2021 Requirement Changes

As of July 2021, PSU’s Faculty Senate has approved some changes to the bachelor's degree requirements, which may allow some students to graduate earlier than they anticipated. These changes will automatically be reflected in the Degree Audit Reporting System (DARS) beginning in July 2021. If you have questions about how these changes might alter your degree plan, please reach out to your academic advisor or email askdars@pdx.edu.

Bachelor of Arts Degree (B.A.)

A minimum of 23 total credits required (may be more depending on foreign language placement), as follows:

CREDIT REQUIREMENT	ADDITIONAL INFO
Two years college-level language proficiency (completion of a minimum of 3 credits in 203 or a more advanced level course OR language waiver¹)	Students with no prior experience in a certain language will complete 101-103 and 201-203 in that language.
10 credits minimum in arts & letters	A minimum of 3 of the 10 credits must be in fine & performing arts
10 credits minimum in sciences and/or social sciences	A minimum of 3 of the 10 credits must be in science or mathematics, excluding Math 100 or lower

¹Students who are proficient in another language may be able to waive these language credits through a proficiency-based assessment or document review attesting proficiency; in that case, a minimum of 3 additional credits must be earned in arts & letters (i.e., student will need a minimum of 13 credits in arts & letters, of which at least 3 must be in fine & performing arts) in order to earn the total credits required.

More information on the B.A. language requirement can be found on the World Languages & Literatures website.

Bachelor of Science Degree (B.S.)

A minimum of 23 total credits required, as follows:

CREDIT REQUIREMENT	ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
One year of science courses (10 credits minimum)	Two courses (6 credits minimum) must include a lab or field work component. Courses may, but do not need to, be taken from the same science department.
3 credits minimum in college-level mathematics/statistics	Excluding remedial math (100 or lower)
10 credits minimum in arts & letters and/or social sciences

Students who have not met the Second Language Admission requirement will also need to satisfy this requirement prior to graduation.

Credit Requirements

The minimum number of upper division (300/400 level) credits were reduced, and the number of credits taken at PSU have been expanded to allow students to transfer more courses in their final credits.

Upper Division Credits: A minimum of 62 upper division (300/400 level) credits is required
Residence Credits: 45 of the final 75 credits (or 150 credits total) must be taken at PSU