Degree Requirements

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Scope

All Undergraduate Students.

Purpose

The University of St. Thomas awards the following bachelor’s degrees:

  • Bachelor of Arts (BA)
  • Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)
  • Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)
  • Bachelor of Pastoral Theology (BTh)
  • Bachelor of Science (BS)

The purpose of this policy is to outline the requirements for these degrees.

Policy/Procedure

01. Core Curriculum

A liberal education is one pursued for its own sake and free of service to utilitarian ends, because it is good in itself for the human person to attain wisdom and to live in accord with the truth. The educational purpose of the Core Curriculum consists of the following goals:

Core Curriculum Goals (Approved 2022)

  1. To form in students an understanding of themselves as human persons endowed with intellectual and imaginative capacities and free will, so that they are empowered to pursue wisdom and to cultivate virtues, in which their humanity is fulfilled.
  2. To cultivate intellectual skills that shape the life of the mind across multiple disciplines and enable a person to grow intellectually into the best version of himself or herself. Such skills take many forms. They could, for example, include, without being limited to, the ability to read and interpret, to draw conclusions from principles or data, to formulate accurate definitions, or to persuade others without manipulation or deceit.
  3. To develop in students a reflective, philosophical habit of mind from the perspective of which the truths of all disciplines, of faith and of reason, can begin to be grasped as an ordered whole unified by underlying principles. This manifests itself in a healthy curiosity and a reverent wonder for truth in all its forms and in a keen interest in the underlying causes of things.

All students must complete the Core Curriculum in full. Students with transfer credit may fulfill their core requirements by taking a reduced subset of the required core courses. These reduced subsets are known as transfer pathways. These pathways are established and overseen by the Core Fellows. For students in the transfer pathways, their transfer credit is considered a part of their general education, but it is not transferred in as an equivalent to any core courses offered at the University.

Students whose transfer credit does not include at least three hours of social or behavioral science and three hours of mathematics or natural science must complete the Mathematics and Social Science courses in the Core Curriculum.

02. Additional requirements for Bachelor’s Degrees

  1. Completion of:
    1. a major or approved program in which at least 50 percent of the required upper-division credit hours in the major field are completed at the University of St. Thomas (exceptions: no requirement for General Studies, Liberal Arts or Integrated Humanities majors);
    2. at least 36 credit hours of upper-division credit (3000-4000 course numbers);
    3. at least 120 hours of quality credit (a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0);
    4. the final 36 credit hours earned in residence at the University.
  2. Transfer students entering with 60 credit hours or more must attempt the mathematics requirement within their first year of attendance at the University. All other students, transfer and non-transfer, must attempt the mathematics requirement within their first 60 credit hours (including transfer hours).
  3. Students seeking a bachelor’s degree will ordinarily follow the degree requirements of the catalog in effect at the time of their first matriculation into the University, or they may follow the requirements of any subsequent catalog in effect during their continued enrollment. To update to a newer catalog, please use the Declaration of Catalog Form found on the myStThom student portal. Students who leave the university for four or more consecutive regular semesters (fall and spring) subsequently reenroll must follow either the degree requirements of the catalog in effect at the time of their reenrollment or the requirements of any subsequent catalog in effect during their continued enrollment. Ordinarily, a student must follow all the requirements of the catalog chosen. Exceptions may arise if the program requirements must be revised to implement new educational standards recommended or required by federal or state agencies, professional societies or the University’s faculty.
  4. Students must file for graduation the semester prior to graduation via myStThom. The Office of the Registrar will post the dates by which a graduating student should file for graduation.
  5. All financial obligations to the University must be satisfied before the University issues a diploma or an official transcript to a student.

03. The Major

To receive a bachelor’s degree, a student must complete the requirements of at least one major program. A major consists of a defined group of courses, usually within a single discipline, designed to give the student in-depth knowledge of a specific field of study. A major may also consist of a planned group of courses from more than one discipline.

