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Updates in Academics
Support for Speeches

Support for writing and giving speeches is now provided through the Center for Writing & Learning in Howarth Hall. 

New Core Now Active

Our incoming first-year students are using our newly updated core curriculum. Returning students should talk with their advisor about the possibility and ramifications of switching to the new core for their graduation requirements.

Read more about New Core Now Active

Puget Sound’s rigorous, flexible education is rooted in the tradition of the liberal arts—offering you the freedom to explore your passions. Our interdisciplinary and experiential approach prepares students to be engaged citizens, problem solvers, creators, and entrepreneurs.

Students in classroom

Puget Sound offers more than 50 traditional and interdisciplinary courses of study in the arts, natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

Professor in classroom

Puget Sound offers graduate programs in education, counseling, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and public health.

WHY DOES A LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION MATTER?

Puget Sound’s focus on liberal arts education means we put students first. Our students benefit from small class sizes designed to foster deeper discussion and experiential learning opportunities such as research projects and study abroad programs, connecting classroom knowledge to real-world practice across disciplines. A Puget Sound education grounds you in a broad understanding of the arts, sciences, and humanities and challenges you to use critical thinking, academic and experiential learning, and a wide array of intellectual skills to address the challenges of an increasingly complex world.

Over the course of your four years at Puget Sound, you will work with your faculty advisor to:

  • Dive deep into a major in one (or more) of 50+ areas of study, guided by expert scholars and award-winning researchers
  • Complete a flexible and rigorous core curriculum that provides deep and broad learning in a variety of disciplines, sparking unexpected connections and discovering new passions along the way
  • Take courses on topics as wide-ranging as the anthropology of food, artificial intelligence, global bioethics, fake news and conspiracy theories, rock music after the Beatles, and more
  • Gain experience through an internship, study abroad or study away program, independent research, or community-based learning opportunity
  • Learn about issues of power, disparity, and diversity of experiences and identities
  • Live, work and learn together on a beautiful, historic campus in a vibrant city in the Pacific Northwest―a region driven by technology, global trade, creative energy, and a love of the outdoors
THE EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING COMMITMENT
All Puget Sound students participate in at least one experiential learning opportunity during their undergraduate or graduate education. So, whether you’re interning at a start-up, participating in a study abroad program on the other side of the world, spending a summer pursuing an independent research project, or gaining experience through community-based learning with a local nonprofit, your education goes way beyond the classroom.

ACADEMIC HONORS

All Puget Sound students have their strengths, victories, and high points along the way. Here are a few of the ways in which some of our undergraduate students earn honors and accolades through their academic journey.

Puget Sound provides many opportunities to recognize student achievement through membership in academic honor societies, including Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s most prestigious honor society, Mortar Board, which recognizes college seniors for exemplary scholarship, leadership, and service, and Alpha Alpha Alpha, a national honor society for first-generation college students.

See all Academic Honor Societies

The Dean’s List honors students with grade a point average of 3.70 or higher each semester. To qualify, a student must have three or more graded units, no incomplete grades for the semester, and no withdrawal from an academic course.

Learn about the Dean's List

Academic Convocation is an annual event to honor students’ exceptional academic achievements. The ceremony takes place during Commencement weekend, but includes honors awarded to students in all class years.

See Past Convocations