Major Requirements

Remember that undergraduates must satisfy university requirements for a bachelor of science or bachelor of arts degree, including group and multi-cultural requirements, as described under Bachelor's Degree Requirements at the website of the Office of the Registrar.

1. A minimum of 48 credits in undergraduate political science courses; of these, a minimum of 32 credits must be upper division.
2. The 48 credits that satisfy major requirements must be taken for letter grades and passed with C- or better. Exceptions: Thesis (PS 403) and Honors Thesis Prospectus (PS 411), offered pass/no pass (P/N) only, may be applied to the 48 credits; one additional course (up to 4 credits) may be taken pass/no pass (P/N).
3. No more than a total of 16 credits in Research (PS 401), Thesis (PS 403), Reading and Conference (PS 405), Field Studies (PS406), Workshop (PS 408), Honors Thesis Prospectus (PS 411), and Political Science pre-approved Overseas Internship–IE3 (OINT 488) may be applied toward the 48 credit requirement.  These courses do not fulfill the subfield requirement.  Credits earned in Practicum (PS 409) may not be applied to the major.
4. No more than 10 credits of Field Studies (PS 406)/Overseas Internship-IE3 (OINT 488) may be applied toward the 48-credit requirement.  This work must be done under the direct supervision of a faculty member who, prior to registration, must approve and set up academic criteria to evaluate the work.  PS 406/OINT 488 credit must be earned at the University of Oregon.
5. Work completed in Special Studies (PS 199 or 399), Seminars (PS 407) or Experimental Courses (PS 410) may be included in the 48 credit requirement and counted toward the subfield requirement.
6. Of the 48 credits, 8 must be taken in each of three subfields for a total of 24 credits.  A complete list of courses and their assigned subfields is available on the political science website.  Course subfields are also indicated by notes in the class schedule.  The three subfields are:  U.S. Politics, World Politics, and Political Theory.

You can view and print a Degree Worksheet to help you calculate your credit requirements.

Freshmen and Transfer Students. There are no departmental requirements for entering freshmen. Students planning to transfer to the university from two-year colleges should take the basic introductory political science courses offered at those institutions. At least 20 credits in upper-division graded political science courses must be completed in residence at the University of Oregon to qualify for a B.A. or B.S. degree in political science. Transfer students must meet the subfield distribution requirement.

Second Bachelor's Degree. Students who want to obtain a second bachelor's degree in political science must complete 48 credits in political science, as outlined above.

Also see Honors in Political Science.

Questions?

General questions regarding degree requirements may be directed to the undergraduate coordinator or to the peer advisors.

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