Due to its small size, its reputation, and its popularity, the Arts and Science Program requires a competitive high-school GPA [3] in addition to a supplementary application.

King, asked Dr. Herb Jenkins, a professor in McMaster's psychology department, to form a council to discuss, and serve as the director of a new baccalaureate program in general studies.

After criticisms were heard at the general faculty meeting on March 27 of that year, the Council revised the outline and presented it to the university Senate in May 1980.

Its curriculum also aims to provide a foundational university-level knowledge base in the natural sciences and the social thought of the Western world.

The program's small size facilitates its strong sense of community and interdisciplinary learning, with students taking a diverse range of courses through their four years.

Many of the students specialize in a field by completing a combined honours in addition to the Arts and Science program requirements (effectively a double major).

Arguments against program expansion included concerns that the sense of tight-knit community would be lost; that larger classes would reduce the quality of education; and that it would place added pressure on professors.

This increase was met with similar resistance, and many students and faculty regarded this as the beginning of the end of the intimate learning environment that had gained the Arts and Science Program its strong reputation.

SASS is responsible for running social and community events, facilitating inter-program communication, and making educational recommendations to the director of the program.

It was updated in January 2020 to replace the defunct prior logo, which had long been suspected of violating the copyright of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Mascot Quatchi.