A major requires a minimum of 30 credit hours, at least 15 of which must be upper division. In a single subject area, the major should not exceed 42 semester hours for the BA, 45 semester hours for the BBA, and 48 semester hours for the BS. When major programs require courses from another discipline, however, the combined total number of hours may exceed these limits. A minimum of 50 percent of the required upper-division hours must be completed at the University of St. Thomas (except in the case of the Liberal Arts/General Studies majors, for which there in no minimum requirement).

Students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.00 in their major. This requirement applies to both majors in a joint major program. With the approval of the appropriate school dean, individual departments may set higher standards for their majors. Students may not take courses required for their major on a “Pass/Fail” basis.

A student may formally declare a ma major by completing the Declaration/Change of Major Form and filing it with the Registrar. A student must declare a major after completing 59 credit hours. This is usually done during the early academic advising period before classification as a junior occurs, and is a requirement for registration beyond 59 credit hours. Students who have reached 60 hours (junior status) without having declared a major will have a hold placed on their records that will prevent them from registering for classes.

04. Multiple Majors

The University offers both double-major and joint-major options. In all cases, students must confer with the appropriate department chairs to develop degree plans ensuring that course and credit-hour requirements are current and documented.

05. The Minor

The University encourages students to complete one or more minors; that is, a planned sequence of courses in a discipline other than the student’s major. A minor consists of between 15 and 24 credit hours, at least 9 of which must be upper-division credit, and 9 of which must be taken at the University of St. Thomas. Consult the department and program sections of this catalog for requirements for specific minor programs.

Students are responsible for timely consulting of departments offering subjects in which they wish to earn a minor or the director or contact person for a minor program to ensure fulfillment of the requirements. Each minor is noted on the student’s transcript.

A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.00 is required for a minor. A student may not take courses required for a minor on a “Pass/Fail” basis.

06. Joint Major Programs

A joint major is a two-track program of study. It provides the opportunity for a student to develop a wider range of interest than allowed by a single-discipline major. A joint major is distinguished from a double major. Whereas a double major includes all major requirements of the departments involved, a joint major consolidates the requirements of the cooperating departments.

A joint major program is developed by two cooperating departments and must adhere to the following guidelines:

  1. All core requirements of the University must be met.
  2. The student must have approval of both cooperating departments and have an advisor from each.
  3. Neither department will require as many credit hours in its portion of the joint major as it requires for a regular major.
  4. Neither department will reduce the credit hours required within its discipline by more than 6 credit hours.
  5. Neither department will reduce its related requisite hours by more than 6 credit hours.
  6. If both departments require a capstone experience, the student must complete only one of them.
  7. The student must achieve a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.00 in both majors or a higher GPA if a department requires it.

For details, prospective joint majors should consult the catalog entry of the departments in which they have an interest and take care to follow #1 and #2 above.

07. Additional Bachelor’s degree

A student with a bachelor’s degree from the University of St. Thomas may earn an additional bachelor’s degree by completing the degree requirements. A minimum of 36 additional credit hours is required.

A student with a bachelor’s degree from another recognized accredited institution may qualify for a UST bachelor’s degree by earning a minimum of 36 credit hours at the University of St. Thomas for each additional degree and by fulfilling the general core requirements for the degree and the specific requirements for the new major program. The exception to fulfilling the regular UST core curriculum in the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN). See the School of Nursing section of the catalog for more details.

Students planning to earn an additional degree should consult Office of Academic Advising to develop a degree plan prior to first registration at the University.

08. Additional Majors or Minors

Graduates of the University of St. Thomas who hold a baccalaureate degree may earn additional majors and minors by completing the departmental requirements for each major or minor. The student is responsible for tracking this additional coursework and notifying the academic department and the Office of the Registrar that the requirements for their additional majors/minors has been completed. If notification is not sent to the Registrar’s office (via email from @stthom.edu account) by the end of the final semester of coursework, no further major/minors will be added to the student’s record. If a UST graduate has earned a minor at UST then the student is not able to earn a major in that same area of study at UST. A student who has earned a BA Degree in General Studies, Liberal Arts, or a BA/BS in Integrated Humanities at UST may not earn a major at UST in any of the concentrations/minor areas of these degrees.