College of Liberal Arts Requirements for Bachelor of Arts

Course reuse:

Students must fulfill the course requirements for all declared programs. Courses may be reused between programs with the following restrictions:

For students who elect a double major where the majors are both in the College of Liberal Arts, no more than two courses may be used toward the fulfillment of both majors.
For students who elect a minor where the major and minor are both in the College of Liberal Arts, no more than one course may be used toward the fulfillment of both the major and the minor.
For students who elect a double major where the majors are in different schools/colleges, no more than two courses at the 300-level or above may be used toward the fulfillment of both majors.
For students who elect a minor where the major and minor are in different schools/colleges, no more than one course at the 300-level or above may be used toward the fulfillment of both the major and the minor.

General Education

See General Education for an overview for the curriculum including how to search for courses that meet general education categories .

Verbal Reasoning and Expression

Composition I is waived if a student transfers in Composition II.
Both courses are waived for students matriculating with 90 or more transfer credits.

Students in the Honors College will fulfill this requirement with Honors English 101 or 102.

Critical Analysis

First Year Seminar
Intermediate Seminar

Students matriculating with 30 or more transfer credits do not have to complete a first year seminar.
Students matriculating with 90 or more transfer credits do not have to complete either requirement.

Students in the Honors College will fulfill the first year seminar requirement with HONORS 101 - Honors First-year Seminar and HONORS 210G - Honors Intermediate Seminar .

Writing Proficiency

Students must complete either a portfolio or a timed written exam. This requirement should be completed when a student has earned between 60 and 75 credits.

See Writing Proficiency for more information.

Quantitative Reasoning

Quantitative Reasoning will be met by satisfying one of the following:

Successful completion of either MATH 114QR or MATH 115 or any other Mathematics course with a course number higher than 115.
Successful completion of any Mathematics Distribution course with MATH 114QR or MATH 115 as a prerequisite.
Demonstration of proficiency at the level of MATH 114QR or MATH 115 through Advanced Placement or CLEP tests. [AP and CLEP give college credit.]
Placement into MATH 125 or higher through a University-approved Math Placement Test taken in a proctored setting.

Distribution Areas

One Arts (AR)
One Humanities (HU)
One Arts (AR) or Humanities (HU)
Three Social and Behavioral Science (SB)
One Natural Sciences (NS)
Two Natural Sciences (NS) or Math/Technology (MT)
Two World Languages (WL) or World Cultures (WC) or one intensive language course

Elementary Language Proficiency

The elementary language proficiency requirement can be fulfilled by meeting one of the following:

Completing or transferring in a college foreign language course at the 102 level or higher. If a student completes or transfers in two semesters of the same language (such as 101 and 102), the student will also meet the two-course World Culture (WC)/World Language (WL) requirement.
Completing up to level three of the same foreign language in high school.
Completing at least one year of secondary or post-secondary education in a non-English-speaking school or university.
Scoring three or higher on an AP exam in a foreign language, or scoring 50 or higher on a CLEP exam in a foreign language.
Demonstrating proficiency to the appropriate language department or, if the language is not taught at UMass Boston, to the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies.

Diversity Areas

One United States Diversity
One International Diversity

Students matriculating with 60 or more transfer credits may complete this requirement with one diversity course in either area.