University Policies, Guidelines, and Academic Regulations

The University of Waterloo offers many types of credentials, with a variety of intended audiences. For example:

• Minors are normally open to all undergraduate students.
• Options are normally open to all students registered in a major in the same faculty as the option.
• Specializations are normally open to all students majoring in the affiliated field.

Certain credential combinations are not permitted.

• No student may enrol in or graduate from two credentials with significant overlapping content, including, but not limited to:
  • a minor, option, or diploma/certificate in the same subject as their major (e.g., Honours Anthropology and Anthropology Minor; Honours Software Engineering and Software Engineering Option);
  • a minor and a diploma in the same subject (e.g., Applied Language Studies Minor and Diploma in Applied Language Studies);
  • a certificate and a diploma in the same language (e.g., Certificate in French Language I and Diploma in French Language I);
  • more than one language certificate or diploma in the same language (e.g., Diploma in Japanese Language I and Diploma in Japanese Language II);
  • the same credential that has been renamed (e.g., Communication Studies, formerly Speech Communication).

To facilitate the application to graduate process, students should declare all minors, options, and specializations as early as possible, but no later than the start of their last academic term.

Additional Constraints

Faculty of Arts

• No student may enrol in or graduate from:
  • Two majors from the same group in the following list:
    • Department of Classical Studies: Classical Studies, Classics
    • Department of Economics: Economics, Mathematical Economics
    • Department of English Language and Literature: Creative and Professional Writing; Literature; Literature and Rhetoric; Rhetoric, Media, and Professional Communication
  • Two intensive specializations offered by the same major.
  • Multiple “topic” specializations offered by the same major in the following departments:
    • Economics (maximum of one topic specialization)
    • History (maximum of one topic specialization)
    • Political Science (maximum of one topic specialization)
  • Any two "and Financial Management" bachelor's degrees.
• When pursuing a Bachelor of Arts, students may combine two honours major academic plans only (i.e., not an honours major plan with a general major academic plan).

Faculty of Mathematics

• No student may enrol in or graduate from:
  • A stand-alone Bachelor of Computer Science (BCS) academic plan with any Bachelor of Mathematics (BMath) academic plan (including Joint Honours academic plans).
  • A stand-alone BMath Joint Honours academic plan with any non-Mathematics Joint Honours academic plan.
  • Data Science (BMath or BCS) with any other Faculty of Mathematics Honours or Joint Honours academic plan, except that the BCS (Data Science) can make up the BCS component of the Business Administration and Computer Science double degree program.
  • Two academic plans from the same group in the following list:
    • All academic plans offered in Actuarial Science
    • All academic plans offered in Applied Mathematics
    • All academic plans offered in Combinatorics and Optimization (including all Mathematical Optimization academic plans)
    • All academic plans offered in Computational Mathematics
    • All academic plans offered in Computer Science
    • All academic plans offered in Pure Mathematics
    • All academic plans offered in Statistics
    • All Mathematics/Business academic plans other than Mathematical Economics
    • Exception: Mathematical Finance can be combined with another Actuarial Science and/or Pure Mathematics academic plan.
  • A stand-alone BCS Honours co-operative academic plan or BMath Honours co-operative academic plan with any stand-alone regular Honours academic plan (including Joint Honours academic plans).

Specific Invalid Credential Combinations

The University will amend the list of invalid credential combinations when new academic programs or plans (i.e., majors, minors, options, diplomas, certificates, and specializations) are created. The University has done its best to include all specific invalid credential combinations in the table below; however, students should confirm any plan combination with their academic advisor.

Legend

* Indicates an inactivated academic program or plan. When credentials are inactivated, they will remain in this table for three years; once removed, the combination remains invalid and students should refer to historical versions of the academic calendar.