Undergraduate Degree Requirements - Advising

Each academic program has major requirements. Please refer to the information about your major for those requirements and tracking forms.

BS Degree Requirements 

Students pursuing a bachelor of science (BS) degree are required to complete at least 60 credits of coursework in courses offered by the college (or approved courses offered by departments outside the college). Credits earned to satisfy general education and major requirements count toward this requirement.

Approved Science Coursework

  • College of Information and Computer Sciences: All courses
  • College of Natural Sciences: All courses
  • 5-Colleges: All CICS and CNS comparable 5-college courses
  • Select courses from other colleges: Please see the listing at CNS for specifically approved courses in other colleges (CICS approvals parallel those of CNS at this time).

BA Degree Requirements

Students pursuing a bachelor of arts degree must demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language at the intermediate level, by one of the following methods:

  • Completion of a foreign language course at the fourth semester level (Intermediate II or Intermediate Intensive courses numbered 240-249). Intermediate II courses may be graded on a pass/fail basis.
  • Degree credit equivalent earned through an appropriate score on a College Board Foreign Language Achievement Test (SAT II) or a College Board Advanced Placement Test.
  • Proficiency demonstrated in a test designed by a UMass Amherst language department, or a test administered and validated by a local faculty member if the language is not one offered by a department at the university.
  • Satisfactory completion in high school or college of either a fourth-level foreign language course, or of a third-level course in one language and a second-level course in another language.
  • Successful completion of one year in a high school in which English is not the language of instruction.
  • Successful completion of a semester or yearlong study abroad program that leads to foreign language proficiency at the fourth semester (Intermediate II) level as approved by the appropriate language department.

Foreign Language Modification Requests

Students with a documented language acquisition challenge or hearing impairment may petition a Consumer Manager at Disability Services for support of a foreign language modification. Final decisions on petitions for foreign language modification will be made by the Academic Dean in the College of Information and Computer Sciences. To initiate such a petition, contact Disability Services, 161 Whitmore Administration Building, tel. (413) 545-0892, https://www.umass.edu/disability/students. Modification courses may include proficiency in American Sign Language at the Intermediate II level, or completion of four courses (12-16 cr.) taught in English on the history, culture, or literature of non-English speaking countries or regions. These courses must be completed in addition to courses used to fulfill the General Education and major requirements, and may not be graded on a Pass/Fail basis.

 

Double Major (120 credits) vs. Dual Degree (150 credits)

Double Majors: 

Students pursuing a double major choose a primary and secondary major, fulfill the course requirements for both, and graduate with a minimum of 120 credits total. Certain requirements, such as junior year writing, typically must be completed in the primary major, though you should double check with your academic advisor in each major on their requirements.

Students with double majors should meet with the academic advisors in both departments to find out the extent to which courses required by one major can be used to satisfy the requirements of the other major.

At graduation a double major earns a single degree in the primary major, but both the primary and secondary major are recorded on the transcript.

Dual Degrees: 

Students pursuing a dual degree (two Bachelor’s degrees and two majors) must earn a minimum of 150 credits, completing all of the major and college requirements for each major, and also completing at least 30 additional units in residency. This must be accomplished within the normal ten semesters, unless a Dean grants an extension. If the two bachelors degrees are comprised of a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and a Bachelor of Science (BS) this will mean completing separate arts and science requirements (this is what we mean by college requirements). For example, a student pursuing a BS in Biology and a BA in Computer Science must complete the 60 credits of science coursework required by CNS for their BS, and complete the Foreign Language Requirement that is the CICS college requirement for the BA. Likewise, Informatics students must ensure that if they are pursuing a BBA at Isenberg, as well as their BS in Informatics, they complete the 60 credits of science coursework required by CICS for their BS degree.

For students doing a double major or a dual degree, the University requires the completion of the Integrative Experience (IE) and Junior Year Writing (JYW) Gen Ed requirements only once, in the major designated as the primary major.

Dual Degree Form
To declare a Dual Degree, please complete the Dual Degree Form in your final semester and submit it to your secondary major.  Once it is completed, the form needs to be submitted to the Diploma and Graduation Services, Registrar’s Office, 213 Whitmore.

https://www.umass.edu/registrar/sites/default/files/DualDegreeForm.pdf