(All credit hours referred to in listings of requirements are semester hours.)
Total Required Hours and Cumulative GPA
A minimum of 128 semester hours must be completed with a grade point average (GPA) of 2.00. A 2.50 is required in the Schools of Business and Education and Kinesiology, plus the Departments of Economics, History, Languages and Literatures (Hispanic Studies), Sociology, and Social Work.
Upper-Division Courses: 40-hour Rule
A minimum of 40 semester hours must be completed from courses numbered 300 or above. Courses from two-year institutions are not considered upper division regardless of subject matter parallels (and regardless of major/minor exceptions). At least 20 of the 40 semester hours of upper-division work must be taken at PLU.
Final Year in Residence: 32-Hour Rule
Out of the final 40 semester hours of a student’s program, at least 32 semester hours must be completed in residence at PLU. That is, no more than eight transfer credits may be applied during a student’s final 40 hours in a degree program. (Special programs such as 3-2 Engineering and Study Away during a semester or January term are excluded from this limitation.)
Academic Major: 8-Hour Rule
A major must be completed as detailed by each school or department. At least eight semester hours must be taken in residence. Departments, divisions, or schools may set higher residency requirements.
Minimum Grades: Courses in the Major and Minor
All courses counted toward a major or minor must be completed with grades of C- or higher and with a cumulative grade point average of 2.00 or higher in those courses. Departments, divisions, or schools may set higher grade requirements.
44-Hour Limit
After matriculation, no more than 44 semester hours earned in one department may be applied to the B.A. or B.S. degrees.
Music Ensembles: 8-Hour Rule
Non-music majors may not count more than eight semester hours in music ensembles toward graduation requirements.
Correspondence/Extension Courses: Limitations
A maximum of 24 semester hours in accredited correspondence or extension studies may be credited toward degree requirements, contingent on approval by the Office of the Registrar. Courses offered through correspondence, on-line, distance learning, or independent study are not accepted to fulfill the General Education Program elements in Language, Literature, Philosophy or Religion.
64-Hour and 96-Hour Rule
A student may transfer a maximum of 96 semester hours. Of these, the maximum transferable from a two-year school is 64 semester hours. Upon matriculation at PLU, a student with 64 semester hours from a two-year school may not transfer any additional hours from a two-year school in exchange for those already transferred.
Physical Education Courses: 8-Hour Rule
Four different one-semester hour courses (PHED 100–259), which must include PHED 100, are required for graduation. No more than eight of the one-semester hour PE activity courses may be counted toward graduation. Students are encouraged to select a variety of activities at appropriate skill levels. All physical education activity courses are graded on the basis of A, Pass, or Fail and are taught on a coeducational basis.
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES REQUIREMENT
In addition to meeting the entrance requirement in foreign language (two years of high school language, one year of college language, or demonstrated equivalent proficiency), candidates for degrees from the College of Arts and Sciences (B.A., B.S.) must meet Option I, II, or III below.
Candidates for the B.A. with a major in English, for the B.A. in Education with a secondary teaching major in English, for the B.A. in Global Studies, and for election to the Areté Society must meet Option I.
Candidates for a B.A. with majors in History, Music, or Religion must meet Option I or II of the College of Arts and Sciences foreign language requirement. Music majors take a non-music arts elective in either visual art, theatre or dance.
Option I: Completion of one foreign language through the second year of college level. This option may also be met by completion of four years of high school study in one foreign language with grades of C or higher, or by satisfactory scores on a proficiency examination administered by the PLU Department of Languages and Literatures.
Option II: Completion of one foreign language other than that used to satisfy the foreign language entrance requirement through the first year of college level. This option may also be met by satisfactory scores on a proficiency examination administered by the PLU Department of Languages and Literatures.
Option III: Completion of four semester hours in history, literature, or language (at the 201 level, or at any level in a language other than that used to satisfy the foreign language entrance requirement) in addition to courses applied to the general education elements, and four semester hours in symbolic logic, mathematics (courses numbered 100 or above), computer science, or statistics in addition to courses applied to the general education elements. Courses used to satisfy either category of Option III of the College of Arts and Sciences requirement may not also be used to satisfy general education program requirements.
LANGUAGE COURSEWORK AND THE PERSPECTIVES ON DIVERSITY REQUIREMENT
A foreign language course numbered 201 or above used to satisfy Option I, or completion of a foreign language through the first year of college level used to satisfy Option II (excluding American Sign Language), may be used simultaneously to satisfy the Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Diversity General Education Program element.
A course in American Sign Language may be used to satisfy the Alternative Perspectives GenEd Program Element.
UNDERSTANDING REGARDING ALL REQUIREMENTS
Consult particular departmental sections of the catalog for detailed specification of courses that count for these requirements.
For those elements of the General Education Program that refer to academic disciplines or units, selected courses outside those units may count for the requirement when approved both by the units and by the committee overseeing the General Education Program.