Degrees conferred by CLAS: BA, BS, BFA, and BM

Every major is awarded with a specific degree, with additional requirements attached to that degree. The value of one degree over another to a particular student is highly variable and often depends, in part, on an institution’s traditions.

In CLAS, the BA and the BS are the most awarded degrees. The degree requirements for students in CLAS can be found on this page. They include the completion of the GE CLAS Core requirements; completion of 120 s.h.; a minimum GPA in four areas (see below); and other related requirements.

The following traits of the BA, BS, and BFA/BM are meant as broad guidelines to help those creating or revising majors to understand the traditional or typical differences in undergraduate degrees. They could also be helpful to those assisting students in choosing among different degrees in their chosen field. Advising is essential for helping students to choose not only the most appropriate major but also the degree that best reflects a student’s interests and future career path or choice of graduate or professional study.

Bachelor of Arts (BS)

In CLAS, the BA is associated with majors in the humanities, the arts, and the social sciences; however, many CLAS majors related to the sciences, social sciences, and the quantitative disciplines offer both a BA and the BS.

  1. The BA degree tends to offer a flexible choice of courses to fulfill requirements.
  2. Requirements have few prerequisites, with students allowed to take at least some courses in any order. This non-sequential structure gives students the opportunity to create different pathways through the curriculum.
  3. After the completion of more introductory courses, knowledge and skills in the BA stem from study at a broad but advanced level.
  4. The BA generally requires around 32-46 semester hours, giving students ample credits to earn a second major, a minor, or a certificate.

Bachelor of Science (BS)

The distinguishing trait of the BS is the rigorous study of science, technology, and of the quantitative and social sciences. Generally, the BS in CLAS has the following additional traits:

  1. The required courses for the BS are highly sequential, often requiring the completion of prerequisites and thus resulting in fewer student choices about course selection or order.
  2. This structure is necessary since specialized upper-level courses in majors associated with the BS rely on foundational knowledge and skills.
  3. Quantitative courses are central to the BS, whether they occur as courses taken outside of the administrative home of the major or within it.
  4. Generally, foundational courses are integrated into the major through the use of key concepts and skills in advanced course work.
  5. The BS culminates in an activity that finalizes this integration, such as a research experience or a capstone course requiring a research project and/or presentation.
  6. The major awarded with the BS might require more than 56 s.h. if these required courses are from both within and outside of the administrative home of the major.
  7. A maximum of 56 semester hours of credit from one academic department is accepted toward the minimum 120 semester hours needed for a BS.

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and Bachelor of Music (BM)

The BFA and the BM awarded with a performance or studio major, such as in studio art, dance, music, and theater, is a particular subspecies of the BA that also shares some traits of the BS.

  1. The performance BFA and BM requires more semester hours than the BA and often in advanced courses.
  2. A specialization is vital in these degrees, allowing a student to excel at a more specific set of skills.
  3. Performances and art shows integrate these skills, moving along the continuum from practice to production.
  4. The BFA and BM require an audition or other the fulfillment of other requirements for admission.
  5. The BFA and BM degrees do not fall under the CLAS 56-hour rule.
review CLAS majors Student handbook policies How to revise a major

General Catalog

Detailed information on the requirements of each major is published in the General Catalog. Always consult the catalog rather than a website for the official requirements for any major, minor, or certificate. The catalog is the authoritative source of this information, and it is used to create the degree audit and sample plan for each program of study.

Major credit hours

Credit hours to complete a major should comprise a reasonable proportion of course work that must be taken in residence at the University of Iowa.

Ordinarily, a maximum of 56 semester hours of credit from one academic department is accepted toward the minimum of 120 semester hours needed for the BA or BS degree. The BFA and BM degrees do not fall under this 56-hour rule. Some departments have been granted a special exception to this rule as well.

Major GPA

Students in CLAS graduating with the BA, BS, BFA, and BM degrees must earn a minimum grade point average of C (2.00) in the following GPA calculations:

  • All college work attempted (both at UI and at any other institution)
  • All work undertaken at the University of Iowa (cumulative UI GPA)
  • All work attempted in the major (cumulative GPA in the major, regardless of institution)
  • All University of Iowa work in the major (UI GPA in the major)

P/N graded courses

The college does not allow P/N courses to count toward a major (for exceptions in cognate areas, see the Academic Policies Handbook).

Overlap between major and General Education Program

In many cases, students may use courses approved for the GE CLAS Core to satisfy requirements for both their General Education Program (GEP) and their major, minor, or certificate. CLAS does not limit the number of courses that a student can "double count" in this way. However:

  • No course can be used to fulfill more than one requirement of the GE CLAS Core (with the exception of the Sustainability requirement).
  • Students may apply no more than three courses from the same course subject code to their GEP (with the exception of courses fulfilling World Language Pathways).
  • Courses approved in a GE CLAS Core area are generally required to be entry level, requiring little prior knowledge in the subject. Majors are generally designed with few introductory courses required before students move on to intermediate and advanced work. Even in departments with a large number of approved GE courses, therefore, students have limited opportunity for overlap between their major and their GEP.

Allowed restrictions within a major

Within the college's requirements for graduation, departments may restrict the use of transfer credit and credit by exam applied toward the requirements for a major. Such restrictions must be approved by CLAS but are encouraged for intermediate and upper-level courses in the major.

The college specifies that no student may earn a degree with more than one program of study in the same area, generally understood to mean more than one program with the same name. This policy applies to any combination of majors, minors, and certificates. (For example, a student cannot earn both a BA and a BS in psychology, or complete a major and a minor in history, but a student can complete majors in both art and art history.) Departments may also restrict other combinations of programs of study (majors, minors, and certificates) with the major(s) they administer if they determine that there is substantial duplication of content between the two programs. 

Proposing a new major

Please refer to the Modifying the Undergraduate Curriculum page for information about how to propose a new program of study or significantly revise an existing program of study. Please also note that creating a new major requires a significant amount of time--typically at least 1.5 to 2 years. CLAS encourages departments to discuss ideas for new majors with the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education early in the planning process.