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. 36 hours must be in upper-division courses. At least 60 hours, including 21 hours of upper-division coursework, must be completed in residence at the University; at least 24 of the last 30 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 16 semester hours of classroom and/or correspondence coursework may be taken on the pass/fail basis; this coursework may be counted only as electives.
In the process of fulfilling degree requirements, all students must complete:
- Core curriculum
- Skills and experience flags:
- Writing: two flagged courses beyond Rhetoric and Writing 306 or its equivalent, including one at the upper-division level
- 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 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 in the United States and the global cultures flags from the same course. Students are encouraged to discuss options with their academic advisers.
Courses in the major and additional coursework 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. Courses that fulfill these flag requirements will be identified in the Course Schedule by the appropriate flags.
The student must fulfill both the University General Requirements for graduation and the Requirements of the College of Natural Sciences. 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 Bachelor of Arts, 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 requirement. The student should also refer to the description of his or her major in the section “Majors and Additional Coursework” 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
- Writing: Two courses beyond Rhetoric and Writing 306 or the equivalent that carry a writing flag. One of these courses must be upper-division. Courses with a writing flag are identified in the Course Schedule. They may be used simultaneously to fulfill other requirements, unless otherwise specified.
- Foreign language: Proficiency in a language other than English is required.
The foreign language requirement is the attainment of 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-examination test;
b. A passing grade in a language course listed in the College of Liberal Arts section;
c. Students who wish to meet the requirement with proficiency in a language not listed in the table found in the College of Liberal Arts section above should contact the Texas Language Center.
- 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. The course(s) must be in a field of study taught in the College of Liberal Arts and must be in a different field of study from the course used to fulfill the social and behavioral sciences requirement of the core.
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 and on the College of Liberal Arts website.
- Mathematics: Three semester hours in mathematics, excluding Mathematics 301, 316K, and 316L
- 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 natural science requirement of the Bachelor of Arts, Plan I, a student may count (1) no more than 12 hours in mathematics, computer science, and statistics and data sciences combined; and (2) no more than nine hours in any single field of study.
- Astronomy
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Geological sciences
- Marine science
- Nutrition
- Physical science
- Physics
- Mathematics (excluding Mathematics 301), computer science, statistics and data sciences
- Other alternative science courses approved by the dean
- Approved alternative courses in history of science and philosophy of science
- 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 website.
Electives
In addition to the core curriculum, prescribed work, and major and additional coursework, 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 semester hours of bible courses; nine hours of designated coursework in air force science, military science, or naval science; 16 hours completed on the pass/fail basis; 39 hours in any one field of study offered in the College of Liberal Arts or the College of Natural Sciences, unless major requirements state otherwise; and 39 hours in any other single college or school of the University.
Majors and Additional Coursework
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 24 but no more than 39 semester hours, with at least 15 hours in upper-division courses. Of these 15 hours, six must be completed in residence. At least 18 hours of coursework in the major, including six hours of upper-division coursework, must be completed in residence at the University.
Additional Coursework
Students in most majors must also fulfill the requirements of additional coursework. The requirements of the additional coursework are established by the major department and are given with the major requirements. Additional restrictions may be imposed by the academic department(s) in which the student takes the courses used to fulfill the requirements of the additional coursework; before planning to use a course to fulfill the additional coursework requirement, the student should consult the department that offers the course.