Students that Matriculated Prior to Fall 2022

Core Courses

Hotel Administration (HADM) Electives

Students must take a minimum of 14 credits of Nolan School of Hotel Administration electives at the 3000 level or higher. All courses must be taken for a letter grade, unless the course is offered only with an S/U option.

Students may elect an optional concentration within the school electives.

Note: please see the updated student handbook for courses that do not count towards electives.

First Year Writing Seminar

First-year students take First-Year Writing Seminars (FWS) through The Knight Institute, one of the country’s largest and most diverse programs in writing in the disciplines. Each semester, over 100 different courses are taught in more than 35 departments with programs located in the humanities, social sciences, expressive arts, and sciences. Through introductory work in each seminar’s particular field of study, students learn to write in a range of genres and in ways that emphasize clarity, coherence, intellectual force, and stylistic control.

Nolan students must take 3 credits of FWS unless exempt through AP or transfer credit. More information can be found here.

Non-HADM Electives

Broaden and strengthen the intellectual and analytical base of students’ thinking

Students must take a minimum of 18 credits outside the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration. The First-Year Writing Seminar (3 credits) is required for graduation and counts toward the non-HADM elective total.

Classes that are similar/duplicates in title or content of our Cornell Nolan School classes may not be counted toward non-HADM credits. Please refer to Double Dipping/Forbidden Overlaps in the student handbook for more information. If there is any question, it is important to check with an advisor in the Office of Student Services to determine to which category a course may be applied.

AP credits do not count toward distributive electives (exception is the First-Year Writing Seminar with a score of 5).

NOTE: LSC supplemental courses will appear on transcripts, but will not count toward graduation credit.

Free Electives

Students must take a minimum of 24 credits in free electives: any course in or outside of the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration (not including PE courses). These courses may be taken for a letter grade or S/U. Note that only 4 credits in total (of all courses taken – core and electives) each semester may be taken for the S/U option (exclusive of courses that are only offered S/U).

Please see the Student Handbook for details regarding what counts toward free elective credit hours.

Physical Education

Cornell undergraduates are required to complete 2 credits of physical education during their first year.

It is the student’s responsibility to sign up for physical education classes by reporting to Teagle Hall during university registration. Be sure to check the add/drop deadlines for physical education classes, which often are different from the normal university course add/drop deadlines. Physical education classes taken for credit will be graded Pass/Fail. Students receive credit for only one course per term.

Note: Physical education credits are not included in the 120 credit hour minimum for graduation.

In addition, students must pass a basic swim test to graduate. The test, conducted during the first week of classes, consists of a continuous 75-yard swim using front, back, and optional strokes.

Any student who cannot pass the swim test must include swimming as his or her physical education course before choosing any elective physical education class.  A grade of Incomplete will be issued until the swim test has been passed or the requirement has been filled by satisfactory attendance in two terms of beginning swim classes.

Note: Transfer students who have completed two or more terms of full-time study elsewhere, regardless of whether those terms included physical education courses, are not required to take physical education or the swim test at Cornell. Transfer students who completed only one term elsewhere will be required to take one term of physical education, including the swim test, at Cornell.

All students are encouraged to explore opportunities offered by the Department of Athletics and Physical Education.

Physical education requirements may be modified for the following reasons

• Health. Either a temporary medical postponement or a permanent medical waiver, which must be officially certified by Gannett Health Center.
• Work. If a student works 20 or more hours per week, he or she may qualify for postponement or a waiver, which must be approved by the athletic director’s office in Teagle Hall.
• Team Sport. Upon approval of the athletic director’s office, students participating in a team sport will receive credit toward the physical education requirement.

Permission for postponement of, or exemption from, the physical education requirements is issued only by the University Faculty Committee on Physical Education or the director of physical education. Final authority for interpretation and ruling on requests for exemption rests with the committee.

Practice Credit

To graduate from the Bachelor of Science program, a student must have 800 hours, paid or unpaid, work experience in areas of the industry aligned with one’s career goals. Typically, this requirement is fulfilled in two summers, however part-time employment is accepted. The objective of the Practice Credit requirement is to ensure that the student’s education has the essential balance between theory and practice. More information regarding requirements and guidelines can be found on our Practice Credit webpage.