10 Things to Know About Academics at Holy Cross

If you’re looking for an education that combines academic excellence, critical inquiry and meaningful reflection, then the College of the Holy Cross might just be the perfect fit. From first-year seminars to undergrad research opportunities, here are 10 facts to know about academics on The Hill.

1. Holy Cross offers academic breadth — 40 majors, 29 minors, 6 concentrations and 5 career programs in the arts, humanities, sciences and social sciences. The most popular majors include economics, psychology and political science.
2. Interested in forging your own path? The Center for Interdisciplinary Studies allows you to design your own major or minor outside the current offerings. A few examples: Middle Eastern studies, Catholic studies and architectural studies.
3. During your first year at Holy Cross, you’ll participate in Montserrat, a program that links the classroom, residence hall and co-curricular activities. Through the seminar, a small, yearlong class that explores a specific topic, you will develop key writing, speaking and critical thinking skills. You’ll explore diverse intellectual approaches to big questions and find friends and mentors that will stay with you long after the year is over.
4. Holy Cross has a student-to-faculty ratio of 10:1. What does that mean? You are taught by top faculty members (96 percent of them possess a terminal degree in their field) who invest in your success during your time at Holy Cross and beyond. And with no teaching assistants, you will always be learning from experts.
5. You can dive deep into research in a variety of fields — chemistry to computer science, English to anthropology — as early as sophomore year. And each summer Holy Cross has about 100 students conducting research on campus as part of the Weiss Summer Research Program, a dynamic and diverse scholarly community.
6. Holy Cross academics prepare students for life after graduation. Ninety-seven percent of respondents to a survey of the class of 2018 reported being employed in a job or internship, in graduate school, engaged in service work, or on a fellowship six months after graduation.
7. Opportunities to gain a global view and learn through a different cultural lens are at your fingertips. Holy Cross has exactly 50 study abroad programs in 29 different countries.
8. Academic advising starts before you even step foot on campus. The summer before your first year, you are assigned a faculty advisor and a class dean to help as you plan your curriculum and choose classes.
9. Learning happens in and out of the classroom. You can connect coursework with hands-on experience through opportunities in the J.D. Power Center for Liberal Arts in the World — these include internships, semesters in Washington, D.C. or New York City, or even self-designed projects that allow you to explore your passions.
10. Holy Cross embraces the whole person — intellectual, spiritual and personal. The Jesuit tradition places great emphasis on living in dialogue and solidarity with others. You’ll be asked questions of faith and ethics and will be challenged to expand your conceptions of truth and justice.