Bachelor of Arts, Plan I

The requirements for the Bachelor of Arts under Plan I are designed to give each student flexibility in the selection of courses to meet individual needs.

A total of 120 semester hours is required. Thirty-six hours must be in upper-division courses. At least sixty hours, including twenty-one hours of upper-division coursework, must be completed in residence at the University; at least twenty-four of the last thirty hours must be completed in residence at the University. Provided residence rules are met, credit may be earned by examination, by extension, by correspondence (up to 30 percent of the hours required for the degree), or, with the approval of the dean, by work transferred from another institution. Up to sixteen semester hours of classroom and/or correspondence coursework may be taken on the pass/fail basis; this coursework may be counted only as electives.

All students must complete the University’s Core Curriculum . In the process of fulfilling the core curriculum and other degree requirements, all students are expected to complete courses with content in the following four areas:

1. Writing: two flagged courses beyond Rhetoric and Writing 306 or its equivalent
2. Quantitative reasoning: one flagged course
3. Global cultures: one flagged course
4. Cultural diversity in the United States: one flagged course

Courses with sufficient content in these areas will be identified in the Course Schedule   by the appropriate flags. A course may carry more than one flag. The School of Undergraduate Studies monitors flagged courses to ensure that they meet the guidelines set by the General Faculty.

The specific requirements for the Bachelor of Arts, Plan I, consist of prescribed work, major and minor requirements, and electives. In some cases, a course that fulfills one of these requirements may also be counted toward the core curriculum; these courses are identified below.

Courses in the major and minor may also be used to fulfill prescribed work requirements unless expressly prohibited. A course in one prescribed work area may not also be used to fulfill the requirements of another prescribed work area; the only exception to this rule is that a course that fulfills one requirement may also be used to fulfill a flag requirement.

The student must fulfill the University's General Requirements  for graduation and the requirements of the College of Liberal Arts. University graduation requirements include a grade point average of at least 2.00 in all courses taken at the University (including credit by examination, correspondence, and extension) for which a grade or symbol other than Q, W, X, or CR is recorded; for the BA, Plan I, the student must also earn a grade point average of at least 2.00 in courses taken at the University and counted toward the major requirements. The student should also refer to the description of his or her major in the section Majors and Minors below, since some majors include higher minimum scholastic requirements.

More information about grades and the grade point average is given in the General Information Catalog .

Prescribed Work

1. Writing and Literature: English 316L, 316M, or 316N and two courses beyond Rhetoric and Writing 306 or the equivalent that carry a writing flag. One of these courses must be upper-division. Courses that carry a writing flag are identified in the Course Schedule . They may be used simultaneously to fulfill other requirements, unless otherwise specified.
     
2. Foreign language: Proficiency in a language other than English is required.  

   The study of a second language contributes in an important way to a broad education for today's students, who live in a world where the overwhelming majority of people do not speak or read English and where much of the knowledge that is disseminated may never appear in English. Knowledge of a second language is important for an appreciation of the culture of the people using that language, and it also helps students to understand the structure and complexities of their own native language. Students with sufficient preparation may be able to use the second language for study in their chosen discipline. An intermediate level of competency as determined by the completion of any one of the following options: 

   a. Certified proficiency on a placement or credit-by-exam test. 

   b. Students with previous experience in the language they plan to use to meet the language requirement must take a language placement test. A student may not select for credit a language course below this placement level without departmental permission. 

   c. A passing grade in a language course listed below: 

