Part of the Harvard College Curriculum, the Quantitative Reasoning with Data (QRD) requirement introduces students to mathematical, statistical, and computational methods that will enable students to think critically about data as it is employed in fields of inquiry across the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. In QRD courses students apply these methods to real data to draw inferences and make predictions. QRD courses also teach students to assess uncertainty and to think about the limitations of the methods that they learn. The QRD requirement prepares students for life after Harvard by providing an understanding of how data are used in the professions they will enter and in the civic debates they will join.
Students who matriculated prior to Fall 2019 have some additional flexibility in completing the QRD requirement. Please contact qrd@fas.harvard.edu for further information.
Courses used to fulfill the Quantitative Reasoning with Data requirement may be taken Pass/Fail, with the permission of the instructor. However, when the same courses are being used to fulfill a concentration or secondary field requirement, there may be limitations on Pass/Fail options. Students should check with their advisers.
A course taken to fulfill the QRD requirement cannot be counted towards the College's Divisional Distribution requirement. Students can choose whether to use a QRD course for the QRD requirement or a distribution requirement.
