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Programs of Study

Candidates for the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Philosophy (Ph.B.) degrees must successfully complete at least 40 courses with at least a total of 120 semester hours of credit in undergraduate courses. Five programs are open to qualified students at the college level: (a) the Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, (b) the Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy/Pre-Law, (c) the Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Scholar’s Track, (d) the Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy/Pre-Law, Scholar’s Track, and (e) the Bachelor of Philosophy.

Students in the School of Philosophy may choose a minor or a certificate program in another school, e.g., in Arts and Sciences, Business, Music, Drama, and Art, or Theology and Religious Studies. The minor comprises six courses, a certificate program up to eight. Students should consult with their advisor in philosophy to plan for including the minor or the certificate program in coursework. Students should also check the list of minor and certificate programs on the Undergraduate Studies website to see which courses are required.

Students who have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.2 may choose a second major program (double-major) in another school.

In order to graduate, students must have a cumulative average of at least 2.0 in coursework at The Catholic University of America.

All courses taken to meet the requirements for a major in philosophy must be passed with a grade of C- or better. Students who fail to achieve a grade of C- or better in a course required for a major in philosophy may repeat that course. Any course taken to fulfill requirements for the major, however, may only be repeated once.

In addition to coursework, students must pass the senior comprehensive examination administered in the Spring semester.

Liberal Arts Requirements

Students participate in the University’s Liberal Arts Curriculum, which is described in the Undergraduate Announcements, section III. Students in the Scholar’s Track programs complete the Focus Area of the Liberal Arts Curriculum by choosing either a language concentration or a math and science concentration. Students who wish to pursue a second major or a minor may request to complete the Focus Area with courses from that major or minor program. Students in the Bachelor of Philosophy program must study Latin at the intermediate level and pursue a pre-theology concentration.

Students pursuing the language concentration complete, in addition to the intermediate level language requirement,

  1. two courses in a second language at the introductory level (one of the two languages must be an ancient one);
  2. two liberal arts courses approved for the Focus Area, to be chosen from theology, humanities, social sciences, math, and the natural sciences.

Students pursuing the math and science concentration complete, in addition to the foundational math and science courses,

  1. four courses in math; or
  2. four courses in natural science, chosen from biology, chemistry, or physics; or
  3. four courses in computer science; or
  4. four courses chosen from any of the disciplines listed above.

Students in the Bachelor of Philosophy program pursue the pre-theology concentration and complete, in addition to the Latin intermediate level language requirement,

two courses in a second language at the introductory level (the first language is Latin at the intermediate level);

  1. the pre-theology sequence offered by the School of Theology and Religious Studies:
  2. TRS 504A Introduction to the Old Testament,
  3. TRS 504B Introduction to the New Testament,
  4. Two Theology Electives. 

Major Requirements

PHIL 201 and PHIL 202 are prerequisites for all philosophy courses in the major programs, except for students participating in the University Honors Program philosophy sequence, or, in exceptional cases, with the special permission of the associate dean.

Two courses may be taken for graduate credit and be applied to the fulfillment of course requirements for the Master or Arts in Philosophy or the Licentiate in Philosophy (Ph.L.). In the case of the Ph.L. degree, the total number of credits earned for the Ph.B. degree must be 126 or more. The two graduate courses would normally be PHIL 456 / PHIL 556 and a graduate course taken for the philosophy elective.

A student who fails to maintain an acceptable average (i.e., 3.0 in philosophy courses) may be dismissed from the program and may be required to relinquish any scholarship held.

Honors Requirements

The Dean's List honors academic achievement following each fall and spring semester. To be eligible for the Dean's List in a given semester, a student in the School of Philosophy must complete four courses of at least three credits each in that semester with a grade point average of 3.5 or higher. None of the courses taken may be pass/fail or repeated courses.

A student who has earned at least a 3.5 grade point average is recognized with the distinction cum laude. Students whose grade point averages have reached 3.7 or 3.9 are recognized with the distinctions magna cum laude and summa cum laude, respectively.