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Federal Requirement 4.4

11.             Program length is appropriate for each of the institution's educational programs. (Federal Requirement 4.4)

 X  Compliance           ___ Non-Compliance

Narrative: 

The length of the educational programs at Southern University and A&M College at Baton Rouge (SUBR) are appropriate. The minimum semester credit hours published in the Undergraduate Catalog and Graduate School Catalog for each educational program appear in the tables below. Both the catalog and the bulletin were published on the SUBR website.  The Louisiana Board of Regents wrote policy guidelines. "The standard number of credits required for baccalaureate degrees is 120. Institutions with compelling reasons (e.g., the academic program is defined as a 5-year baccalaureate program; professional accreditation or certification requirements; etc.) for exceeding the 120 credit hours standard may request an exception to this standard according to their respective system's policy. The Board of Regents will periodically review both the number of credit hours required and approved exceptions to the 120-hour standard" (Academic Affairs Policy 2.15).  

The Louisiana Board of Regents set the criteria to determine program length. The state policy specified the minimum length for each degree program in the Definition of Undergraduate Certificates and Degrees (2.15). Undergraduate degree programs required all students to complete a minimum of 120 semester credit hours, excluding remedial and repeated courses (Degree Requirements). All bachelor's degree programs meet or exceed the Board of Regents requirements for program length. For those over 120 hours for the bachelor’s program and for those over 30 hours for the master’s program, Southern University’s adheres to the policy of the institution and the Board of Regents in seeking approval for the program length. The educational programs were identified in the Undergraduate Catalog (2014-2017) and the Graduate School Catalog (2013-2014) and described the program length.

SUBR's general education requirements meet or exceed requirements established by the Louisiana Board of Regents. The length of each bachelor's program was published in the Undergraduate Catalog. All undergraduate candidates complete at least 39 semester hours of general education requirements (2.16). Those include - English composition (6), fine arts (3), humanities (9), mathematics (6), natural sciences (9), and social sciences (6). The information for all undergraduate degree programs was summarized in table 20 and graduate programs were reported in Table 21.

Table 20

Minimum Credit Hours for Undergraduate Degree Programs

College of Business

Name of degree

Degree

Program Length

(credit hours)

Accounting

BS

121

Business Management

BS

121

Finance

BS

121

Marketing

BS

121

 

College of Education, Arts and Humanities

Elementary Education (Grades 1-5)

BS

128

Elementary Education and Special Education M/MOD (Grades 1-5)

BS

127

English

BA

120

History

BA

120

Interdisciplinary Studies

BIS

120

Mass Communications

  • Broadcast Journalism sequence
  • Print Journalism sequence
  • Public Relations sequence

BA

 

120
120
120

Middle School Education and Special Education M/MOD (Grades 4-8)

BS

126

Music

BM

121

Post Baccalaureate Certificates

PBC

30

 

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Civil Engineering

BSCE

124

Computer Science - Information Systems

BS

120

Computer Science - Scientific Option

BS

120

Electronics Engineering Technology

BS

126

Electrical Engineering

BSEE

124

Mechanical Engineering

BSME

124

 

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences           

Criminal Justice

BS

120

Political Science

BA

120

Psychology

BS

120

Social Work

BS

120

Sociology

BS

120

 

College of Sciences and Agriculture

Agricultural Sciences

BS

120

Biology

BS

120

Chemistry

BS

124

Family and Consumer Sciences

BS

120

Mathematics and Physics

BS

120

Urban Forestry

BS

120

 

School of Nursing and Allied Health

Nursing

BSN

120

Rehabilitation Services

BS

120

Speech Pathology and Audiology

BS

122

Therapeutic Recreation & Leisure Studies

BS

121


The
Graduate School Catalog identified all credit hour specifications and specific courses for each graduate degree. All students earning the master's degree must successfully complete at least 30 or more semester hours of graduate level courses, with at least 24 of those hours in course work, if a thesis was required to complete the degree. For programs not requiring a thesis or for programs where a student may elect to complete a research project, in lieu of a thesis, the minimum requirement was 30 semester credit hours of course work, excluding credit hours for special projects (Graduate School Catalog).

Doctoral programs required a minimum of 60 semester hours of coursework beyond the bachelor's degree, exclusive of the doctoral dissertation, thesis and research or a minimum of 33 semester hours of course work beyond the master's degree, exclusive of the thesis, doctoral dissertation, and projects (Graduate School Catalog). In the graduate programs additional requirements included practicum hours as well as internship hours as required by nationally recognized accrediting organizations. 


Table 21

Minimum Credit Hours for Graduate Degree Programs

College of Business

Name of degree

Degree

Program Length

(credit hours)

Business Administration

MBA

36

 

College of Education, Arts and Humanities

Educational Leadership

MEd

36

Mental Health Counseling

MA

60

School Counseling

MA

51

 

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Computer Science

MS

30

Engineering

ME

30

 

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences          

Criminal Justice

MS

36

Public Administration

MPA

48

Public Policy

PhD

60

Social Sciences

MA

30

 

College of Sciences and Agriculture

Biology

MS

30

Environmental Toxicology

PhD

60

Mathematics

MS

33

Science and Mathematics Education

PhD

60

Urban Forestry

MS

30

Urban Forestry

PhD

60

 

School of Nursing and Allied Health

Master of Science in Nursing

MSN

30

Doctor of Nursing Practice

DNP

34

Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing

PhD

60

Rehabilitation Counseling

MS

36

Speech-Language Pathology

MS

60

Therapeutic Recreation

MS

48

 

Supporting Documentation

Definitions of Undergraduate Degrees and Undergraduate/Graduate Certificates
Statewide General Education Requirements

SUBR Academic Catalogs