Bachelor of Arts, Plan II
The Plan II Honors Program is designed to provide a broad, liberal, and challenging education for a limited number of students whose high school class standing and admission test scores indicate strong academic potential and motivation. The enrollment in Plan II is limited; admission to the program is separate from and in addition to admission to the University. Application materials and information about deadlines are available online at https://admissions.utexas.edu/apply.
The Plan II Honors Program is not available to transfer applicants. Disappointed transfer applicants interested in the liberal arts are encouraged to seek departmental honors tracks in the College of Liberal Arts. More information about departmental honors programs is available in the Academic Policies and Procedures section.
The Plan II Honors Program includes the basic coursework required of Plan I students, but much of this work is done in small sections that are restricted to Plan II students and taught by professors selected for their excellent teaching records. Additional required courses explore the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences and provide considerable opportunity for individual research, writing, and speaking. The remainder of the student’s program is made up of approved electives.
The academic programs of most Plan II students include 36 semester hours or more of elective coursework. The student may use electives to pursue a second major in the College of Liberal Arts or the College of Natural Sciences. Dual degree programs are available in conjunction with most other undergraduate colleges.
Qualified students who are accepted into both the Plan II Honors Program and the Cockrell School of Engineering may pursue a curriculum leading to both the Bachelor of Arts, Plan II, and a bachelor’s degree in engineering. Students interested in this dual degree program must apply both to Plan II and to the Cockrell School. Further information is available from the director of Plan II and from the Office of Student Affairs in the Cockrell School.
Qualified students who are accepted into both the Plan II Honors Program and the McCombs School of Business may pursue a curriculum leading to both the Bachelor of Arts, Plan II, and the Bachelor of Business Administration. Students interested in this dual degree program must apply both to Plan II and to the McCombs School of Business. Further information is available from the director of Plan II and from the McCombs School.
A dual degree program is also available that leads to the degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Plan II, and Bachelor of Architecture. Students must apply both to Plan II and to the School of Architecture. Additional information is available from the director of Plan II and from the School of Architecture.
In addition to the following requirements, the student must fulfill the University's General Requirements and the requirements of the College of Liberal Arts given in Special Requirements of the College.
Special Requirements
Students who fail to maintain a University grade point average of at least 3.0 will be considered for academic dismissal from Plan II. All students whose grade point average falls below 3.0 but not below 2.50 will be put on academic review. Students whose grade point average falls below 2.50 at any point after their first semester in Plan II will be dismissed from the program. In addition, any student who fails to earn a final grade of at least a C- in any of the following required courses will be dismissed from the program: English 303C, 303D, Philosophy 610QA/610QB, Social Science 302C, 302D, 302E, 302F, Tutorial Course 302, 303C, 303D, 358, 359T, 660HA/660HB. Students may only register for Tutorial Course 660H or 359T if their University grade point average is 3.0 or higher. Lastly, students who are not enrolled at The University of Texas at Austin for four consecutive long semesters and therefore fail to make satisfactory progress toward the degree will be automatically dismissed from the Plan II Honors Program. All of these stipulations may be appealed and exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis by the director of Plan II in consultation with the associate director, assistant director, and academic advisors. A student who is academically dismissed from the Plan II program is eligible to continue to enroll in the College of Liberal Arts in another academic program if the student fulfills the academic requirements for the Bachelor of Arts, Plan I, and the scholastic standards for continuance in the University given in the General Information Catalog. Students in scholastic difficulty should discuss their problems with a Plan II academic advisor and the director.
Choice of Work
A degree program must include at least 120 semester hours, including at least 36 hours of upper-division coursework. Without special permission from the director and the dean, no more than 39 hours in one field of study in the College of Liberal Arts or the College of Natural Sciences and no more than 36 hours in courses offered in any other college or school may be counted toward the degree.
Plan II students may use credit by examination to fulfill certain program requirements. More information on testing policies and credit by examination is available from a Plan II academic advisor.
