Field Major Requirements

A minimum total of 120 credit hours is required for the Field Major. In addition to meeting the requirements of the WSU General Education Program and the requirements of Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, students must meet the following requirements:

Students may select a major that correlates three or more fields of study to receive a broad appreciation of the cultural and dynamic factors of human conduct. The selection of courses must be made with an LAS academic advisor. Although such a major cuts across departmental lines and is determined by the field of specific interest, the combination of courses must be acceptable to the college. A minimum of 36 credit hours are required for the Field Major, with a minimum of 18 credit hours in the primary area and a minimum of 9 credit hours in each of the two allied areas. Twelve (12) of the 36 credit hours must be upper-division, and the first two areas must be LAS or historically LAS. The third area may cross departmental or college lines or be thematically or occupationally related. Students may work with an academic advisor in developing an appropriate Field Major or may use one of the predesigned field majors indicated below. Students must meet BA graduation requirements for all field majors except biochemistry and chemistry/business which lead to the BS degree.

For the purposes of the Field Major, LAS courses can include the academic majors and disciplines housed historically in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, including aging studies (AGE) (formerly gerontology), art history (ARTH), communication sciences and disorders (CSD), economics (ECON), music composition (MUSC), and theatre (THEA). Additionally, any non-LAS courses used in the tertiary area will apply toward LAS credit hours.

All 18 credit hours in the primary department of interest must be courses approved for a major or minor as defined for that department in the Undergraduate Catalog.

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Required major courses may also count towards General Education and/or LAS Competencies. Students will need to select additional electives to reach 120 credit hours required for graduation with assistance from an advisor.

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The selection of courses for the Field Major requirements must be made with an LAS academic advisor.

Bachelor of General Studies Requirements 

A minimum total of 120 credit hours is required for the Bachelor of General Studies (BGS). In addition to meeting the requirements of the WSU General Education Program and the requirements of Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, students must meet the following requirements:

The Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) degree allows students to design a major plan of study crossing departmental or even college lines. The BGS degree allows generalists, preprofessionals or nontraditional career students greater flexibility in planning their academic major plans.

For the purposes of the BGS major, LAS courses can include the academic majors and disciplines housed historically in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, including aging studies (AGE) (formerly gerontology), art history (ARTH), communication sciences and disorders (CSD), economics (ECON), music composition (MUSC), and theatre (THEA).

With the assistance of an LAS academic advisor, each student develops a major plan of study consisting of a minimum of 33 credit hours, divided into three areas. The primary and secondary areas must be subjects in LAS departments or historically LAS departments. The tertiary area may cross departmental or college lines or be thematically or occupationally related, or be another subject in an LAS department or historically LAS department. The primary area must consist of a minimum of 15 credit hours. The secondary and tertiary areas each must consist of a minimum of 6 credit hours. Additional credit hours beyond the area minimums will be required to meet the minimum of 33 credit hours across all three areas. All courses used in the primary area must be courses approved for an academic major or minor as defined by that academic department in the Undergraduate Catalog. A minimum of 12 LAS upper-division credit hours and 9 hours of credit taken from Wichita State University must be included in the major plan.

Additional requirements for the BGS degree include: no more than 30 credit hours may be counted toward the degree from one subject; no more than 60 credit hours may be counted toward the degree in one division (humanities, social and behavioral sciences, natural sciences and mathematics); and a minimum of 94 LAS credit hours must be completed, which can include majors and disciplines historically housed in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Additionally, any non-LAS courses used in the tertiary area will apply toward LAS credit hours.

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Required major courses may also count towards General Education and/or LAS Competencies. Students will need to select additional electives to reach 120 credit hours required for graduation with assistance from an advisor.

Applied Learning

Students in the Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) degree or Field Major (FM) are required to complete an applied learning or research experience to graduate from the program. The requirement can be met through one of the three options.

1. Students can take a Cooperative Education class (any 481 course) in one of the areas of study for the BGS or FM; or
2. Students can take a  LASI 481 class; or
3. Students can take a class in one of the areas of study in their BGS or FM with an applied learning component. For example classes with volunteer hours required; a class with specific experiential applied learning; classes with a field experience, internship or practicum; a class with a research requirement; or a capstone course in a degree program. See table below for the full list of accepted courses.