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Does your job, family, geographic location, or another personal circumstance prevent you from attending college as a full-time, on-campus student? Liberal studies may be an option for you at The University of Iowa.
Why
Choose Liberal Studies at Iowa?
The Bachelor of Liberal Studies (BLS) program is offered to serve those adults who, for a
variety of reasons, might not otherwise be able to attend The University
of Iowa, obtain a degree, or meet personal career goals.
Students may complete their degrees without attending a course on campus.
Credit can be earned through several types of courses, including print-
and web-based independent study, extension courses at sites throughout
the state, interactive and broadcast televised courses, Saturday and evening
courses, and regular session courses.
Each of the three Board of Regents, State of Iowa, universities offers this
program. Courses from any of the three Regents universities may be applied
toward the degree, as may appropriate courses from other accredited institutions.
At The University of Iowa, the BLS is awarded by the College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences and administered by the Division of Continuing Education.
Admission
To be eligible for admission to the BLS program, students must
have earned either:
• An Associate of Arts (AA) degree from an Iowa area community college
that participates in the Iowa Community College/Regents Articulation
Agreement, with a GPA of 2.00 or higher, or
• At least 60 s.h. of collegiate work acceptable for credit toward graduation,
with a GPA of 2.50 or higher.
Students
enrolled at The University of Iowa must have a GPA of at least 2.00
to qualify for admission to the BLS program.
Students who want to graduate with a BLS degree must make a formal
application for admission to the program. Interested students
may contact the Center
for Credit Programs office before applying.
All applications to the program are screened. Students who have
access to the full range of the University's daytime classes should
seek admission
to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in order to pursue
a major leading to a degree other than the BLS. Non-BLS students
interested in
tailoring a degree program to their individual interests should
consider pursuing the interdepartmental studies major. Course
Work
Of the 120 semester hours (s.h.) required for the degree, 30 s.h. must
be earned at The University of Iowa after admission to the BLS program.
At least 60 s.h. must be earned at four-year colleges, including 45 s.h.
defined as upper-level. For the BLS, UI courses are considered upper-level
if they are numbered 100 and above. A few courses numbered below 100 may
be considered upper-level for the BLS; a list of these courses is available
from the Center for
Credit Programs.
BLS candidates are required to complete the College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences’ General Education Program.
Since there are no traditional majors available through the BLS program,
candidates organize their study by earning at least 12 s.h. of credit—including
6 s.h. of upper-level credit—in each of three of the following areas:
• Humanities (e.g., literature, history, philosophy, religion)
• Communication and arts (e.g., journalism, speech, drama, art, music)
• Natural sciences and mathematics (e.g., geology, biological sciences,
statistics, computer science)
• Social sciences (e.g., geography, psychology, economics, political science,
anthropology)
• Professional fields (e.g., business, education, nursing, social work,
library science)
Students
must maintain a grade-point average (GPA) of 2.00 or higher
in all course work applied toward the degree, all course work
completed after
admission to the program, and all upper-level course work. Minor
Since the BLS is a general undergraduate degree
without a traditional major, BLS students may not earn minors.
However,
the program’s requirements are flexible enough to allow
students—with help from an advisor—to develop
a plan of study that meets their individual needs and objectives.
Careers
Many BLS candidates choose the BLS program and develop a plan of study
designed to help them advance in their chosen career, begin a new career,
or prepare for graduate or professional study.
Students with specific career goals or advanced degree programs in mind
should learn what educational background they will need in order to achieve
their goals, then include those appropriate courses in their BLS degree
programs.
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