Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
The Bachelor of Arts in Political Science degree requires a total of 120 credit hours of which 45 semester hours are in political science and 24 semester hours of related social and behavioral sciences (sociology, psychology, and economics).
Degree Requirements
The Bachelor of Arts in Political Science degree requires a total of 120 credit hours of which 45 semester hours are in political science and 24 semester hours of related social and behavioral sciences (sociology, psychology, and economics). Twenty-four of the semester hours in political science must be earned at the 300 or 400 level. Six semester hours from three of the related social sciences areas – geography, history, and sociology – and three hours from economics are required. All political science majors must pass major courses with a 2.0 GPA. The curriculum includes the University’s general education requirements: these include nine hours of course work in the biological and physical sciences. The general education requirements stipulate that six hours of the natural sciences must be in a two-semester sequence. Six hours of mathematics courses at the level of College Mathematics II (SMAT 120B) or higher are required. It is also required that political science students complete a course in statistics. In addition, students must complete the University’s requirement for community service and the African American experience requirement. Students must also pass the writing proficiency examination.
A minor in political science consists of 18 semester hours including the following courses: American Government, SPOL 201B, Introduction to Political Science, POLS 220B, and 12 semester hours of upper level political science courses.
First Year
First Semester
| FRMN 120B | College Success Skills | 2 |
| SENL 101B | English Composition I | 3 |
| History Sequence | 3 |
| MATH 130B | College Mathematics I | 3 |
| Or higher | |
| | |
| Natural Science Sequence | 3 |
| Health-PE Elective | 1-2 |
Second Semester
| SENL 102B | English Composition II | 3 |
| History Sequence | 3 |
| SMAT 120B | College Mathematics II | 3 |
| Or higher | |
| | |
| Natural Science Sequence | 3 |
| Arts Requirement | 3 |
Second Year
First Semester
| SPOL 201B | American Government | 3 |
| POLS 206B | Writing Seminar | 3 |
| SPOL 211B | State & Local Gov | 3 |
| Foreign Language Sequence I | 3 |
| Natural Sciences Requirement | 3 |
Second Semester
| POLS 202B | International Relations | 3 |
| POLS 220B | Intro to Pol Sci | 3 |
| Foreign Language Sequence II | 3 |
| GEOG 210B | Cultural Geography | 3 |
ENGL
| Literature Requirement | 3 |
Third Year
First Semester
Second Semester
| POLS 472B | The Const & Civil Liberties | 3 |
| POLS 410B | The Legislative Process | 3 |
| Political Science Elective | 3 |
| Sociology Elective | 3 |
| | |
| PSYC 274B | Elem Statistics | 3 |
| Or | |
| Statistics Elective | 3 |
Fourth Year
First Semester
| POLS 483B | Adv Seminar in Pol Sci | 3 |
| Free Elective | 3 |
| Geography Elective | |
| Humanities Requirement | 3 |
| Free Elective | 3 |
| ENGL 1B | Writing Proficiency | 0 |
Second Semester
| POLS 480B | Political Theory | 3 |
| Political Science Elective | 3 |
| POLS 484B | Quantitative Tech in Pols | 3 |
| African American Experience | 3 |
| Service Learning-60hrs | |