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Degree Requirements

The R.B.A degree requires students to take a minimum of 36 hours of general education course work. Specifically, the general education requirement is for a total of 36 semester hours of course work that includes:

Humanities 6 Literature, history, philosophy, intro to visual art, music appreciation, foreign languages
Communications 6 English 101, 102, or 103, 104
Social Science 6 Sociology, psychology, political science, economics, anthropology, geography
Natural Science 6 Biology, chemistry, general science, geology, astronomy, physics, oceanography, selected ENVS courses
General Education 9 General education electives from any of the above areas
Math Sciences 3 Math 101, 105, 106, 108, 154 (with satisfactory placement score, may require prerequisite ACFN 065, 085)

36 TOTAL GENERAL EDUCATION HOURS

*The following do not count as natural science requirements: BIOL 100 Life Science for Elementary School Teachers CHEM 100 Chemical Science Fire Science, Horticulture, and Nursing courses

The R.B.A Degree requires students to take a minimum of 30 hours of upper division course work. Upper division courses are those offered at the junior and senior levels and are numbered as 300 or 400 level. Upper division courses can focus on a specific area and may be taken in any subject area or a combination of areas as students wish.

The R.B.A degree has a residency requirement of 24 hours of course work taken at public higher education institutions within West Virginia, with a minimum of 12 credits at the host institution.

R.B.A students must complete a minimum of 120 hours of credit, with a minimum GPA of 2.0 for all college work, as well as a 2.0 average on all Shepherd work, to be eligible for graduation.

In order for R.B.A students to be considered for honors at graduation, they must have earned a minimum of 80 semester hours for which a traditional grade has been given, with 32 of these hours completed in resident study at Shepherd. For students entering the University as of fall 1999 or thereafter, honors will be awarded according to these criteria: highest honors, summa cum laude, 3.850 to 4.000; high honors, magna cum laude, 3.700 to 3.849; and cum laude, 3.500 to 3.699. For earlier admission to Shepherd, check the Catalog or with the R.B.A advisor, for honors criteria.

For any questions, please contact:
Donna Miller
Director of Enrollment Management
Shepherd University
106 Ikenberry Hall
304.876.5009
dmill04@shepherd.edu