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Degree Requirements Overview

General Credit, Grade, and Progress Requirements and Restrictions

The College does not award second degrees. Therefore, students who have earned a baccalaureate degree at another institution are not eligible to receive a second degree from the College. All undergraduate students, in order to earn a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BS) degree and graduate, must earn 120 credits of course work in 8 semesters with an average of C or a grade point average of 2.0. Barring unusual circumstances, and a written exception by the Dean's office, students who have completed eight semesters must complete any remaining degree requirements through the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, the Summer Session, or at another accredited institution. Throughout their duration of enrollment in the college, students are expected to make satisfactory academic progress and remain in Good Standing. Failure to do so may result in academic warning and ultimately suspension.

Of the 120 credits, no fewer than 102 credits must be from courses taught inside the College or from certain outside courses considered to be College-equivalent (view list of College-equivalent courses); the remaining 18 credits may be electives taught inside or outside the College (view list of elective outside courses).

A maximum of 60 credits may be earned prior to matriculation to the College by various means, including coursework taken at another institution (transfer credit), advanced placement (AP) exams, international College-level exams, and dual enrollment courses taken while in high school. The University does not award credit or any exemption from requirements based on College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) tests.

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, and third-year transfer students are limited to a maximum of 12. No course taken under the CR/NC option may count toward fulfilling an area, competency, major, or minor requirement (details about these requirements 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:

  • Language House courses; limit of 1 credit per semester and 2 credits total
  • Music Performance; limit of 8 credits total

Competency Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to fulfill Competency Requirements by earning the proper number of credits from courses taken in each of three different academic subject areas. The basic list of subject areas and their related credit requirements is:

Area Requirements

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. The basic list of subject areas and their related credit requirement is as follows:

For a full description of the terms of the area requirements, including the courses that do and do not satisfy them, see the Area Requirements page.

Completion of a Major

Required courses may simultaneously count toward a first major, as well as a second major or a minor.

Courses taken to fulfill the area requirements, with the exception of foreign language courses through the 202 level (232 for French, 206 for Chinese, and 212 for Portuguese), may be counted toward a first or second major or toward a minor.

In addition to completing the above requirements, you must complete a major in one of the College's departments, interdepartmental programs, or in an individually designed Interdisciplinary Major. Information about different majors is available from departments and their Web sites. You normally declare a major in your fourth semester and no later than your fifth semester. You may begin your major in your first year, if a department or interdepartmental program in the College accepts you. You must be enrolled in a major or in an interdisciplinary degree program by your fifth semester or you will not be able to register for classes. Courses taken to fulfill area requirements may be counted toward a first major program or toward a second major or a minor. Foreign language courses numbered 101-202, 232 in French, 206 in Chinese, and 212 in Portuguese may not be applied towards a minor.

Elective Courses from Outside the College

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. Keep in mind that 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.
  • University Seminars (USEM); limit of one per semester
  • Interdisciplinary Study (INST); must be taken on the CR/NC basis; limit of two courses for a total of 3 credits, maximum
  • Liberal Arts Seminars (LASE)
  • Commerce School courses (COMM)
  • Engineering School courses
  • Education School courses, excluding EDHS 341, 344, 350, and 351; limit of 6 credits of EDHS courses
  • Architecture School courses
  • Nursing School courses
  • ROTC courses from the departments of Naval (NASC), Air (AIRS), and Military Science (MISC); limit of 12 credits
  • Service Physical Education courses (PHYE); limit of one course per semester and 2 credits total
  • Personal Skills courses (PLSK); limit of 2 credits

Outside Courses Considered College-equivalent

These courses, though taken outside the College, are considered College equivalent and count toward the 102 College credits needed for graduation.

  • All Computer Science courses (CS) in the School of Engineering and Applied Science
  • All architectural history courses (ARH) in the School of Architecture
  • Architecture (ARCH) 101,102, 232
  • Language House courses will be offered for 1 credit maximum per semester; with a 2-credit maximum limit in the 120-credit total required for graduation.
  • COMM 320
  • EDLF 545, 546, 564
  • EDHS 450
  • ENGR 207
  • LAR 512; 513
  • MSE 201
  • PLAN courses under 500, but only if the minor in planning is completed
  • STS 300, 310
  • Students in the special education part of the B.A.-M.T. Program are permitted to count the following additional six credits of Curry School courses as College-equivalent: EDIS302 (or EDIS 500) and one of EDIS 510, 511, 512, or 515.

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