You may be eligible to apply to Yale College through more than one pathway listed below, but you may not apply to more than one pathway in the same academic year. If you are uncertain which pathway is the best for you, email patricia.wei@yale.edu.
You are eligible to apply to the Eli Whitney Students Program (EWSP) if you will have been out of high school for at least five years by the time you would enroll at Yale and do not have a bachelor’s degree. For admissions eligibility, there is no minimum or maximum number of transferable credits. Most adult students find that the EWSP is the right pathway for them.
You are eligible to apply as a transfer student if you will have completed a minimum of two terms (or three quarters,) of college-level enrollment and have earned at least one term’s worth of transferable postsecondary credit before entering Yale College.
You are eligible to apply as a first-year student if you have attended college for less than one academic year (one semester or two quarters).
All Eli Whitney students enroll in Yale College, the single undergraduate liberal arts college that sits at the heart of Yale University. Yale College enrolls approximately 6,750 undergraduates and is surrounded by Yale’s 14 graduate and professional schools. Eli Whitney students have access to Yale College’s nearly 2,000 undergraduate courses and 80 majors. Nearly 75% of courses enroll fewer than twenty students, and the student-to-faculty ratio is 6:1. Yale students graduate prepared for positions of leadership in every imaginable field.
The Eli Whitney Students Program offers a flexible path to fulfill the standard requirements of a Yale College bachelor’s degree. All students complete 36 course credits; most semester courses at Yale carry one credit. Eli Whitney students may earn these credits through full- or part-time enrollment and may take up to seven years to complete a degree. Eli Whitney students complete the same distributional requirements, as all undergraduates, which include courses in humanities and arts, sciences, social sciences, quantitative reasoning, writing, and foreign language. Courses that fulfill these requirements will amount to about one-third of a student’s undergraduate coursework. Another third of the total coursework – typically between eleven and fourteen courses – will be within a student’s declared major.
Review the Yale College Programs of Study for detailed descriptions of courses, majors, academic regulations, and more details about the Eli Whitney Students Program.
Eli Whitney applicants receive an estimate of their transferable credits at the time of admission, and Yale does not conduct transfer credit reviews before an applicant is admitted. Yale students must complete 36 course credits to receive their bachelor’s degree, and most Yale College semester courses count as 1 course credit. Incoming Eli Whitney students may transfer up to the equivalent of 18 Yale course credits earned at one or more colleges and must complete a minimum of 18 course credits at Yale.
Completed college courses that are similar to those offered at Yale in subjects taught in Yale College are usually transferable. Many courses in English, math (statistics, calculus I and above), psychology, biology, computer science, physics, history, economics, political science, chemistry, non-English languages, and philosophy are usually transferable for Yale course credit. Courses in subjects not offered at Yale—such as communications, criminal justice, business, nursing, and military fields—are not transferable.
Online courses from other institutions may be eligible for Yale credit. Transferable online courses must include regular, synchronous interaction with the instructor, as well as regular feedback. Pending review by the director of the Eli Whitney Students Program, up to two asynchronous online course credits may be approved for credit as part of the transfer process.
Tuition for Eli Whitney students is charged per course credit. Most semester courses are worth one credit. Tuition for the upcoming academic year and the estimated total cost of attendance is listed on the website of the Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid.
Yale offers generous need-based financial aid to eligible EWSP students. As a Yellow Ribbon participant, Yale is especially affordable for U.S. military veterans.
On-campus undergraduate housing is not available to Eli Whitney students, and most choose to rent apartments in New Haven. Incoming Eli Whitney students may apply for a limited number of graduate housing units. The cost of housing and meals is factored into the need-based financial aid awards for Eli Whitney students with demonstrated financial need.
Although Eli Whitney students do not live in the 14 undergraduate residential colleges, each is assigned to a college and receives access to its facilities, resources, and activities.