Politics, B.A.

General Education Requirements - 43 Credit Hours

Politics majors must meet the Baccalaureate Degree Requirements  as set out in the General Education Program .

• Social Science Requirement: Politics majors must take  PLS 3113 - Methodology of Political Science  as the Social Science elective.

School of Arts and Sciences Additional Natural Science Requirements - 5 Credit Hours

Students in the School of Arts and Sciences must take five additional hours of natural science: 1 lab to accompany the course taken for general education [BIO 1043 , BIO 1023 , ESC 1043 , OCY 1043 , FOR 1003  , PHY 1033 , PHY 1063 , or PHY 2113  and one additional natural science course and accompanying lab. The two natural sciences must be in different areas (one BIO and one other). In sum, students are required to take a minimum of 8 hours of natural science courses: two natural science courses (one biological science and one other) along with the labs associated with each. We recommend Psychology majors take BIO 1043   and BIO 1041  (lab) to fulfill one science requirement.

Required Politics Courses - 9 Credit Hours

• PLS 2113 - American Federal Government
• PLS 3313 - Political Thought
• PLS 3413 - International Relations

Politics Elective Courses - 27 Credit Hours

Student must select nine (9) elective courses from the following lists, for a total of 27 credit hours. Student must select at least one (1) course from each category.

Foreign Modern Language Requirement - 3-6 Credit Hours

Politics majors are required to successfully complete (with a final grade of C- or higher):

• one intermediate foreign modern language course (3 Credit Hours), OR
• two elementary foreign modern language courses (6 Credit Hours), OR
• one elementary and one intermediate foreign modern language course (6 Credit Hours).

Politics majors who choose another major or minor with its own language requirements may elect to use the language requirement of that major or minor as a substitute for their Politics foreign language requirement.

Note: No CLEP, AP, IB, or transient study credits may be used to fulfill this requirement. These credits must be fulfilled at PBA.

Minor Requirement - 15-30 Credit Hours

Politics majors are required to complete a minor in a discipline of their choice.

Note:

Students wishing to teach Political Science, grades 6 – 12, should complete a state-approved Professional Training Option (PTO). See Secondary Education Minor (Professional Training Option)  for details.

Sample Degree Plan

Politics Degree Plan