Tutorial Course 302 and two semesters of Tutorial Course 358 are required. Tutorial Course 660H is required of students seeking special honors in Plan II, students pursuing the Plan II degree alone, and students writing creative theses. In exceptional situations, students completing dual degree programs may be approved by the Plan II associate director to enroll in Tutorial Course 359T, Essay Course, in lieu of Tutorial Course 660H. Other requirements for the Bachelor of Arts, Plan II, are outlined below. All courses offered in the Plan II Honors Program are subject to approval by the Plan II Faculty Advisory Committee; in some areas the committee will prescribe certain courses for all students in the program. Current information on these matters is available in the Plan II office.
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 the Skills and Experience flags:
- Writing: three flagged courses beyond Rhetoric and Writing 306 or its equivalent
- Quantitative Reasoning: one flagged course
- Global Cultures: one flagged course
- Cultural Diversity in the United States: one flagged course
- Ethics: one flagged course
- Independent Inquiry: one flagged course
Courses that may be used to fulfill core curriculum and flag requirements are identified in the Course Schedule. They may be used simultaneously to fulfill other requirements, unless otherwise specified. Please note, students may not earn the cultural diversity and global cultures flags from the same course. Students are encouraged to discuss options with a departmental academic advisor.
The following are the specific requirements of the Plan II program. In some cases, a course that is required for the BA, Plan II, may also be counted toward the core curriculum; these courses are identified below.
- English 303C and 303D, or Tutorial Course 303C and 303D. Each set of courses also meet the English composition and humanities requirements of the core curriculum.
- 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.
- 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 American Sign Language ASL 311D American Sign Language III: Intermediate 3 Arabic ARA 611C Intensive Arabic II 6 Bengali BEN 312L Second-Year Bengali II 3 Chinese CHI 612 Accelerated Second-Year Chinese 3-6 or CHI 312L Second-Year Chinese II Czech CZ 611C Intensive Czech II 4-6 or CZ 412L Second-Year Czech II Danish DAN 612 Accelerated Second-Year Danish 6 Dutch DCH 612 Accelerated Second-Year Dutch 6 French FR 611C Intermediate French 4-6 or FR 412K Intermediate French I German GER 612 Accelerated Second-Year German: Readings in Modern German 6 Greek GK 312K Intermediate Greek II 3 GK 312L Intermediate Greek II: Biblical Greek 3 GK 610C Intermediate Modern Greek 3-6 or GK 310K Second-Year Modern Greek II Hebrew HEB 612C Intensive Biblical Hebrew II 6 HEB 611C Intensive Hebrew II 6 Hindi HIN 312L Second-Year Hindi II 3-6 or HIN 612 Accelerated Second-Year Hindi Italian ITL 611C Intermediate Italian 6 Japanese JPN 611D Intermediate Japanese 6 Korean KOR 312L Second-Year Korean II 3 Indigenous Languages of Latin America LAL 611C Intensive Indigenous Language of Latin America II 6 Latin LAT 511K Accelerated Intermediate Latin 5 Malayalam MAL 312L Second-Year Malayalam II 3 Norwegian NOR 612 Accelerated Second-Year Norwegian 6 Persian PRS 611C Intensive Persian II 6 or PRS 612C Intensive Persian for Heritage Speakers Polish POL 312L Second-Year Polish II 3 POL 611C Intensive Polish II 6 Portuguese POR 611D Second-Year Portuguese 6 Russian RUS 611C Intensive Russian II 6 RUS 412K Second-Year Russian I 4 Sanskrit SAN 312L Second-Year Sanskrit II 3 Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian S C 312L Second-Year Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian II 3 Slavic & Eurasian Languages SEL 611C Intensive Slavic and Eurasian Languages II 3-6 or SEL 312L Second-Year Slavic and Eurasian Languages II South Asian Languages SAL 312L Second-Year South Asian Languages II 3 Spanish SPN 311 Intermediate Spanish 3 SPN 611D Second-Year Spanish 6 SPN 311J Intermediate Spanish for Heritage Learners 3 Swahili SWA 611C Intensive Swahili II 6 Swedish SWE 612 Accelerated Second-Year Swedish 6 Tamil TAM 312L Second-Year Tamil II 3 Telugu TEL 312L Second-Year Telugu II 3 Turkish TUR 611C Intensive Turkish II 6 Urdu URD 312L Second-Year Urdu II 3 Ukrainian UKR 312L Second-Year Ukrainian II 3 Yiddish YID 612 Accelerated Second-Year Yiddish 6 Yoruba 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. - Three hours of Honors Social Science selected from Social Science 302C, 302D, 302E, and 302F. All Honors Social Science courses also meet the social and behavioral sciences requirement of the core curriculum.
