College of Arts and Sciences

All students must meet the University-wide baccalaureate degree requirements summarized in the "Undergraduate Degree Requirements" chapter of this General Bulletin. In addition, all students receiving a degree from the College of Arts and Sciences must satisfy the requirements listed in the following paragraphs.

In order to enroll in the College of Arts and Sciences, an undergraduate must be certified by the Division of Undergraduate Studies or be a transfer student with fifty-two (52) or more semester hours of accepted credit. Successful CLAST completion (or exemption) is also required. Admission to the College of Arts and Sciences requires at least a 2.0 grade point average (GPA) in prior academic work and that the student be in good standing within the University. Since individual departments may stipulate higher admission standards, students should consult the appropriate chapters of this General Bulletin for specific requirements.

Students enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences may concurrently prepare for, and become certified in, various professional programs. This is made possible by the cooperation of professional schools within the University with various College of Arts and Sciences departments that have established programs with special emphasis in certain professional areas.

Foreign Language. The College of Arts and Sciences requires that Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science students be proficient at the intermediate level in one language other than English. Students may satisfy the requirement by completing course work through the 2000 level (2200 or equivalent course) of a classical or modern foreign language. Those with a 2.5 GPA may take these courses on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U) basis, so long as they meet the University deadline for declaring this intention. A student taking course work to fulfill the College's foreign language requirement must earn at least a "C–." Hours used to fulfill the foreign language requirement may not be counted toward a major or a minor. For exceptions to this policy, students should contact the College of Arts and Sciences. Native speakers of another language and other students who wish to demonstrate proficiency by means other than course work should consult the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics.

Please note that the College's classical or modern foreign language requirement is more extensive than the University's foreign language admissions requirement. It is important to understand that, although completion of two years of high school foreign language courses or two semesters of postsecondary foreign language will satisfy the University's admissions requirement, these courses do not satisfy the College of Arts and Sciences' foreign language graduation requirements for BA and BS students. Please consult the "Admissions" section of this General Bulletin for more information.

Beginning Fall 2002, all students who intend to continue study of a modern foreign language at Florida State University in which they have previous experience (such as high school study or study abroad) must be placed into the appropriate course by the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics. Students in French, German, and Spanish who continue with the same language must take the placement test before they enroll in a course in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics. Students in other languages must consult the department for the appropriate placement procedures before enrolling.

Florida State University does not currently offer modern foreign language or classical language instruction at the Panama City campus. Therefore, students pursuing BA or BS degrees in the College of Arts and Sciences at the Panama City campus may count as part of their sixty semester hours of senior institution work a maximum of twelve semester hours of courses taken at Gulf Coast Community College, Pensacola Junior College, Okaloosa-Walton Community College, or Chipola Junior College to satisfy the language requirement. These hours will count toward the sixty semester hours only if they are taken subsequent to the students' upper-division enrollment at the Panama City campus.

Minor. Most majors in the College of Arts and Sciences also require a completed minor. Exceptions include secondary science/math teaching, humanities, foreign language/business, English/business majors, Middle Eastern studies, and certain science programs with collateral minors. Students completing a double major do not have to complete a minor. Students pursuing two degrees (dual certificate or a second baccalaureate degree) must have a separate minor for each degree that is awarded by this College. If one of the degrees is to be awarded by another College in the University, that dean's office will specify any minor requirements. While many minors require only twelve semester hours, others require as many as eighteen semester hours. No courses used for satisfying liberal studies requirements or a major may also be counted toward the minor. Normally, the student's minor will be in a different department than the major. In a few cases it may be possible to take the minor in a different program, but within the same department as the major. Students wanting to pursue that possibility must consult with their departmental adviser.

Requirements for the Major. See departmental entries for specific requirements. If courses from the major department are used to meet the liberal studies requirements, no more than four semester hours of these liberal studies courses may also be counted toward the major requirements.

A student completing a second bachelor's degree in the College of Arts and Sciences must complete at least thirty semester hours, and a minor, at Florida State University, in addition to the required hours for the first degree. The student must complete a new major and a new minor (with no overlap between these and the first major and minor), the Arts and Sciences Liberal Studies requirements, and demonstrate satisfaction of the College of Arts and Sciences foreign language requirement.

Note: To distinguish between second baccalaureates and second majors, see the appropriate paragraph under "Undergraduate Degree Requirements" in this General Bulletin.