Graduation Requirements

UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENTS

Please refer to the Undergraduate Bulletin corresponding with your Program Requirement Term for detailed information regarding University graduation requirements.

Transfer students will be expected to satisfy all FSU Bulletin requirements corresponding to the academic year in which the student first enrolled at Florida State University. However, they may choose to "adopt" the requirements stated in the bulletin in effect for the academic year in which they enrolled at a Florida public community college.

COLLEGE REQUIREMENTS

• COMPLETION OF A MAJOR

  • Each department sets the specific requirements for completion of the major(s) in that department. Students should meet with the department adviser in the intended major on a regular basis (e.g., once a semester) to lay out a plan of study. Since the required curriculum may change over time, it is important to refer to the appropriate edition of http://registrar.fsu.edu/bulletin/undergraduate/ (or contact the department adviser) to be aware of specific requirements.
  • Students need to be aware that no more than 4 hours in courses counted toward the major can also count toward General Education requirements. 

• COMPLETION OF A MINOR

  • Students must complete an approved minor.
    • To ensure that each student who graduates from the College of Arts and Sciences has a broad, liberal education, a concentration of courses in a department outside the major department is required. It is the responsibility of the student to meet the requirements for a minor based on information provided in the General Bulletin. While many minors require only twelve (12) semester hours, others may require as many as eighteen (18) semester hours. The minor department does not have to be in the College of Arts and Sciences but should be outside the student’s major department. If you have questions about the availability of specific courses, the preferred sequences of courses, etc., please contact the academic adviser for the minor department.
    • A complete list of minors can be found at http://www.academic-guide.fsu.edu/minors
    • Completion of an approved FSU certificate program will satisfy the college minor requirement. These can be found at https://academic-guide.fsu.edu/certificates-and-specialized-studies.
    • Requirements for each minor can be found in the Undergraduate Bulletin at http://registrar.fsu.edu/bulletin/undergraduate/
    • Although most majors in the College of Arts and Sciences require selection and completion of a specific academic minor, this is not true for the following programs: secondary science/math teaching; humanities; foreign language/business; and certain science majors that have a required collateral minor.
    • In addition, students completing a double major do not have to complete a minor. Students must declare additional majors before accumulating 90 earned hours. 
  • No courses used in satisfying major, foreign language, or General Education requirements may also be counted toward the minor. 
  • Students pursuing two degrees must have a separate minor for each degree that is awarded by this college. If one of the degrees is to be awarded by another college in the university, the dean's office of that college will specify whether minor requirements must be satisfied.
  • While students may choose to pursue additional minors, only one minor per degree will be verified for graduation and can be considered degree applicable for financial aid. 

• FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

  • Florida State University requires study of a foreign language in high school as a condition for acceptance to the university (two years at the high school level). However, all students who intend to graduate with a bachelor's degree (either a B.A. or B.S.) from a department in the College of Arts and Sciences must show language proficiency beyond that required for university admission. Specifically, students must demonstrate proficiency equivalent to or beyond that attained upon completion of the intermediate level course (2000-level) in a language other than English. Hours used to fulfill the foreign language requirement may not be counted toward a major or minor.
  • Proficiency in an ancient or modern foreign language can be demonstrated by successful completion of enrollment in a 2000-level course in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew (Biblical or Modern), Italian, Japanese, Latin, Portuguese, Russian or Spanish. All coursework used to fulfill the language requirement must be completed with a grade of “C-“ or better, or an S grade if taken on an S/U basis. Proficiency equivalent to completion of a 2000-level language course may be demonstrated through exemption or placement examinations. 
    • Modern Languages Exemption and Placement Options
      • Students who have prior knowledge of a language, either as a native speaker or are continuing a language from high school and have not earned college-level credit through an accelerated credit mechanism such as AP, IB, AICE, CLEP, or dual enrollment, should take the placement exam before enrolling in a college-level course to determine their proficiency level. It is possible to complete the proficiency requirement through a placement exam. If you have collegiate credit in a language, you can simply register for the next level in the sequence that you have the pre-requisite for. If your credit is transfer credit that does not have an equivalent at FSU, please consult with the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics before registering for your first language course at FSU.
      • Students wishing to place out of Spanish, French or German should review the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics Exemption and Placement website.
      • Native speakers of other modern languages should review the information found here.
    • Classical Languages Exemption and Placement Options
      • Students who wish to demonstrate proficiency in Latin should review this site for information about courses and exemption options.
      • Students who wish to demonstrate proficiency in either Biblical or Modern Hebrew should contact Dr. David Levenson (dlevenson@fsu.edu) in the Department of Religion for information about exemption and enrollment options.
    • American Sign Language Exemption and Placement Options
      • Students may use ASL to satisfy the Arts and Sciences Foreign Language requirement. The intermediate level proficiency course for ASL is ASL2160C.
      • The College of Communication and Information (CCI) offers ASL courses at FSU and does not allow these courses to be taken on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis.
      • Information about the ASL courses offered at FSU and ASL placement exam options can be found here.
      • As these courses have limited enrollment at FSU, please communicate with your departmental advisor regarding options for completing the required ASL courses before your junior year.
    • Students with no prior experience in the language they wish to study are not required to complete a placement exam and would enroll in the 1120 level of the language of interest. If a student is starting with the first level of a language, e.g., SPN1120 (4 credit hours), they would then complete the sequence by taking and passing the second level, e.g., SPN1121 (4 credit hours) and the intermediate level, e.g., SPN2220 (4 credit hours).
    • Students with college-level credit in a language will have their course placement level determined based on the evaluation of the transfer work completed.

SECOND BACCALAUREATE DEGREE OR DUAL DEGREE

• CONSECUTIVE BACHELOR'S DEGREE BEYOND THE FIRST BACHELOR'S DEGREE
  • Students may receive additional baccalaureate degrees beyond the first degree in cases where a bachelor's degree has already been awarded. University policy prohibits the awarding of more than one degree from the same degree program due to the overlap of core requirements of that degree program.
  • A student completing a second bachelor's degree in the College of Arts and Sciences must complete a minimum of thirty semester hours in residence, a new major (including computer competency), a new minor, satisfy the Civic Literacy requirement, and demonstrate satisfaction of the College of Arts and Sciences' foreign language requirement.
  • The additional thirty semester hours must be completed in residence after the completion of the first degree. Hours earned by the student during the completion of the first baccalaureate degree, over and above those actually required for the first degree, may not be included in the thirty semester hours.
  • With regards to the major, students will be permitted to use the prerequisites and core requirements that had been completed in a prior bachelor’s degree, but any elective courses cannot be applied to the second bachelor’s degree.
  • There are no General Education requirements for the second degree.
  • Foreign language proficiency, once established, can be used towards the additional bachelor's degree requirements.
• DUAL BACHELOR'S DEGREES
  • In certain cases, students may pursue multiple bachelor's degrees simultaneously. The requirement for earning concurrent, or dual, bachelor's degrees are:
    • (1) satisfy the requirements for each major/minor as well as individual college requirements for both the first and the second degrees;
    • (2) complete thirty semester hours in residence, in addition to the hours required for the first degree, for a minimum total of 150 earned hours, and
    • (3) complete all University degree requirements. There are no General Education requirements for the additional degree(s).
• Note: To distinguish between second baccalaureate degrees and second majors, see the appropriate paragraph under "Undergraduate Degree Requirements" in the Undergraduate General Bulletin.