2023-2024 Catalog

Degree Requirements

Within the semester-hour requirements for bachelors' and associates' degrees, certain courses and options must be taken as requisites to the degrees. Core Requirements provide the basic knowledge and skills necessary for successful academic work at higher levels, and the breadth of knowledge in many fields that is fundamental to liberal education. Courses that fulfill the Creativity and Innovation, Social and Intellectual History, Modern Language, Studies in Literature, Quantitative Analysis, Seminar for Freshmen, Human Behavior and Societies, or VPATH requirements may double count to fulfill the Social, Cultural, and Global Perspectives (SCGP) requirement. Courses that fulfill the Modern Language Requirement at the level of 202 or above may double count to fulfill one (1) additional core requirement. Within the core, triple counting of requirements is not permitted.

To complete any major in CAS, students are required to take a minimum of 12 semester hours of courses in the major department at Suffolk University. Students must achieve a minimum 2.0 grade point average in their major. Courses that are taken as part of a student’s Major or Complementary Major Requirements, which are also listed under the College Requirements, can be used to satisfy both Major and Core Requirements.

Any course may count only once toward the 126-hour requirement for bachelors' degrees (124-hour requirement for the BFA) and the 64-hour requirement for associates' degrees. Individual exemptions from Core Requirements, based on examination and recommendation of the appropriate departments, may be granted by the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. Semester-hour credit is not granted for such exemptions.

Students should have finished WRI-101 and WRI-102 or authorized equivalents by the time they have reached 64 credits. Delaying the first-year writing requirement may impair performance in upper-division courses and make it difficult to graduate on schedule. Upper-division students who have not completed all writing requirements should do so before they achieve senior status.