Home About UH Academic Calendar Courses Undergraduate Education Graduate Education Degrees, Minors, & Certificates Colleges, Schools, & Academic Units

Administration

Degree, Minors and Certificates Offered


General Information

Accreditations and Affiliations

Certificate Programs

Marine Option Program


Advising


Undergraduate Programs

Requirements for Undergraduate Degrees from the Colleges of Arts and Sciences

UH Manoa General Education Core Requirements

UH Manoa Graduation Requirements

A&S College Requirements

A&S Degree Requirements

A&S Major Requirements

Second or Multiple Majors and Minors

Second Baccalaureate Degree


Professional Programs

Graduate Programs

Student Organizations

Honors and Awards


Instructional and Research Facilities

Center for Biographical Research

Language Learning Center

Manoa Writing Program

Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center

National Foreign Language Resource Center


Departments

Colleges of Arts and Sciences

Requirements for Undergraduate Degrees from the Colleges of Arts and Sciences

A&S students must fulfill the following five requirement areas: UH Manoa General Education Core, UH Manoa Graduation, A&S College, A&S Degree, and A&S Major.

1. UH Manoa General Education Core Requirements

A&S students must fulfill the UH Manoa General Education Core, which consists of Foundations and Diversification requirements. Some of the courses that fulfill these Core requirements may be double dipped with other requirements (see “General Education”).

The minimum course grade to fulfill Core requirements is a D (not D-). These requirements must be taken for a letter grade, unless the course is offered only with the CR/NC grade option.

2. UH Manoa Graduation Requirements

A&S students must fulfill the UH Manoa Graduation requirements, which consist of Focus and Hawaiian or Second Language (HSL), credit, and grade point average (GPA) requirements (see “General Education” and “Undergraduate Education”).

The minimum course grade to fulfill Focus and HSL requirements is a D (not D-). These requirements must be taken for a letter grade, unless the course is offered only with the CR/NC grade option.

BMus students concentrating in voice may fulfill the HSL requirement by completing the first year of study in two languages. This substitution must be approved by the department chair. All other A&S students must meet the stated HSL requirement.

Credits

  • Students must earn a minimum of 124 total applicable credits, of which at least 30 credits must be completed in residence at UH Manoa.
  • Students must complete their academic work and apply for a degree in a timely manner (see “Excess Credit Policy”).

Grade Point Average (GPA)

  • Students must be earn at least a 2.0 GPA (C average) for all UH Manoa registered credits and must not be on academic action (i.e., not on probation, suspension, dismissal). Some majors or programs have specific GPA requirements (see department’s sections).

3. A&S College Requirements

A broad exposure to the liberal arts is achieved by students earning a minimum number of credits from liberal arts courses and developing facility in liberal arts disciplines. A&S students have the option of choosing Breadth, Depth, or an A&S major that demands expertise in performance or research.

A&S Options - Complete one of the following:

  • Option 1–Breadth: Complete at least 3 credits from each of the four A&S Colleges (College of Arts and Humanities, College of Languages, Linguistics, and Literature, College of Natural Sciences, College of Social Sciences).
    • Courses used to fulfill the Breadth requirement can double dip with Focus. Up to 3 of the credits can be counted toward major requirements.
    • Credits from MATH 103, 104, and 135 do not satisfy the Natural Sciences Breadth requirement, but they can be applied to the minimum 124 total credits for graduation.
    • The minimum course grade to fulfill the Breadth requirement is a D (not D-). These requirements must be taken for a letter grade, unless the course is offered only with the CR/NC grade option.
  • Option 2–Depth: Complete an A&S minor or certificate in a subject other than the major or complete a second A&S major.
    • Courses for a minor or certificate used to fulfill Depth can double dip only with Focus.
    • The minimum course grade to fulfill the Depth requirement is a C (not C-). These requirements must be taken for a letter grade, unless the course is offered only with the CR/NC grade option. Minors, certificates and majors often have minimum GPA requirements (see each department’s sections).
  • Option 3: Complete one of the following A&S degrees: BFA, BMus, or BS.

Option 1: Breadth

College of Arts and Humanities (AH) College of Languages, Linguistics, and Literature (LLL) College of Natural Sciences (NS) College of Social Sciences (SS)
3 credits, taken from any of the area listed below 3 credits, taken from any of the areas listed below 3 credits, taken from any of the areas listed below 3 credits, taken from any of the areas listed below
American Studies (AMST)
Art and Art History (ART)
Dance (DNCE)
History (HIST)
Music (MUS)
Philosophy (PHIL)
Religion (REL)
Speech (SP)
Theater (THEA)

East Asian Languages & Literatures
Chinese (CHN)*
East Asian Languages & Literatures (EALL)**
Japanese (JPN)*
Korean (KOR)*
English (ENG)
Indo-Pacific Languages & Literatures
Arabic (ARAB)*
Burmese (BURM)*
Cambodian (CAM)*
Chamorro (CHAM)*
Filipino (FIL)*
Indo-Pacific Languages & Literatures (IP)**
Hindi (HNDI)*
Ilokano (ILO)*
Indonesian (IND)*
Maori (MAO)
Pali (PALI)
Prakrit (PRAK)
Samoan (SAM)*
Sanskrit (SNSK)*
Tahitian (TAHT)*
Thai (THAI)*
Tibetan (TIB)*
Tongan (TONG)
Vietnamese (VIET)*
Interpretation & Translation Studies (TI)
Languages & Literatures of Europe and the Americas
French (FR)*
German (GER)*
Greek (GRK)*
Italian (ITAL)*
Languages & Literatures of Europe and the Americas (LLEA)**
Latin (LATN)*
Portuguese (PORT)*
Russian (RUS)*
Spanish (SPAN)*
Linguistics (LING)
Second Language Studies (SLS)

Astronomy (ASTR)
Biology (BIOL)
Botany (BOT)
Chemistry (CHEM)
Information & Computer Sciences (ICS)
Library and Information Science (LIS)
Mathematics (MATH)
Microbiology (MICR)
Physics (PHYS)
Zoology (ZOOL)

Note: MATH 103, 104 and 135 do not satisfy the College of Natural Sciences Breadth requirement, although they will count towards the minimum 124 credits required for graduation.

