The following graduation requirements apply to all students. Meeting graduation requirements is the individual responsibility of each student. The student and advisor should check the student’s program of courses frequently to assure that the student is fulfilling the following graduation requirements (all references to hours indicate semester credit hours.)
The actual hour requirement for an undergraduate degree varies by the program or combination of programs that a student elects. A student must have a minimum of 120 hours of credit acceptable toward graduation. Some courses may not count toward graduation. These restrictions are noted in the course descriptions. Some curricula or combinations of fields require additional hours. If all specified requirements are completed with fewer than 120 hours, a student must elect sufficient additional course work to total at least 120.
A student may apply for and receive two bachelor's degrees at the same time. To receive two degrees simultaneously, two different majors are required. The degrees may be the same (e.g., two B.A. degrees) or different (e.g., a B.A. degree and a B.S. degree). All specified major requirements for both degrees must be met as well as all general graduation requirements for both bachelor's degrees. A minimum of 150 credit hours is required to receive both degrees.
There are a variety of baccalaureate degrees. Students graduating from B.A. or B.S. degree programs must meet specific requirements beyond major and other graduation requirements. A student pursuing the B.A. degree will acquire knowledge of a foreign language as demonstrated by successful completion of LAN 115 (or equivalent).
A student pursuing the B.S. degree will complete a three-hour natural science, mathematics, statistics, or technology (SMT) course beyond General Education requirements. (See also III, below.)
There are three ways to complete General Education requirements at Illinois State University. The first way is to complete Illinois State’s General Education Program. The second way is to complete the Illinois Transferable General Education Core Curriculum available through the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI). This program, designed for transfer students, is a statewide agreement between participating colleges and universities and some private schools that is designed to facilitate timely degree completion.
The third way is to complete a baccalaureate-oriented Associates Degree.
Each candidate for a B.S. or B.A. degree must complete a major field of study. Completion of a second major, a minor, or a second minor is optional unless specified by the student’s major. A teacher education student who is a candidate for a B.S., B.A., B.S. in Ed. or B.M.E. degree must complete professional education requirements and a major approved for teacher education.
Some teacher education programs require the completion of requirements for a second teaching field. At least half (with a minimum of nine) of the credit hours for a minor must be distinct from any hours the student counts toward a major within the same department or school. A department or school seeking an exception must provide convincing evidence that the resulting major/minor combination confers a breadth of knowledge that meaningfully exceeds what the major alone would provide. This policy applies to both first and second majors and minors.
The senior college hours (courses numbered 200 or above) must total at least 42 hours. Coursework transferred from other colleges and universities is not counted as senior college credit if freshmen and sophomores are regularly permitted to enroll in such work. No credit from two year colleges may be counted as senior level.
The grade point average for all courses taken at Illinois State University must be 2.0 (C) or higher. In addition, the student must have a grade point average of 2.0 (C) (or higher as required by certain programs) in the courses required in the major, and in the minor if the student has a minor.
A student may not graduate with incomplete grades. Each Incomplete grade (I) must be removed at least six weeks before December or May commencement, or two weeks before August graduation, if the course is to be used in meeting graduation requirements.
Unless otherwise specified in a specific program, at least 30 of the last 60 hours completed toward the baccalaureate degree must be earned at Illinois State.
Because disciplinary knowledge advances and course content changes as a consequence, some courses taken seven or more years prior to an advance registration period will not automatically be accepted as prerequisites for other courses. When a department or school determines that applicability of a course will lapse, it will designate this in the prerequisite listing as "taken within x years." For example, for MAT 146, the prerequisite might read "C or better in MAT 145 taken within 10 years required."
Every student graduating from Illinois State University must have successfully completed a course designated as a course in the cultures and traditions of societies or peoples from Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, or Indigenous Peoples of the World. Such designations are located in course descriptions.
A student may count no more than 16 hours of professional practice courses (198, 298, 398) toward graduation. Some programs allow fewer than 16 hours. A student may count no more than 6 hours of independent study (287) credit toward graduation.
A student may not graduate with a disciplinary hold on his or her record.
Native Students under the 2012-2014 and earlier catalogs complete the Illinois State University General Education Program, requiring 14 courses, totaling 42 semester hours, as outlined below:
Inner Core (5 courses required)
Middle Core (5 courses required)
Outer Core (4 courses required)
Depending on the major, a student may be exempted from one General Education category (maximum of one course) because of disciplinary expertise gained in the major as listed in the Undergraduate Catalog.
Native Students under the 2014-2016 and later catalogs complete the Illinois State University General Education Program, requiring 13 courses, totaling 39 semester hours, as outlined below:
Depending on the major, a student may be exempted from one General Education category (maximum of one course) because of disciplinary expertise gained in the major as listed in the Undergraduate Catalog.