- Six semester hours of non-United States history in the same geographic area.
- Eighteen semester hours of coursework as outlined below. To satisfy the core curriculum and the mathematics and natural science requirement of the BA, Plan II, a student may count (1) no more than 12 hours in mathematics, computer science, and statistics and scientific computation combined; and (2) no more than nine hours in any single field of study. Substitutions do exist for some of the requirements outlined below; Plan II students should each meet with a Plan II academic advisor to discuss their individual academic plan.
- Mathematics 310P. This course also meets the mathematics requirement of the core curriculum. Algebra courses at the level of Mathematics 301 or the equivalent may not be counted toward this requirement. Students who enter the University with fewer than three units of high school mathematics at the level of Algebra I or higher must take Mathematics 301 or 303D without degree credit to remove their deficiency.
- A three-hour course in logic or modes of reasoning designated for Plan II students, currently Tutorial Course 310 or Philosophy 313Q.
- Six hours of coursework in astronomy, biology, chemistry, geological sciences, physical science, or physics. This coursework may be used to fulfill the science and technology, part I, requirement of the core curriculum.
- Biology 301E. Biology 301E may also be used to fulfill the science and technology part I or part II requirement of the core curriculum.
- Physics 321 or an approved alternative natural science course as designated by Plan II. Physics 321 may also be used to fulfill the science and technology part I or part II requirement of the core curriculum.
- Any remaining courses needed to provide 18 hours of work must be chosen from the following fields. No more than three hours may be in the history of science or the philosophy of science. A list of approved alternative courses (items 10 and 11 below) is available in the Student Division and on the College of Liberal Arts website
- Astronomy
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Geological sciences
- Marine science
- Nutrition
- Physical science
- Physics
- Mathematics, computer science, and statistics and data sciences
- Other alternative science courses approved by the dean
- Approved alternative courses in history of science and philosophy of science
- Philosophy 610Q.
- An approved three-hour course in art history, music history, or history of theatre and dance; or a three-hour upper-division course in classical civilization, humanities, literature, or philosophy.
Electives
In addition to the core curriculum and the preceding specific requirements, 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 12 hours of conference courses and internship courses combined as described in Conference Courses and Internship Courses; nine hours of designated coursework in air force science, military science, or naval science, except for students enrolled in the Military Leadership minor; 19 hours completed on the pass/fail basis; 36 hours in any one field of study in the College of Liberal Arts or the College of Natural Sciences; and 36 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.
Order of Work
The usual order of work for students in Plan II is outlined below, although it is possible to make exceptions when there is good reason for doing so. There is some variation in the order of work for students in premedical, predental, and dual degree programs, for teacher certification candidates, and for students concentrating in science. Students in these areas should consult the director or an academic advisor.
Suggested Four-Year Plan
First Year:
- Tutorial Course 303C and 303D, or English 303C and 303D
- Biology 301E, Mathematics 310P, and Philosophy 313Q or Tutorial Course 310
- Six semester hours of non–United States history
- Foreign language courses
- Tutorial Course 302
- A three-semester-hour elective
Second Year:
- Philosophy 610Q
- Three semester hours in mathematics or natural science
- Government 310L and 312L
- Foreign language courses
- Social Science 302C, 302D, 302E, or 302F
- A three-semester-hour elective
Third and Fourth Years:
- Three semester hours in the visual and performing arts
- Three semester hours of humanities or courses in the history of fine arts
- Six semester hours of American history
- Six semester hours of Tutorial Course 358
- Tutorial Course 359T or 660H
- Physics 321, or an approved alternative, and three additional hours of science
- Elective courses sufficient to make a total of at least 120 semester hours, with only upper-division courses usually being approved for third- and fourth-year students