In addition to the curriculum requirements listed in the Academic Catalog for each major, students must complete:
Communication Intensive (CI) Course Requirement
Undergraduate students are required to complete a minimum of two approved CI courses:
- One of the courses must be in the student's major
- One of the courses must be writing intensive and taught in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.
CI courses cannot be taken as Pass/No Credit (effective for students who entered RPI Fall 2010 or later).
- COMMUNICATION INTENSIVE Courses being offered in Fall 2024
- COMMUNICATION INTENSIVE Courses for prior semesters (Fall 2021 till Summer 2024)
Notes:
- Students pursuing a dual major or double degree only need to complete 1 Communication Intensive course in either of their majors in addition to the 1 course taught by the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
- Students entering as freshmen may not use AP credit, SAT scores or transfer credit from another university to satisfy the communication intensive requirement.
- Transfer students may be eligible to satisfy the Communication Intensive requirement through courses taken at another institution. To determine if your prior coursework will satisfy the requirement, contact the HASS Associate Dean.
- All courses approved as Communication Intensive include a "writing intensive" component.
Data Intensive (DI) Courses
Starting Fall 2024 catalog undergraduate students are required to complete a minimum of two approved DI courses:
- The DI 1 course is an introductory-level course typically taken with Math/Science Core, HASS Core, or other introductory courses. This requirement may not be met with AP or IB credits. Transfer courses may qualify if the course satisfies RPI’s DI standards. Students must email documentation verifying the course meets these standards to Lee Ligon, School of Science Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at ligonl@rpi.edu.
- The DI 2 course is taken within the student's designated major. Students with more than one major only have to meet the DI 2 requirement in one major.
Professional Development II (PD II) Courses
The School of Engineering now offers students more flexibility in fulfilling the Professional Development Tech Issues & Solutions (PDII) requirement. While the 2-credit Professional Development II course will continue to meet this requirement, students can also choose from a list of approximately 30 alternative 4-credit courses at the 2000 or 4000 level. These alternatives, which were originally designed to provide a broader educational experience, still align with the goals of the PDII requirement. However, students should note that these alternatives must be taken for a letter grade and cannot be transferred from other institutions. Taking one of these 4-credit courses may result in engineering students needing to complete 24 HASS credits instead of the standard 22 required for graduation, a distinction particularly relevant to dual majors. This requirement applies to School of Engineering majors only.