   Requirements		Hours
   ASL 611C	Accelerated Second-Year American Sign Language	6
   ASL 311D	American Sign Language III: Intermediate	3
   ASL 312L	Second-Year American Sign Language II	3
   ARA 611C	Intensive Arabic II	6
   BEN 312L	Second-Year Bengali II	3
   CHI 612	Accelerated Second-Year Chinese	6
   CHI 412L	Second-Year Chinese II	4
   CZ 611C	Intensive Czech II	6
   CZ 412L	Second-Year Czech II	4
   DAN 612	Accelerated Second-Year Danish	6
   DCH 612	Accelerated Second-Year Dutch	6
   FR 611C	Intermediate French	6
   GER 612	Accelerated Second-Year German: Readings in Modern German	6
   GK 312K	Intermediate Greek II	3
   GK 312L	Intermediate Greek II: Biblical Greek	3
   GK 610C	Intermediate Modern Greek	6
   GK 310K	Second-Year Modern Greek II	3
   HEB 612C	Intensive Biblical Hebrew II	6
   HEB 611C	Intensive Hebrew II	6
   HIN 312L	Second-Year Hindi II	3
   ITL 611C	Intermediate Italian	6
   JPN 611D	Intermediate Japanese	6
   KOR 412L	Second-Year Korean II	4
   LAT 311	Intermediate Latin I	3
   MAL 312L	Second-Year Malayalam II	3
   NOR 612	Accelerated Second-Year Norwegian	6
   PSH 312L	Second-Year Pashto II	3
   PRS 611C	Intensive Persian II	6
   PRS 612C	Intensive Persian for Heritage Speakers	6
   POL 611C	Intensive Polish II	6
   POL 312L	Second-Year Polish II	3
   POR 611D	Intermediate Portuguese II	6
   RUS 611C	Intensive Russian II	6
   RUS 412L	Second-Year Russian II	4
   SAN 312L	Second-Year Sanskrit II	3
   S C 312L	Second-Year Serbian/Croatian II	3
   SEL 611C	Intensive Slavic and Eurasian Languages II	6
   SEL 312L	Second-Year Slavic and Eurasian Languages II	3
   SPN 611D	Intermediate Spanish II	6
   SPN 612	Accelerated Intermediate Spanish for Heritage Learners	6
   SWA 611C	Intensive Swahili II	6
   SWE 612	Accelerated Second-Year Swedish	6
   TAM 312L	Second-Year Tamil II	3
   TEL 312L	Second-Year Telugu II	3
   TUR 611C	Intensive Turkish II	6
   URD 312L	Second-Year Urdu II	3
   YID 612	Accelerated Second-Year Yiddish	6
   YOR 312L	Second-Year Yoruba II	3
   YOR 611C	Intermediate Yoruba	6

   d. Students who wish to meet the requirement with proficiency in a language not listed in the table above should contact the Texas Language Center . 

3. Social science: Three semester hours chosen from a list of approved courses, in addition to the course used to fulfill the social and behavioral sciences requirement of the core curriculum. Courses on the approved list are primarily in anthropology, economics, geography, linguistics, psychology, and sociology, but not every course in these fields is approved. Courses that are approved to count toward any core curriculum area other than social and behavioral sciences may not be counted toward this requirement.
    

   The list is available each semester in the Student Division on the College of Liberal Arts Web site .

4. Mathematics: Three semester hours in mathematics, excluding Mathematics 301, 316K, and 316L. Some courses that fulfill this requirement may also be counted toward the mathematics requirement of the core curriculum.
    
5. Natural science: Six semester hours in natural sciences, in addition to the courses counted toward the science and technology requirements of the core curriculum. Courses used to fulfill this requirement must be chosen from the fields of study listed below; no more than three hours may be in either the history of science or the philosophy of science.
    

   To satisfy the mathematics and science and technology requirements of the core curriculum and the mathematics and natural science requirements of the BA, Plan I, a student may count (1) no more than twelve hours in mathematics, computer science, and statistics and scientific computation combined; and (2) no more than nine hours in any single field of study.

   1. Astronomy
   2. Biology
   3. Chemistry
   4. Geological sciences
   5. Marine science
   6. Nutrition
   7. Physical science
   8. Physics
   9. Mathematics (excluding Mathematics 301), computer science, statistics and data sciences
   10. Other alternative science courses approved by the dean
   11. Approved alternative courses in history of science and philosophy of science

   Lists of approved courses in science and the history and philosophy of science are available each semester in the Student Division and on the College of Liberal Arts Web site .

6. Cultural expression, human experience, and thought: Three semester hours chosen from a list of approved courses. The course(s) must be in a field of study taught in the College of Liberal Arts. A course counted toward any requirement of the core curriculum may not also be counted toward this requirement.
    

   A list of approved courses is available each semester in the Student Division and on the College of Liberal Arts Web site .

Electives

In addition to the core curriculum, prescribed work, and major and minor, the student must complete enough elective coursework to provide the 120 semester hours required for the degree. These 120 hours may include no more than twelve hours of conference courses and internship courses combined as described in Conference Courses and Internship Courses ; twelve hours of Bible courses; nine hours of designated coursework in air force science, military science, or naval science; sixteen hours completed on the pass/fail basis; thirty-nine hours in any one field of study in the College of Liberal Arts or the College of Natural Sciences, unless major requirements state otherwise; and thirty-nine hours in any other single college or school of the University. Mathematics courses at the level of college algebra may not count toward elective hours.

Majors and Minors

Major Requirements

The Bachelor of Arts, Plan I, requires the completion of all requirements for one major.  The number of semester hours required in the major varies with the field selected. Unless the requirements of the major state otherwise, a major consists of at least twenty-four but no more than forty-two semester hours, with at least fifteen hours in upper-division courses. Of these fifteen hours, six must be taken in residence. At least eighteen hours of coursework in the major, including six hours of upper-division coursework, must be completed in residence at the University.