students a more well-rounded education in a diversity of fields and therefore present them with more career possibilities. The requirements of at least two courses in each of the categories of Natural Sciences/mathematics, social and behavioral sciences, humanities/Fine Arts, and foreign studies (including languages) took effect for the class of 1987 and have been gradually amended since then. Current requirements require one course each in natural sciences, quantitative reasoning, visual and performing arts, international perspectives, and difference, power, and inequity. A small writing-intensive course, called a first-year seminar, is also required. The most popular majors, by 2021 graduates, were:
Political Science and Government (82)
Econometrics and Quantitative Economics (61)
Biology/Biological Sciences (30)
Biochemistry (28)
Neuroscience (25)
English Language and Literature (25)
Mathematics (25)
In 1990, the Bowdoin faculty voted to change the four-level grading system to the traditional A, B, C, D, …
