Chapter III: Degree Requirements and Graduation Procedures Requirements Particular to the A.B. and B.S. Degrees By the end of the sophomore year, students should have met the language requirement, made substantial progress toward completing an area distribution plan, and completed prerequisites for a concentration. Concentration The concentration requirement provides the opportunity to acquire in-depth knowledge in one academic discipline while developing and refining skills that will serve students in a wide array of academic and non-academic endeavors. Students normally declare a concentration during the second term of the sophomore year. To declare a concentration, a student should contact the appropriate department and make an appointment with a concentration advisor. After developing a concentration plan with the student, the concentration advisor has the concentration entered on the student's record. A student may change the concentration plan with the approval of the concentration advisor. Students may change concentrations after meeting with a concentration advisor in a different department. Concentration Policies Each A.B. or B.S. student must develop a concentration plan in consultation with a concentration advisor, who must also approve it. Course requirements for the various concentration programs range from 24 to 37 credits at the 200-level and above. No more than 60 credits in a concentration (including courses in one department and the required cognates) may be counted toward the 120 for the degree. When an academic department has two or more SUBJECTs (e.g., Anthropology, Romance Languages and Literatures), a student may count a total of 60 credits from that department, not from each SUBJECT. No more than 60 credits in one language may be counted in the 120 required for a degree. However, the 60 credit limit on courses elected in one concentration may be exceeded when the excess credits have been used to meet the language requirement. Students electing an area, interdepartmental, or special concentration may count no more than 60 credits in any one department. Students may not elect courses in a concentration plan, including required cognates, using the Pass/Fail grading option. A department or program may include Experiential or Directed Reading/Independent Study courses that are graded on a Credit/No Credit basis in its concentration program, but all other concentration courses must be taken for a grade. No course from the department of concentration or a required course in a concentration plan may be part of a distribution plan (see, however, "Double Concentration" below). A student must earn an overall GPA of at least 2.0 in courses taken in the field of concentration. This includes all courses taken in the department of concentration (prerequisites, required courses, and electives) and any required cognates. Exceptions for specific concentrations are in Chapter VI. Courses that are part of the student's concentration plan may also meet the Upper-Level Writing Requirement, the Race & Ethnicity Requirement, or the Quantitative Reasoning Requirement. Concentration Programs Students may choose a concentration from: Afroamerican and African Studies American Culture Ancient Civilizations and Biblical Studies Anthropology Anthropology-Zoology Arabic, Armenian, Persian, Turkish, and Islamic Studies Arts and Ideas in the Humanities (RC only) Asian Studies Astronomy and Astrophysics Biochemistry Biology Biophysics Biopsychology and Cognitive Science Cell and Molecular Biology Cell and Molecular Biology and Biomedical Engineering Chemistry Classical Archaeology Classical Civilization Classical Languages and Literatures Communication Studies Comparative Literature Computer Science Creative Writing and Literature (RC only) Drama (RC only) Dramatic Writing Economics English Environment Environmental Geology Film and Video Studies French and Francophone Studies General Biology General Physics Geological Sciences German Greek Hebrew and Jewish Cultural Studies History History of Art Individual Concentration Program Italian Judaic Studies Latin Latin American and Caribbean Studies Latino or Hispanic-American Studies Linguistics Mathematics Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMS) Microbiology Middle Eastern and North African Studies Music Near Eastern Civilizations Oceanography Organizational Studies Physics Plant Biology Political Science Psychology Russian Russian and East European Studies Social Anthropology Social Science (RC only) Sociology Spanish Statistics Theatre and Drama Women's Studies Individual Concentration Program Students with academic interests outside existing concentration programs may propose their own field of concentration and, on approval, elect the Individual Concentration Program which is described in Chapter VI. Double Concentration A student electing a double concentration must meet all requirements for both concentrations. Courses, including cognates, elected as part of one concentration plan may be used, when appropriate, to satisfy the requirements of the second concentration. Courses from one the concentrations may be used toward distribution. Each concentration plan must be developed in consultation with and approved by a concentration advisor. See "Graduation Procedures" below concerning double concentration graduation policies. University of Michigan | College of LS&A | Student Academic Affairs | LS&A Bulletin Index This page maintained by LS&A Academic Information and Publications, 1228 Angell Hall Copyright © 2002 The Regents of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA +1 734 764-1817 Trademarks of the University of Michigan may not be electronically or otherwise altered or separated from this document or used for any non-University purpose.