The concepts, skills, and knowledge acquired as part of a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science degree can lead to many diverse career fields, including but not limited to civil service, teaching, law, policy consultant, journalism, non-profit sector management, Foreign Service, politics, and government. Acquired skills include oral, written, and technological communication, critical thinking and problem solving, and quantitative and qualitative analysis. A degree in political science can lead to a Master of Arts and Ph.D. degrees. The Department of Political Science has divided the discipline into four sub fields: U.S. Government & Politics, World Politics, Political Economy & Public Policy and Political Theory.
Specific graduation requirements for this program beyond university bachelor’s degree requirements.
Core Curriculum - 42 hours
The Core Curriculum serves as a broad foundation for the undergraduate degree. All candidates for a bachelor’s degree must achieve core student learning outcomes, including communication, critical thinking, empirical and quantitative skills, teamwork, personal responsibility and social responsibility, by completing courses within each category or component area of the Core Curriculum as outlined below.
The University has approved specific courses that satisfy Core Curriculum Requirements. Approved courses can be found on the Core Curriculum Page. Students seeking the most efficient way to complete the core curriculum and major or minor requirements are advised to take approved courses that can fulfill both requirements. Although core curriculum courses can also be used to fulfill major or minor requirements, earned credits hours are only applied once.
Major Requirements – 37 Hours
Required Courses - 13 hours
Gateway to Political Science - 6 hours
Choose from:
Students may not take both POLS 2350 and ECON 2301 to fulfill the Gateway to Political Science requirement.
Research Methods and Capstone Experience – 7 hours
Prescribed Electives - 24 hours
In the prescribed electives, POLS 4392, POLS 4393, POLS 4394, and POLS 4395 combined may be taken no more than three times for credit, only two of which may be used to satisfy degree requirements.
US. Government and Politics – 6 hours
U.S. Political Institutions and State/Local Politics
Choose one from:
POLS 4310, POLS 4311, and POLS 4312 may not be used to satisfy both U.S. Political Institutions & State/Local Politics requirement and a requirement for the Legal Studies minor if selected.
U.S. Political Groups and Behavior
Choose one from:
World Politics - 6 hours
Choose two from:
Political Economy and Public Policy - 3 hours
Choose one from:
Political Theory - 3 hours
Choose one from:
Advanced Political Science Electives - 6 hours
Choose six credit hours from any course from the Advanced Political Science lists (all 3000 and 4000 level POLS courses) not used to fulfill other requirements or:
Students may take 3 credit hours of POLS 3190 or POLS 3393 to satisfy 3 of the 6 credit hours for the advanced electives in political science.
POLS 3390 may be taken no more than twice (6 hours) for credit; topics must be different.
Only 3 credit hours of POLS 3391 will be accepted to satisfy 3 of the 6 credit hours for the advanced electives in political science.
Only 3 credit hours of POLS 3392 will be accepted to satisfy 3 of the 6 credit hours for the advanced electives in political science.
Minor - hours will vary
Minors vary in credit hours required. If applicable, the credit hours in the minor selected may impact the number of free electives required to reach the 120 credit hours needed to earn a bachelor’s degree.
Free Electives - hours will vary
Free elective credit hours at the advanced level may be needed to achieve the institutional minimum of 42 advanced hours.
Total Credit Hours: 42