Academic Credit

Definition of Mills Semester Course Credit
A typical academic course at Mills is offered for 1 semester course credit. These courses usually meet for 150 minutes per week for 14 weeks, and require a minimum of 9 hours of outside work per week. A Mills semester course credit is equivalent to 3.5 semester units, or 5 quarter units.

Advanced Academic Standing on Entrance

Advanced Placement (AP)
The College participates in the Advanced Placement Program of the College Entrance Examination Board. Any student who has taken college-level work at her official secondary school may take AP examinations and submit her test results for consideration to the dean of undergraduate admission. A maximum of 8 AP credits will be accepted toward the Mills bachelor’s degree. Advanced Placement courses do not usually count toward major course requirements but a student may be exempt from certain lower division requirements upon the approval of the academic department involved.

Students who need to request AP scores should contact the College Board or visit http://www.collegeboard.com.

Advanced Placement credit is awarded as follows:

International Baccalaureate (IB)
Mills College awards credit for the higher level of the IB. Up to 1 course credit is granted for a score of 5 and 2 course credits for scores of 6 and 7. The student must have taken the examination and must submit official documentation to qualify for credit.

College-Level Examination Program (CLEP)
The College-Level Examination Program is administered by the College Board. It was designed to test the knowledge of resuming or reentry students to award credit for “life learning.” Thus, Mills accepts CLEP credit only for resuming students.

Mills does not award credit for the general examinations, but only for the subject examinations with departmental approval, and uses the American Council on Education (ACE) guidelines for awarding credit. A maximum of 4 credits through CLEP examinations will be applied toward the Mills bachelor’s degree. CLEP examinations taken while a student is at Mills will not be accepted for college credit.

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Placement Tests

Placement tests are used to help the student and advisor determine appropriate course selection. Placement tests may be accessed through myMILLS via the Mills Resource Portal.

Biology
All students enrolling in biology are required to take the web-based biology placement test. Students should contact the Biology Department for additional information.

Chemistry
All students enrolling in chemistry are required to take the web-based chemistry placement test. Students should contact the Chemistry Department for additional information.

English
All entering students who have not completed an acceptable college-level English composition course or have not scored a 4 or 5 on the AP examination in either Language and Composition or Literature and Composition are required to take the web-based English placement test. ENG 001 must be completed by the end of the first year at Mills. Students may be required to enroll in Writing Skills Workshop (ENG 005) in addition to ENG 001 as determined by the English Department. Students for whom English is a second language may be required to enroll in Introduction to Prose Composition for ELL Students (ENG 01YA) prior to ENG 001.

Foreign Language
All entering students who have had some preparation in French or Spanish, and who plan to continue studying in the language, or who plan to study abroad in a foreign language, are required to take a placement test. Students should contact the specific language department for additional information.

Math Assessment
All entering first-year students and transfers must take the web-based Math Assessment Test offered during fall and spring Orientation. This test will help academic advisors suggest appropriate courses to fulfill the General Education Program's quantitative skills requirement.  

Credit by Examination
A regularly enrolled Mills student who has prepared herself, subsequent to graduation from high school, in the subject matter of a semester or year course listed in this catalog may petition the Academic Standing Committee (ASC) to take a special examination covering that material without having attended the Mills course. Certain restrictions apply to courses for which students can attain credit by examination.

Courses for which credit by examination is NOT permitted include:

• any course that the student has previously audited;
• courses for which AP credit has been granted;
• courses from which the student is exempted on the basis of a placement examination;
• courses that can be repeated for credit; and 
• laboratory, fieldwork, or skills courses (e.g., workshops, foreign language, and creative writing) in which participation and skill improvement are primary objectives, as opposed to the acquisition of a specified and measurable body of knowledge.

In addition, petitions for credit by examination must have the approval of the academic advisor, the instructor who regularly teaches the course and who will administer the examination, the department concerned, and the ASC. The examination fee is $200 for each semester course credit for all students. The total number of semester course credits earned in any semester, either in class or by examination, may not exceed 5 without the approval of the ASC. A maximum of 3 credits earned by examination may be included among the courses required for the degree.

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Declaring a Major

All students are required to formally declare a major whether or not they specified a major on the admissions application. The Declaration of Major form must be submitted by the end of a student’s sophomore year or, if the student entered as a junior, by the end of the student’s first semester of enrollment. A declaration or change of major after the beginning of the junior year may require some work beyond four years to complete the bachelor’s degree. Changes in anticipated degree date do not automatically extend a student's financial aid eligibility.

A student may choose to major in a maximum of two fields provided she fulfills the major requirements in both areas. Students must take at least 10 unduplicated courses in each field. Only students with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 may declare a second major.

Declaration of Major forms are available online and in the M Center. Each student and her proposed advisor must complete the form and return it to the M Center. Many majors have more than one possible concentration; students must declare their intended concentration on the form. Students who plan to pursue a double major may declare both majors and both advisors on the same form. Any transfer credit to be placed in the major must be included on the Declaration of Major form and approved by the major advisor. The major advisor must be from the major department.

Students who wish to change their major may do so by completing another Declaration of Major form. Students who are changing the concentration of their major must follow the same procedure. Students who are changing their major or their major concentration may find that they need additional time beyond the four years to complete all of their major requirements. Changes in anticipated degree date do not automatically extend a student's financial aid eligibility. Students have until the graduation application deadline of the year in which they graduate to change their major.

Students may view information regarding their major in myMILLS via the Mills Resource Portal.

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Declaring a Minor

Students have the option of declaring a minor. Minors are listed on a student’s transcript but do not appear on the diploma. A student may choose to minor in a maximum of two fields provided she fulfills the minor requirements in both areas. All minor requirements must be unduplicated either between the minors or between the major(s) and the minor(s).

To declare a minor, students must complete and submit a Declaration of Minor form, available online and in the M Center, no later than November 1 of their senior year. Minor requirements are listed under the appropriate department. The minor advisor must be from the minor department.

Students may view information regarding their minor in myMILLS via the Mills Resource Portal.

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