This is an archived copy of the 2016-2018 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.utexas.edu/.

Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies

To be awarded the degree of Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies, the candidate must complete 120 semester hours of coursework and fulfill the University's General Requirements for graduation and the Core Curriculum  requirements, the college graduation requirements given in Special Requirements of the College , and the requirements given in Special Requirements of the Major, Prescribed Work, and Major Requirements below.

Core Curriculum

All students must complete the University’s Core Curriculum , as well as the requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies listed below under Prescribed Work. In some cases, a course required for the BSCommStds may also be counted toward the core curriculum; these courses are identified below.

Prescribed Work

  1. Three semester hours in English or rhetoric and writing in addition to the courses required by the core curriculum.
  2. Three courses with a writing flag; one course with a quantitative reasoning flag; one course with a global cultures flag; one course with a cultural diversity in the United States flag; one course with an ethics and leadership flag; and one course with an independent inquiry flag. The same course cannot be used to satisfy the global cultures and cultural diversity flags even if the course carries both flags. Courses that fulfill flag requirements are identified in the Course Schedule . They may also be used to fulfill other degree requirements.
  3. Three semester hours of coursework in the Moody College of Communication dealing with the study of communication issues concerning at least one minority or nondominant group within the United States. Courses that fulfill this requirement may also be used to fulfill other degree requirements. A partial list of these communication and culture courses is given in the Communication and Culture Requirement  section under the Moody College of Communication's Degrees and Programs section; a complete list is available in the college’s Student Advising Office before registration for each semester and summer session. The courses are also identified in the Course Schedule .
  4. Students must demonstrate intermediate proficiency in a single foreign language. Courses taken to meet this requirement may not be taken on the pass/fail basis. Credit may be earned by examination for any part of a foreign language sequence. An extensive foreign language testing program is available at the University. Students with knowledge of a language are encouraged to take appropriate tests both to earn as much credit as possible and to be placed at the proper level for further study. Students should consult with an academic adviser for information on testing.
  5. At least 36 semester hours of upper-division coursework.
  6. No more than 12 semester hours of transfer credit in communication sciences and disorders may be counted toward the degree.
  7. Enough additional coursework to make a total of 120 semester hours. No more than 36 semester hours in one field of study may be counted toward the degree.

Special Requirements of the Major 

Students may take no more than nine hours of communication studies coursework, including transfer work, before they have declared a major in communication studies. Exceptions may be made for students who have officially declared a communication studies minor with their colleges, and for communication studies courses taken during a summer session. Students minoring in communication studies may take only the number of hours required for the minor.

To enroll in upper-division communication studies courses, a student must have a University grade point average of at least 2.25 and a grade point average in courses in the Moody College of Communication of at least 2.00. Students who do not fulfill this requirement will be dropped from upper-division communication studies courses, normally before the twelfth class day. This requirement is waived for the transfer student during the first semester of coursework, while he or she is establishing a University grade point average.

In addition, a student with a major in communication studies must have a grade of at least C in each course taken in the Moody College of Communication that is counted toward the degree; if the course is offered on the pass/fail basis only, the student must have the symbol CR.

A student majoring in communication studies may not register for more than nine semester hours of communication studies in one semester or summer session.

Major Requirements

  1. At least 30 but no more than 36 semester hours of communication studies. At least 15 hours must be in upper-division coursework. Each student must complete one of the following tracks:
    1. Corporate Communications
      1. ​Communication Studies 306M, 313M, and 332K.
      2. Six semester hours chosen from the following courses: Communication Studies 310K, 316L, 320, 335, 336D, 337, 338, 339L, 341, 346, 350M, 353S, 370K, and 372T.
      3. Fifteen additional semester hours of communication studies.
    2. Human Relations
      1. Communication Studies 306M and 332K.
      2. Nine semester hours chosen from the following courses: Communication Studies 314L, 315M, 330, 334K, 344K, 354, 355K, 357, 358, 370K, and 371K.
      3. Fifteen additional semester hours of communication studies.
    3. Political Communication
      1. Communication Studies 306M, 317C, and 332K.
      2. Nine semester hours chosen from the following courses: Communication Studies 320, 331K, 332, 333, 340K, 342C, 342K, 345, and 370K.
      3. Twelve additional semester hours of communication studies.
  2. At least six semester hours of coursework must be taken in the College of Communication but outside communication studies. 
  3. No Moody College of Communication course to be counted toward the degree may be taken on the pass/fail basis, unless the course is offered only on that basis.

Order and Choice of Work

First Year

  1. The student must take three courses from the following group each semester:
    1. Rhetoric and Writing 306.
    2. Courses to be counted toward the American history, American and Texas government, social and behavioral sciences, mathematics, and science and technology requirements of the core curriculum.
    3. Courses in a foreign language.
    4. Courses that meet flag requirements.
  2. Enough additional coursework to raise the student’s course load to 15 or 16 hours each semester. Courses should be chosen with the guidance of a college adviser.

First-year students may not take two beginning foreign language courses in the same semester. First-year students may not take more than eight semester hours in one department.

Second Year

  1. The student must take three courses from the following group each semester; four are recommended:
    1. English 316L, 316M, 316N, or 316P, and any three-semester-hour course in English or rhetoric and writing.
    2. Courses to be counted toward the American history, American and Texas government, social and behavioral sciences, mathematics, and science and technology requirements of the core curriculum.
    3. Courses in the foreign language, unless the language requirement has been fulfilled.
    4. Courses that meet flag requirements.
  2. Lower-division communication studies courses recommended by the student’s adviser.
  3. Enough additional coursework, if needed, to raise the student’s course load to 15 or 16 hours each semester.

Third and Fourth Years

  1. Any remaining courses in the core curriculum and the prescribed work.
  2. The remaining courses listed as major requirements. Students should note that some upper-division courses have a series of prerequisite courses that takes up to three semesters to complete.
  3. Enough additional coursework to raise the student’s course load to 15 or 16 hours each semester.