Baccalaureate Degree Requirements

To be recommended by the faculty and approved by the Board of Trustees for graduation with a baccalaureate degree, students must have been officially admitted to the College and must have:

1. Completed successfully at least 120 semester hours with at least 39 semester hours in 300- and 400 - level courses;
2. Completed successfully at least 38 semester hours of general education courses, to include an Ethics course, distributed as indicated in the previous section;
3. Completed successfully required semester hours for a major in the degree program selected. No fewer than 12 semester hours may be earned in the major at Columbia College including at least 6 semester hours of 300- and 400 - level coursework;
4. Earned at least one-half of the credit toward the baccalaureate degree from institutions accredited by United States regional associations and/or approved by the United States Office of Education and recognized by Columbia College;
5. Completed successfully at least 3 semester hours of Multicultural coursework;
6. Attained a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.0;
7. Fulfilled the residency requirement - at least 30 semester hours taken with Columbia College. (In the case of special programs and/or agreements such as the one with Service-member’s Opportunity College, this requirement may be modified to meet the constraints of such programs. However, special arrangements and/or programs must be approved by the Executive Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs. Waivers for individual students may be granted by following institutional procedures for petition and waiver);
8. Fulfilled all requirements for a culminating experience specified for the major;
9. Satisfied all financial obligations; and
10. Applied for graduation via CougarTrack the semester before expected date of graduation;
11. If seeking a Bachelor of Arts degree, completed successfully six semester hours of a single foreign language. AHE (Nationwide and Online) students may meet this requirement by successfully completing six semester hours of Culture and Society sequence. See here  for additional information regarding this requirement. All core courses in each major resulting in a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Bachelor of Science (B.S.) or Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degree require completion with a grade of C or higher.