 

Anthropology (ANTH)
Communication (COM)
Economics (ECON)
Ethnic Studies (ES)
Geography (GEOG)
Journalism (JOUR)
Peace Studies (PACE)
Political Science (POLS)
Population Studies (PPST)
Psychology (PSY)
Public Administration (PUBA)
Sociology (SOC)
Urban & Regional Planning (PLAN)
Women’s Studies (WS)

* Language courses taken to fulfill the Hawaiian/second language requirement may not be used to satisfy Option 1 requirement of 12 credits, 3 credits from each Arts & Sciences College.
** Courses offered in English

Option 2: Depth

Minors

  • American Studies
  • Anthropology
  • Art & Art History
  • Biology
  • Botany
  • Chemistry
  • Chinese
  • Computer Science
  • Dance
  • Economics
  • English
  • Filipino Language & Culture
  • Geography
    History
  • Ilokano Language & Culture
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Mathematics
  • Microbiology
  • Music
  • Philosophy
  • Physics
  • Political Science
  • Religion
  • Sociology
  • Speech
  • Theatre
  • Zoology

Undergraduate Certificates

  • East Asian Languages
    • Chinese
    • Japanese
    • Korean
  • Economics
  • Environmental Studies
  • Ethnic Studies
  • Human Language and Computers
  • Human Resources/Organizational Management
  • Indo-Pacific Languages
    • Burmese
    • Filipino
    • Hindi
    • Ilokano
    • Indo-Pacific
    • Indonesian
    • Khmer
    • Samoan
    • Sanskrit
    • Tahitian
    • Thai
    • Vietnamese
  • Languages and Literatures of Europe and the Americas
    • Classics
    • French
    • German
    • Latin America and Iberian Studies
    • Russian
    • Russian Area Studies
    • Spanish
  • Languages of Hawai‘i and the Pacific
  • Language Acquisition
  • Language and Cognition
  • Law and Society
  • Linguistics
  • Marine Option Program
  • Music
  • Peace Studies
  • Political Economy
  • Professional Writing
  • Social Science and Health
  • Sociology
  • Women’s Studies

Note: The BA–Interdisciplinary Studies degree, a cross-disciplinary college degree, is exempt from the A&S options.

Students must earn a minimum number of credits in the liberal arts and credits beyond the introductory level in order to attain adequate academic rigor at the baccalaureate level. In addition, certain credit maximums ensure an appropriate balance in the curriculum.

Credit Minimums

  • From A&S disciplines: 104
  • At the non-introductory (NI) level* 60

    *NI credits are from UH Manoa courses at the 300 level and above, or 200 level with an explicitly stated college-level course prerequisite (transfer credits are subject to evaluation).

Credit Maximums*

  • Practicum courses: 12
  • Directed reading and research (-99) courses: 9
  • KLS activity courses: 8

    * A&S students can take as many credits in these areas as they would like, but only credits up to these maximums apply to the total 124 credits needed for graduation.

4. A&S Degree Requirements

The Colleges of Arts and Sciences offer bachelor of arts (BA), bachelor of fine arts (BFA), bachelor of music (BMus), and bachelor of science (BS) degrees, each of which has specific requirements as listed below. Courses used to fulfill these requirements can double dip with UH Manoa General Education Core, UH Manoa Graduation, and A&S Major requirements.

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Bachelor of Music (BMus), BA-Interdisciplinary Studies (BA-IS)

  • One of the following (these courses also satisfy the UH Manoa General Education Core “FS” requirement):
    BUS 250, ICS 141, 241, MATH 100, 100A, 112, 140, 203, 215, 241, 251A, NREM 203, PHIL 110, 110A, or 111

Bachelor of Science (BS)

  • Calculus I: MATH 215, 241, or 251A (these courses also satisfy the UH Manoa General Education Core “FS” requirement)
  • Calculus II: MATH 216, 242, or 252A
  • Chemistry: CHEM 161-161L and 162-162L or 171-171L or 181A-181L
  • Physics: PHYS 151-151L and 152-152L or 170-170L and 272-272L

(These Chemistry and Physics lecture courses also satisfy the UH Manoa General Education Core “DP” requirement. These lab courses also satisfy the UH Manoa General Education Core “DY” requirement.)

Note: Many introductory science and mathematics courses require an assessment examination to determine appropriate placement. Information about assessment exams appears each semester in UH Manoa’s Schedule of Classes or on the registration website’s home page.

5. A&S Major Requirements

A&S major requirements offer students specialization in an academic field of study and develop liberal arts skills. Major requirements contribute to the ideal liberal arts education, which prepares students for productive lives and careers, enlightened citizenship, and lifelong learning.

Major requirements are explained in each department’s sections in this Catalog, in the online Catalog, and on the department’s websites.

The minimum course grade to fulfill major requirements is a C (not C-). These requirements must be taken for a letter grade, unless the course is offered only with the CR/NC grade option.

A&S students should meet regularly with both their major advisor at their respective department office and with an A&S college advisor in the Student Academic Services office (QLCSS 113).