COVID-19 Updates

Read the Clery COVID-19 Compliance Notification. Continued information on COVID-19, updated June 16.

Campus Reopening Plan

Read the reopening campus communications, updated August 7. Read the Campus Reopening Plan here.

Dismiss Message

Undergraduate

Designed for exploration.

All of Northland’s core courses, whether you specialize or stay general in your first year, help you develop skills and foundational understandings that allow you to pursue diverse fields of study and to solve challenging, complex problems.

It’s why Northland College alumni have gone on to become scientists, business owners, educators, and dedicated professionals in almost every field imaginable. The career-focused curriculum developed by our faculty members provides you with the tools, confidence, and vision to be successful in anything you do.

Only at Northland

Take a look at some of the cool classes you’ll find at Northland.

See Our Majors

* Available only as a minor or special program.

See Our Term Structure

A unique element in Northland’s academic program is the calendar. The fall and winter terms are each four months long and consist of a minimum of 65 class days. The spring term (or May term) is one month long and consists of 20 class days. Full-time students must earn 12 to 17 course credits during each of the fall and winter terms.

Fall and winter terms allow time for maturation of ideas in a program of varied courses. The shorter spring term provides an opportunity for concentration through seminars, field experiences, independent study, and internships. It also provides opportunities for off-campus and study-abroad experiences.

View the Academic Calendar

August 22–23	Residence halls open for new students (per scheduled arrival)
August 24–26	Residence halls open for returning students (per scheduled arrival)
August 28	Last Day of Summer Term 8:00 am–5:00 pm
August 30	Last day to add fall courses online 11:30 pm–11:30 pm
August 31	Fall Full term & Session 1 begins
September 4	Last day to add Session 1 courses with faculty approval 4:00 pm–4:00 pm
September 4	Last day to drop Session 1 courses without record 4:00 pm–4:00 pm
September 7	Labor Day–Classes Held
September 9	Last day to add full-term courses with faculty approval 4:00 pm–4:00 pm
September 9	Last day to drop full-term courses without record 4:00 pm–4:00 pm
September 23	Midterm Session 1 grades due 4:00 pm–4:00 pm
September 30	Last day to withdraw from Session 1 course
October 13	Last day of Session 1 classes
October 14	Fall Break-No Classes
October 14	Midterm full-term courses grades due 4:00 pm–4:00 pm
October 15	Session 2 courses begin
October 19	Due date for prior winter term incomplete grades
October 19	Last day to add Session 2 courses with faculty approval 4:00 pm–4:00 pm
October 19	Last day to drop Session 2 courses without record 4:00 pm–4:00 pm
October 19	Final Session 1 grades due 4:00 pm–4:00 pm
October 28	Last day to withdraw from full-term course
November 9	Registration begins for winter and May terms
November 9	Midterm Session 2 grades due 4:00 pm–4:00 pm
November 13	Last day to withdraw from Session 2 course 4:00 pm–4:00 pm
November 23	Due date for prior May term incomplete grades
November 24	On-campus instruction ends
November 25	Thanksgiving break begins
November 30	Classes resume off campus (online format)
December 2	Last day of full term and Session 2 classes
December 2	Final grades due for full term and Session 2 classes 4:00 pm–4:00 pm
December 2	Residence halls close 7:00 pm–7:00 pm
January 11, 2021	Residence halls open for returning students 8:00 am–8:00 am
January 12, 2021	Last day to add courses online 11:30 pm–11:30 pm
January 13, 2021	Winter semester begins
January 18, 2021	Martin Luther King Jr. Day (no classes)
January 22, 2021	Last day to add courses with faculty approval 4:00 pm–4:00 pm
January 22, 2021	Last day to drop courses without record 4:00 pm–4:00 pm
March 2, 2021	Due date for prior summer term incomplete grades
March 6, 2021	Mid-session break begins
March 12, 2021	Mid-term grades due 4:00 pm–4:00 pm

See all events...

Choose your General Education Path

The most inspiring thing about the education you’ll receive at Northland College, and what makes us different from other schools, is the integration of our environmental mission throughout our fields of study.

Throughout the general education program, will be introduced to a wide-range of disciplines. This is key in learning not what to think, but how to think. This approach teaches us all how to be creative, to think critically, and to develop new ideas.

At Northland, we deliver courses in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities that introduce you to new ideas, to new ways of understanding the world, and we challenge you to make connections—with your interests and passions, with your professors and one another, with the natural world, and with communities.

And YOU get to choose which classes you are most interested in. For students who want to focus on a topic and see how it is approached by different disciplines, we offer two unique, first-year programs that are heavily focused on learning outside of the classroom: Superior Connections and Growing Connections.

Growing Connections

Growing Connections takes a comprehensive look at the history, theories, and practices of sustainable agriculture. You’ll work closely with faculty, mentors, and regional farmers in classrooms, labs, and fields to develop an interdisciplinary understanding of food systems and of the role that agriculture plays in human culture and ecological health.

In order to gain acceptance into Growing Connections, students must have a paid enrollment deposit.

Superior Connections

Superior Connections studies the historic, economic, environmental, and cultural facets of the Lake Superior watershed. The program culminates with a month-long intensive course, circumnavigating the lake by van, canoe, and foot.

Participation is limited to 20; in order to gain acceptance into Superior Connections, students must have a paid enrollment deposit.

May Term Adventures

Pedaling Around Lake Superior for May Term

Northland College student Liz Downey biked 1,287 miles through wind, rain, sleet…

Pedaling Around Lake Superior for May Term
296 miles on the Superior Hiking Trail

Jane Dahlgren had never camped alone when she decided to hike solo…

296 miles on the Superior Hiking Trail
Filmmaking to Impassion, Teach

In her first year at Northland, natural resources student Marissa Olsen enrolled in…

Filmmaking to Impassion, Teach
Read. Write. Paddle.

Pens and Paddles is a unique, experiential English course that combines literary…

Read. Write. Paddle.