In order to earn a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BS) degree and graduate, all University of Virginia College of Arts & Sciences students must earn 120 credits of course work in 8 semesters with an average of C or a grade point average of 2.0.
Note: The College does not award second degrees. Students who have earned a baccalaureate degree at another institution are not eligible to receive a second degree from the College.
At the end of each semester the Association Deans check students' overall records to see if they are in Good Standing and making satisfactory progress toward a degree. Failure to do so may result in Academic Warning and ultimately suspension. See the complete information on Academic Standing
Of the 120 credits, no fewer than 102 credits must be from:
The remaining 18 credits may be College elective courses or elective courses from outside the College.
See the Schedule of Classes in the new SIS for a list of current Arts & Sciences courses.
A maximum of 60 credits may be earned prior to matriculation to the College by various means, including
The University does not award credit or any exemption from requirements based on College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) tests.
Credits earned from these courses, considered to be outside the College, can be applied as electives toward the required total of 120 credits. They cannot, however, be counted among the requisite 102 credits from courses taught inside the college or courses taught outside the college considered to be College-equivalent.
Students considering admission to, and especially those accepted into, the BA/MT program should select their non-College electives very carefully. You must take no fewer than 102 College or College-equivalent hours (from among the requisite 120) in order to qualify for the B.A. |
These courses, though taken outside the College, are considered College equivalent (cross-listed) and count toward the 102 College credits needed for graduation.
Non-transfer students are limited to earning a maximum of 24 credits using the Credit/No Credit (CR/NC) grading option (learn more about the CR/NC grading option.)
Second-year transfer students are limited to a maximum of 18 CR/NC credits.
Third-year transfer students are limited to a maximum of 12 CR/NC credits.
No course taken under the CR/NC option may count toward fulfilling an area, competency, major, or minor requirement (details about these requirements are below).
Courses taken under the Audit (AU) option do not carry any credit or count at all toward the 120 credit total.
The following College courses have maximum credit limits imposed:
It is recommended that students complete competency and area requirements by the end of the second year. To help students keep track of their earned core requirements, the College offers a College Area Requirements Checklist.
Required courses may simultaneously count toward a first major, as well as a second major or a minor.
All undergraduate College students (except Echols Scholars) are required to fulfill Competency Requirements by earning the proper number of credits from courses taken in each of three different academic subject areas:
All undergraduate students except Echols Scholars are required to fulfill Area Requirements by earning the proper number of credits from courses taken in each of five different academic subject areas:
See the Area Requirements page for a full description of the terms, including the courses that do and do not satisfy them.
Courses taken to fulfill the area requirements may be counted toward a first or second major or toward a minor, with the exception of foreign language courses through the 2020 level (2320 for French, 2060 for Chinese, and 2120 for Portuguese).
You must complete a major in one of the College's academic departments, interdepartmental programs or in an individually designed Interdisciplinary Major
During your 7th semester you must complete your degree audit and file for graduation.