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Requirements
To earn a degree from the College of Arts and Science, you must complete:
- Miami Plan for Liberal Education requirements
- College of Arts and Science requirements
- Major requirements
- Graduation requirements
Miami Plan for Liberal Education
You will take courses to meet Miami Plan requirements, regardless of your major. Courses in the Miami Plan are specifically designed to emphasize:
- Thinking critically
- Understanding contexts
- Engaging with other learners
- Reflecting and acting
The Miami Plan complements your major and broadens your view through a variety of coursework in several foundation areas. In addition to the foundation requirements, students must also complete a Thematic Sequence and a Senior Capstone.
[Learn more about Liberal Education at Miami.]
College of Arts and Science
The divisional requirement in Arts and Science is called the College Requirement, but is more commonly referred to as the CAS requirements. Some courses you take for the Miami Plan can also help you fulfill the College Requirement and your major requirements. It is important that you meet with your first-year advisor or a CAS academic advisor to ensure that you are selecting courses that meet your requirements.
The College Requirement includes:
- CAS-A: Foreign Language
- CAS-B: Humanities
- CAS-C: Social Science
- CAS-D: Natural Science
- CAS-E: Formal Reasoning
- Advanced Hours: 56 hours at or above the 200-level
Note: Although some courses can be used to complete requirements in both the CAS and Miami Plan, not all Miami Plan courses meet CAS requirements and vice versa.
[See Basic Requirements: Bachelor of Arts (Miami General Bulletin).]
[Learn more about the College Requirement (Miami General Bulletin).]
Bachelor of Arts vs. Bachelor of Science
If you are working toward a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.), you must fulfill all sections of the College Requirement; if you are working toward the Bachelor of Science (B.S.), you need only fulfill CAS-A (foreign language), but the B.S. requires more hours of concentration in your major.
[Learn more about majors associated with each degree.]
Major
Your major is your primary field of study, such as botany, French, international studies, etc. You do not need to declare a major when you enroll. You can choose your major once you've had a chance to explore your options.
[Learn more about individual major requirements.]
Graduation
Bachelor's Degree
For the bachelor's degree, the basic requirements for graduation are:
- Fulfill the Miami Plan:
- 36 semester hours of Foundation Courses
- 9 semester hours of Thematic Sequence
- 3 semester hours of Capstone Experience
- Complete 80-86 semester hours of Field
(major/minor courses, divisional requirements, electives). - Earn 128 semester hours total:
- Of the total 128 semester hours, at least 32 must be from Miami University (any campus), including 12 of the final 20 hours required for the bachelor's degree.
- You must earn at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA, and a 2.0 GPA in your department of major.
- If you are enrolled in one of the professional arrangement programs, in which you transfer to another university after three years, you must earn 96 Miami hours in the College of Arts and Science or 64 hours in the Richard T. Farmer School of Business. In all cases, 32 of your last 40 hours must be from Miami.
- Apply for graduation whether or not you plan to attend the ceremony.
Applying for Graduation
Whether or not you plan to attend the commencement ceremony, you must apply for graduation and pay a fee.