Each student seeking a bachelor’s degree must satisfy the requirements of the General Education Program.
All other students must meet the minimum requirements for each core requirement in the program—a total of 42 hours. The Proficiency and Placement Examinations section of the University Undergraduate Catalog describes how a student may meet some of the General Education requirements through the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) or other proficiency examinations.
Undergraduate degrees available at Illinois State University include the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science in Education, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Music Education, and Bachelor of Social Work degrees. When applying for graduation, the student indicates the specific degree that he or she is qualified to receive. Other requirements are specified for each degree below.
Statement of Purpose - The Bachelor of Arts degree provides for the acquisition of written and oral communication skills, creative thinking, abilities in the critical analyses of texts, the understanding of cultures, and a working knowledge of social, political, and historical contexts. The degree is typically pursued by those students whose academic emphasis in their major area of study is directed toward the humanities, arts, and selected areas of the social sciences disciplines.
Statement of Requirements - General Education requirements, general requirements for graduation, and knowledge of a foreign language as demonstrated by successful completion of LAN 115 (or the equivalent). A student seeking a B.A. degree takes LAN 115 in place of Quantitative Reasoning.
Statement of Purpose - The Bachelor of Science degree provides for the acquisition of oral and written communication skills and the acquisition of analytical skills for examining and solving problems. The degree is typically pursued by those students whose academic emphasis in their major area of study is directed towards the natural sciences, mathematics, statistics, or a technological field.
Statement of Requirements - General Education requirements, general requirements for graduation, and increased knowledge of the natural sciences, mathematics, statistics, and/or technology. This knowledge is demonstrated by the successful completion of a three-hour course, beyond those required for General Education, selected from an approved list of courses that involve natural sciences, mathematics, statistics, and technology (SMT).
Statement of Purpose - The Bachelor of Science in Education degree encourages acquisition of communication skills, development of analytical skills for examining and solving problems, and the understanding of cultures with special emphasis on application to the art and science of teaching. The degree is typically pursued by students interested in the teaching profession.
Statement of Requirements - General Education requirements, general requirements for graduation, and increased knowledge and skills related to professional standards established by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) through the successful completion of professional education requirements and approved teacher education major requirements.
Statement of Purpose - The Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree provides graduates with knowledge and skills in communication, critical thinking for analyzing and solving problems, and an understanding of the societal changes that impact health care. Courses from the Humanities, Psychology, Physical and Social Sciences, as well as the use of technology, provide a foundation for scientific inquiry and application of nursing knowledge and theories to diverse populations and settings.
Statement of Requirements - General Education requirements, general requirements for graduation, and nursing field of study requirements.
Statement of Purpose - The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree encourages the acquisition and display of talent in theatre and art, with special emphasis on aesthetic performance and understanding. The degree is typically pursued by individuals interested in the creative and fine arts.
Statement of Requirements - General Education requirements, general requirements for graduation, and art or theatre field of study requirements for B.F.A. degree.
Statement of Purpose - The Bachelor of Music degree encourages the acquisition and display of talent in music, with special emphasis on aesthetic performance and understanding. This degree is typically pursued by individuals interested in music performance.
Statement of Requirements - General Education requirements, general requirements for graduation, and music field of study requirements for B.M. degree.
Statement of Purpose - The Bachelor of Music Education degree encourages the acquisition and display of talent in music, with special emphasis on teaching music. This degree is typically pursued by individuals interested in becoming music teachers.
Statement of Requirements - General Education requirements, general requirements for graduation; music field of study requirements for B.M.E. degree, and professional education requirements.
Statement of Purpose - The B.S.W. encourages acquisition of communication skills; development of analytical skills for examining and solving problems; and the understanding of social, cultural and legal structures with special emphasis on application to the profession of social work. The degree is pursued by all undergraduates in the School of Social Work and is recognized as the first professional degree in the field that prepares undergraduate students for beginning generalist social work practice.
Statement of Requirements - General Education requirements, general requirements for graduation, and Social Work major requirements.
All hours that are required to graduate within a specific program, including required prerequisites, are included in the calculation of hours mandated by the program. Exceptions to the following guidelines may be approved only by agreement of the University Curriculum Committee and the Academic Senate.
*Exemption from the 124-semester hour limit to a baccalaureate degree may be granted to individual major programs based normally upon (but not limited to) certification requirements, disciplinary standards, or professional credentialing standards. Such exemptions will be rare and must be approved by the University Curriculum Committee.
It is the responsibility of the School/Department to demonstrate the need for such an exemption after making a constructive, documented effort to restructure the courses in its curriculum to fit the program within the 124-semester hour limit. Requests for renewal of such exemptions are to be made during regularly scheduled program review.
Policy Owner: Academic Senate, University Curriculum Committee
Contact: Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost (309-438-7018)
Revised on: 01/2016
