University-Wide Degree Requirements

General Education Requirements at KSU

Throughout the university system, the core curriculum consists of 60 semester hours of which a minimum of 42 are in general education and 18 in major-related courses.

Fitness for Living Requirement

All students entering Kennesaw State University are required to take the Fitness for Living Course (HPS 1000). The University wants students to understand the importance of physical activity, nutrition, stress and weight management, and health-related fitness components. Students will have an opportunity to assess selected fitness, nutritional and activity patterns, and to develop and participate in a personalized physical activity program.

First-Year Seminar or Learning Communities Requirement

All first-year full-time students entering Kennesaw State University with fewer than 15 semester hours are required to complete a First-Year Seminar or join a Learning Community and complete all courses that comprise it. This requirement must be satisfied during a student’s first term of enrollment at Kennesaw State University. Students with 30 or more credit hours are not eligible to enroll in a First-Year Seminar or a Learning Community. “First-Year Seminar” courses are: KSU 1101, KSU 1111, KSU 1121, and KSU 1200.

University-Wide Academic Information

Prerequisites

Students should attempt to schedule courses that serve as prerequisites for advanced study early in their academic career. Lower division courses are designed to serve as preparatory for upper division requirements.

Substitutions

Students with advanced standing credits or transfer credits for courses similar to those required in the General Education Program may be permitted to satisfy KSU’s requirements through approved course substitutions. Students seeking such substitutions should contact the department chair of the respective course discipline.

Mathematics Advisement and Placement Test (MAPT)

Students who are not required to take the mathematics COMPASS test for the Learning Support Program should take the Mathematics Advisement and Placement Test (MAPT). The MAPT helps students decide which credit mathematics course to take first. This is an online test that students should take before orientation and advisement. Details are at http://placement.kennesaw.edu.

Transferring Core Credits to KSU

Students transferring to KSU from another USG institution may take advantage of the following policy by completing the General Education Program. Students successfully completing a course in one institution’s Areas A–E will receive full credit in Areas A–E for the course upon transfer to another USG institution as long as the following conditions are met:

• The course is within the Area hours limitations of either the sending institution or the receiving institution and
• The student does not change from a non-science major to a science major

Please note that additional courses may be required if they are prerequisites to major courses. Area F (lower division major) courses require a grade of “C” or better. Once the transfer evaluation has been completed, refer to DegreeWorks in Owl Express to determine how transfer credit is applied to a particular program of study.

Transferring Core Credits to Another USG Institution

Students transferring from KSU to another USG institution may take advantage of the following policy by completing the General Education Program. Students successfully completing a course in one institution’s Areas A–E will receive full credit in Areas A–E for the course upon transfer to another USG institution as long as the following conditions are met:

• The course is within the Area hours limitations of either the sending institution or the receiving institution and
• The student does not change from a non-science major to a science major

Consult the transfer evaluation office at the receiving institution for specific transfer equivalencies.

Hours Required for an Undergraduate Degree

Most baccalaureate degrees consist of a minimum of 123 semester hours. Exceptions to the maximum degree length requirements have been made with the approval of the Board of Regents. A baccalaureate degree program requires at least 24 semester hours of upper division courses in the major field and at least 39 semester hours of upper division work overall.

Regents’ Testing Program Requirements

Effective fall, 2011, Kennesaw State University was approved for an exemption of the Regents’ Test by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.

Academic Standing Classification of Students

Undergraduate students are classified into levels on the basis of the number of credit hours they have earned as follows:

Classification of Courses

The courses of instruction for degree credit in the curriculum of the university are divided into three categories: lower division, upper division and graduate. Lower division courses (typically regarded as freshman and sophomore level courses) are numbered 1000-2999; upper division courses (typically regarded as junior and senior level courses) are numbered 3000-4999; and graduate courses are numbered 5000 and above. Graduate courses are open only to students accepted to graduate study. (Courses numbered below 1000 do not count for degree credit but do count for determining fees and enrollment status.)

ENGL 1101 and 1102: The Campus Writing Requirement

At Kennesaw State University ENGL 1101 and ENGL 1102 (English Composition I & II) are required for all undergraduate degrees. A grade of “C” or better is required for ENGL 1101 and ENGL 1102.

