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Bachelor's Degrees: Aims, Program Requirements, and Policies

Bachelor's Degrees Objectives

The MSPS bachelor's degree programs place special emphasis on interdisciplinary learning that links theory and professional practice. The curriculum is designed to develop competencies in the following six areas:

  1. Oral and written communication;
  2. Critical thinking and reasoned analysis;
  3. Social responsibility;
  4. Multicultural and international perspectives;
  5. Technology use; and
  6. Self-directed learning.

The bachelor's degree programs consist of a core curriculum of 19 courses (57 semester credits), a major area of at least 15 courses (45 credits), and free electives, so that the total number of credits is at least 120. A minimum of 36 credits must be taken at The Catholic University of America.

Core and Major Requirements

At MSPS, a minimum grade of C- is required for all courses in the academic major and track. (For certificate-seeking students, "major" courses equate to all courses in the certificate.) A minimum grade of C- is also required for the following core courses: MHU 151 Rhetoric and Composition, MHU 152 Composition and Research, MHU 131 Presiding, Presenting, and Speaking, MIS 105 Microcomputer Applications I, MID 100 Critical Thinking, and MID 499 Senior Seminar.

Students earning less than a C- in any one of the core courses identified above or any major course must repeat the course. Any course taken to fulfill requirements for the core and/or major may only be repeated once. An exception to this policy requires approval from the dean of MSPS. When a course with a grade of D or F is repeated, the following rules shall apply:

  • The course must be identical in listing and cannot be taken at another institution;
  • The second time, the course may not be taken for pass/fail;
  • Both courses and grades will be recorded in the student's file and transcript; and
  • For calculation of the grade point average and for fulfillment of curriculum requirements, the credit and the grade of the repeated course will apply and the credit and grade of the original course will no longer count.

In addition to fulfilling the minimum grade requirements noted above for core and major courses, undergraduate students enrolled in the Bachelor's to Master's Scholars Program must earn a minimum grade of B in their graduate-level MSPS courses. Per the Bachelor's to Master's Program guidelines, up to three graduate-level courses with qualifying grades may be transferred into one of the MSPS Master's degree programs.

Transfer of Credit Post-Matriculation Guidelines

Catholic University allows undergraduates who wish to take a course at another college or university to apply those courses toward their Catholic University degree provided the following conditions are met:

  • The course is completed at a regionally accredited institution;
  • The course is substantially similar to a Catholic University course;
  • The course is completed with a grade of C- (C minus) or better;
  • The course does not duplicate, overlap, or regress previous work; and
  • The college or university offering the course allows the course to be used for credit toward its own undergraduate degree.

With approval from the dean of MSPS, matriculated MSPS students may take courses at other regionally accredited institutions of higher learning on a limited basis. However, students may transfer in no more than a total of 84 credits - this includes all transfer credits pre- and post-matriculation. Students must also complete at least 12 credits at Catholic University within 12 months of the end of their final semester.

Students planning to take courses at another regionally accredited institution (during any academic semester or summer session) must obtain approval from the dean of MSPS before the end of the semester prior to the semester in which they plan to take the transfer course(s). Approval is granted on a case-by-case basis depending on the student's need for the course(s), degree requirements, etc. Without prior approval, transfer of credit is not guaranteed. Students hoping to take courses at another institution should also contact the Office of Financial Aid at (202) 319-5307 to determine how funding will be impacted.

Pre-approved transfer credit will be awarded in accordance with the overarching Catholic University transfer credit policy (http://policies.catholic.edu/academicundergrad/transferofcredit.cfm) and the MSPS transfer credit policy (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a0oBLrnJOw5fh22P6AqwcEEIA6Wg2gW7vVAmpQ2LOHg/mobilebasic).

Students who wish to transfer in credits from another institution of higher education must have all transcripts submitted one semester prior to their expected date of graduation.