Willamette University

Office of the Dean

Quantitative And Analytical Reasoning Requirements

Quantitative reasoning is a versatile and powerful way to understand the world. Graduates of Willamette University should be conversant with mathematics and quantitative reasoning and should learn to apply quantitative reasoning to understand and solve everyday problems. Formal reasoning and the formality of logic are central to decision making in an uncertain world and are essential to a Liberal Arts education.

To satisfy the Quantitative and Analytical Reasoning Requirement students will be required to receive credit for two courses. At least one of these credits must be designated by a star (*). Courses with the star designation are introductory in nature and provide students with the necessary skills to interpret and use mathematics.

The other courses are those in which quantitative reasoning and/or mathematical analysis are at the core of understanding the context of the course. These courses may be disciplinary based applications of quantitative methodology, like physics or computer science; or may be mathematics and statistics courses. Whether applied or theoretical, the key characteristic of these courses is that the concepts in them cannot be grasped without an understanding of quantitative methods.

  • Math 130 - Techniques of Math*
  • Math 139 - Elements of Calculus*
  • Math 141 - Calculus I*
  • Math 142 - Calculus II*
  • CS 231 - Introduction to Programming*
  • ISA 250 - Statistics*
  • Econ 250 - Economic Statistics*
  • Math 249 - Vector Calculus*
  • Phys 215 - Introductory Physics I
  • Phys 236 - Introductory Physics II
  • Math 253 or higher - Mathematics courses
  • Econ 452 - Introduction to Econometrics and Forecasting
  • Erth 333 - Geographic Information Systems
  • Psych 251 - Research Methods and Analysis
  • Chem 116 - Introductory Chemistry II
  • Phil 140 - Symbolic Logic

There is funding available for new course development.