Graduation Requirements

To be considered for admission to candidacy for a degree, students must make formal petition to the faculty for the degree. The chart below indicates the earliest and latest times that students may petition to graduate. Petition forms are available in the Office of the Registrar and must be returned, once completed, to the Office of the Registrar.

To be eligible to receive a baccalaureate degree, a student must meet the following requirements:

1. Complete the required General Education courses, with a grade of “C” or better in ENGL 1101 and ENGL 1102 (or equivalents, if a transfer student).
2. Complete the chosen program of study with the grade of “C” or better in all courses listed under the major, including those listed as Lower Division Major Requirements.
3. Complete a minimum of 123 semester hours with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 on all course work attempted at KSU. No course may be counted more than one time in meeting the total credit hours required for the degree.
4. Have at least a 2.0 adjusted grade point average (AGPA) and at least 30 earned hours of credit for KSU coursework not excluded because of repeated courses or “fresh start” status. If the student has fewer than 30 earned hours of credit for non-excluded KSU coursework, he/she must have a 2.0 cumulative grade point average.
5. Complete at least 39 semester hours of upper division (courses numbered 3000 or higher) work overall.
6. Complete at least 30 semester hours in residence at Kennesaw State (Coles College of Business requires 33 hours). At least 20 of the last 30 semester hours preceding graduation must be earned in residence. In addition, 24 semester hours of the upper level major requirements must be earned in residence at KSU.
7. Complete successfully HIST 2112 and POLS 1101 or pass examinations in these fields (to satisfy the Georgia General Assembly’s requirement that all graduates of units of the University System of Georgia demonstrate competency in United States and Georgia history and the constitutions of the United States and Georgia).
8. In all instances, meeting the requirement for graduation is the responsibility of the student.

It should be noted that program and course requirements and university policies are subject to change without advanced notice. Changes in policy and requirements enacted by the Board of Regents take precedence over existing university policies and requirements. The University will make reasonable efforts to accommodate students affected by such changes, but reserves the right to determine where and to what extent it will grant exceptions to new policies and requirements. In such cases, program requirements that were published in University catalogs that are more than 10 years old will not be honored without specific approval of the department chair responsible for the program.

The University may elect to apply the policies or program requirements of an earlier catalog if the student was enrolled at the time that the earlier catalog was in effect. Students will not be permitted to mix or split requirements for graduation from more than one catalog.

While students may elect to graduate under degree requirements found in any catalog from the semester they matriculate until the semester they graduate, they are required to follow the most recent catalog requirements regarding prerequisites, co-requisites, or other faculty approved changes in courses. In cases where courses are deleted, students must substitute courses deemed acceptable by the faculty or chair responsible for the degree program in question.

Graduation Ceremonies

Graduation ceremonies are held at the end of fall semester, spring semester, and summer semester.

Graduation with Honors

An overall adjusted grade point average of at least 3.5 is required for students to graduate cum laude, 3.7 to graduate magna cum laude and 3.9 to graduate summa cum laude from a baccalaureate program. Graduation with honor requires that students earn at least 60 semester credit hours in residence at Kennesaw State University for the bachelor’s degree.

To receive honors at graduation, “second degree” and “fresh start” students must have at least 60 earned hours of credit at KSU after the “second degree” or “fresh start” status was granted. In addition, for honors, students who have repeated courses must have at least 60 earned hours of credit at KSU after the hours for the repeated courses have been excluded.

Double Majors

An undergraduate student is eligible to have a double major recorded on the transcript and to graduate with two majors under the following conditions:

1. All of the requirements for two KSU degree programs are satisfied, including all residency and institutional requirements for each major; and
2. The second major contains at least 21 semester hours of upper division course work beyond the courses required for the students first major and general education requirements.

Second Degrees

Students who have earned a baccalaureate degree from an institution regionally accredited by the Commission on Colleges may obtain a second baccalaureate degree from KSU by satisfying the following requirements:

• Meet all major requirements listed for the chosen program of study.
• Complete the Georgia Legislative history and Constitution requirements.
• Students earn at least 30 semester hours in residence at Kennesaw State University. If the first baccalaureate degree was earned at Kennesaw State University, these 30 hours must be in excess of any hours used towards the first baccalaureate degree.
• Complete (for students with majors in the Bagwell College of Education) the lower division major requirement courses in Education.