Requirements for the Baccalaureate Degree
Minimum Number of Semester Hours
A minimum of 120 semester hours, i.e., the total of the course credits; as in "a minimum of 60 of the 120 semester hours shall be in the liberal arts and sciences." Beginning in the Fall 2017 term, the last 12 credits for completing a bachelor's degree must be taken at Mount Saint Mary College unless approved by the Academic Standards Committee under extenuating circumstances.
Liberal Arts and Sciences
Among the 120 semester hours, a minimum of 90 credits shall be in the liberal arts and sciences for a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. For the Bachelor of Science (BS) degree, a minimum of 60 of the 120 semester hours shall be in the liberal arts and sciences. For the BS degree through the education curriculum, a minimum of 60-89 of the 120 semester hours shall be in the liberal arts and sciences. For the BS degree for the nursing curriculum, a minimum of 60 of the 120 semester hours shall be in the liberal arts and sciences.
Minimum Grade Point Average
A minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.0 (C grade) is required for the four years of study. Students pursuing New York State teaching certification must achieve a minimum GPA of 2.75.For a major to be recorded on the transcript, a student must have a minimum 2.0 Grade Point Average, calculated from all required courses contributing to the major.
General Education Courses
Completion of 39 credits in general education courses or liberal arts as shown below.
Division of Arts and Letters (12 credits)
ENG 1010 (3) and ENG 1020 (3) are required courses for all students. At least 6 additional credits must be taken in this division. These 12 credits must be distributed over at least two areas in the division: English/communication arts (considered one area); and fine arts (art, music, and theater) or foreign languages. All teacher education students must complete at least 3 credits of a language other than English and all childhood education students must also have at least one course in art, music or theater.
Placement into ENG 1010 College Writing is determined by the score on the writing section of the SAT/ACT. Students scoring less than 430 on the SAT or less than 18 on ACT will be placed in ENG 1000 (Fundamentals of Writing). ENG 1000 is a credit-bearing course but is not credit toward core.
Division of Natural Sciences and Division of Mathematics and Information Technology (9 credits)
A minimum of one 3- or 4-credit laboratory science is required.
Science majors are advised to take
Non-science majors may take either
A minimum of one 3- or 4-credit mathematics course is required. Depending on the student's mathematical proficiency and on the requirements of individual majors, the following courses are appropriate. Science majors are advised to take MTH 1500 (3) or SCI 1030 (4); non-science majors may elect MTH 1015 or any higher-level course in mathematics. Various examinations are given to identify students' aptitude for quantitative literacy. If students do not receive a satisfactory score on the placement test to take college-level mathematics course, they will be required to take MTH 1000.
The remaining 3-credit General Education requirement may be taken in either the Division of Natural Science (astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, or science (SCI)) or the Division of Mathematics and Information Technology (the only CSC and CIT courses that count for general education are CIT 3250 , CIT 1900 or CIT 2550 ).
Division of Philosophy and Religious Studies (9 credits)
A minimum of 3 credits in philosophy and a minimum of 3 credits in religious studies are required. The remaining 3 credits may be in either philosophy or religious studies.
Division of Social Sciences (9 credits)
A minimum of one 3-credit course is required in history; any 1000-level course fulfills this requirement. The remaining 6 credits may be taken in the following areas so that within the total social science credits two areas are fulfilled: anthropology, criminology (CRI 1110 only) economics, geography, history, political science, psychology and sociology.