be taken but will not be applied.)
- A maximum of 12 credits of 4000-4030 may count toward the 43 HE credit requirement.
- A maximum of 3 credits of 4000-4020 (not including 4030) may count toward the 9 credits outside the major requirement as long as the special study is in a department outside the student’s major.
- Students cannot TA (4030) the same course for credit more than once or take and TA the same course simultaneously. 4030 does not fulfill any requirements toward the major. Registration for 4030 may not exceed 5 credit hours per semester.