Academic Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts Degree

  1. Students must successfully complete a minimum of 120 semester credit hours. Music ensemble courses can be counted up to 7 of the 120 units. However any Music Ensemble courses taken beyond 7 units cannot be counted towards the 120 units.
  2. Students must fulfill the General Education requirements as follows. See the General Education Curriculum for more information on its supporting programs and courses:
    1. Core: Students must complete the following two courses: The Enduring Questions of Humanity, and The Enduring Questions in Contemporary Contexts.
    2. Communication and Inquiry: Students must complete two courses in Communication Skills and one course in Modes of Inquiry.
    3. Creative Arts and Creativity Forum: Students must complete one course in creative arts and a 1-unit Creativity Forum course.
    4. Science and Mathematics: Students must complete one course in each area: Mathematics, Biological Sciences, and Physical Sciences.
    5. Area and Comparative Studies: Students must complete the following two courses: Introduction to the Pacific Basin and The American Experience.
    6. Language and Culture: All students must show proficiency in a foreign language by completing a series of four courses.
    7. Study Abroad: All students must spend one half of their junior year engaged in a study abroad program.
    8. Learning Clusters: Students must take at least two courses in the Learning Clusters format.
    9. Wellness: Students must take Health and Wellness.
  3. Students majoring in Liberal Arts must declare one of the five concentrations listed below at the end of their sophomore year and meet the requirements as listed:
    Environmental Studies
    Humanities
    International Studies
    Life Sciences
    Social and Behavioral Sciences
    1. Core Requirements of the chosen Concentration: Students must take five courses, apart from any independent or special study course. At least three of these five courses must be taken at the upper division (300-499) level.
    2. Concentration Elective Requirements: Students must complete a total of at least four elective courses in the above concentrations. Of these four, at least one course must be chosen from each of two of the concentrations not selected as the declared concentration, not including independent study or special study courses.
    3. Capstone Requirement: Students must complete Capstone 390 followed by two capstone courses as part of their concentration, one in the final block and one in the final semester of the senior year.
  4. The remaining number of units needed to meet the graduation requirement can be satisfied by any curriculum- wide courses taken as electives.
  5. Academic residency requirements: All students who are candidates for the bachelor’s degree must successfully complete at least fifteen courses at SUA during the last two years before they are eligible to graduate. This includes the study abroad program.
  6. A minimum 2.0 grade point average for all courses taken at SUA is required. In addition, a minimum 2.0 grade point average in major courses is required.
  7. Students must file an application for graduation in the Office of the Registrar at the end of the first session of their Senior year.
  8. Students must ensure that all financial obligations to the university have been met.

Undergraduate Academic Policies and Procedures