General Studies - B.A.

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

The General Studies program has been established in recognition of the fact that existing majors may not satisfy the needs of all students desiring a liberal education. General Studies is an interdisciplinary program that allows students to select a core area of concentration and cognate coursework not offered in traditional majors. Students who plan to pursue graduate or professional degree programs or enter certain employment areas that require established curricular backgrounds may find it to their advantage to consider existing majors offered within the college rather than the General Studies option. The standard majors have wider acceptance and more readily identify the nature and quality of an individual’s academic background. Students should not declare this major before they have completed 80 credit hours. Students seeking admission to this program will be interviewed by an advisor in the college Student Services Office and must have sound reasons for their choice. Once accepted into the program, students must have their courses approved by the General Studies advisor for use in the core area of concentration and the cognate requirement.

Under this program, the University General Education and College of Arts and Letters Skills curriculum requirements specified in the Degree Requirements section of this catalog must be fulfilled, and an area of concentration in the natural sciences, social sciences or humanities must be identified for the purpose of determining education requirements. Students must take at least 64 hours of courses at the 2000 level or higher and at least 32 hours of courses at the 3000/4000 level and have earned a minimum of 120 hours to be eligible for graduation. In lieu of a major, students must take at least 15 but not more than 34 hours of course work in a single department to serve as the core area and 16-35 hours of course work to serve as the cognate for a total of 50 hours. Students must meet an minimum GPA average of 2.0 in a GPA calculation of the core area as well as a secondary GPA calculation of the core area and the cognate.

Courses used for the core concentration must be courses that would count in the major in those departments. 

Plan of Study Grid
First Year
First TermHours
AR 1000 First Year Orientation 1
ENGL 1110 College Composition I 3
MATH 1180 Reasoning With Mathematics 3
HIST 1010-1200 Arts/Humanities (History) 3
Elementary Foreign Language I 4
 Hours14
Second Term
ENGL 1130 College Composition II: Academic Disciplines And Discourse 3
Elementary Foreign Language II 4
Natural Sciences Core 3
Social Sciences Core 3
Arts/Humanities Core (Fine Arts) 3
 Hours16
Second Year
First Term
Intermediate Foreign Language I or approved culture course 3
Natural Sciences Core 3
Natural Sciences Core (Lab) 1
Social Sciences Core 3
ENGL 2710-2800 Arts/Humanities (English Lit) 3
Diversity of US 3
 Hours16
Second Term
Intermediate Foreign Language II or approved culture course 3
Non‐US Diversity 3
Social Sciences Core 3
Arts/Humanities Core (Elective Humanities) 3
General Studies Core Area 3
 Hours15
Third Year
First Term
General Studies Core Area 6
Elective - Writing Across Curriculum 3
General Studies Cognate 6
 Hours15
Second Term
General Studies Core Area 6
General Studies Cognate 9
 Hours15
Fourth Year
First Term
General Studies Core Area 3
General Studies Cognate 9
Elective - Writing Across Curriculum 3
 Hours15
Second Term
General Studies Cognate 8
Elective 6
 Hours14
 Total Hours120
  • PLO 1. write clearly and effectively for a variety of audiences and purposes\\n
  • PLO 2. use quantitative reasoning to analyze problems and identify solutions\\n
  • PLO 3. locate, interpret, determine the credibility of, and use information effectively, ethically, and legally\\n
  • PLO 4. analyze and evaluate alternative points of view\\n
  • PLO 5. demonstrate critical thinking skills in the processes they use to identify and solve problems