Academic Catalog

Degree Information and Requirements

EKU Campus

EKU Academic Residency Requirement

A minimum of 25% of coursework applied toward the completion of any major core requirements, minors, and/or EKU certificates must be earned at EKU.

Catalog

For all graduation requirements, including general education, students will be governed by the Catalog in use at the time they enter the University or declare a new major. Each student has a catalog year associated with their student record, designating the academic year for the Catalog dictating their program, General Education, and University graduation requirements. The catalog year for each student may be found on the student’s degree audit. If in a subsequent year any graduation requirements change, students may elect to complete the later requirements by requesting the Registrar’s Office move them to the current Catalog. In certain circumstances, such as accreditation requirements or professional regulations, the Registrar, at the request of the dean of the college or dean of the Graduate School, may move a student to a more current catalog. Such actions would be taken if deemed prudent to protect the student’s ability to attain professional licensure and certification. In these circumstances the University will make every effort to assist the student with the transition to the new catalog’s curricular requirements.

Students who stop out for more than two years will meet all graduation requirements in place at the time they re-enroll. Students who stop out for fewer than two years may elect to be returned to the graduation requirements in place at the time they declared their major by submitting a request to the Registrar’s Office.

Current University Policy

Student curricular requirements are tied to the associated catalog, however, with regard to policy requirements all students are governed by current University policies that have been approved by appropriate University committees.

Comprehensive Associate Degree Requirements

To qualify for an associate degree, students must satisfy the following requirements:

  1. Complete all requirements in the degree program as established by appropriate University committees.
  2. Complete University academic requirements, including basic skills proficiencies in English, reading, and quantitative reasoning; any applicable PCC1; general education2; and a student success seminar, as established by appropriate University committees for each degree program.
  3. Complete a minimum of 60 semester credit hours.
  4. Earn a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 on all college-level work taken at Eastern Kentucky University.
  5. Earn a minimum of 15 semester hours through Eastern Kentucky University.
  6. Earn the credits applicable to major and supporting degree requirements within eight years prior to the date the degree is awarded. Credits more than eight years old may be used to meet general education, upper division, and free elective areas. The college dean of a student’s major may validate individual eight-year-old (or older) coursework as meeting major and/or supporting requirements.

Degree Requirement Notes: 

1

The Kentucky PreCollege Curriculum (PCC) is defined and prescribed by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE). Six hours of the same World Language must be completed within 24 credit hours of enrollment. Applies to students under 21 when first admitted, and/or transferred into EKU fewer than 24 credit hours. See Degree Works to confirm whether a student has a PCC requirement. PCC deficiencies must be remediated within the first 24 hours of enrollment, excluding developmental hours.

2

General Education Requirements for Associate Degrees: Students in associate degree programs must earn a minimum of 15 hours in courses approved for general education. These hours must include ENG 101 Reading, Writing, and Rhetoric and ENG 102 Research, Writing, and Rhetoric or their equivalent. The nine additional hours must include one course in each of the following General Education Elements: 3A, or 3B (Arts and Humanities); 5A, or 5B (Social and Behavioral Sciences); and 2 (Quantitative Reasoning), or 4 (Natural Science with Lab).

Comprehensive Baccalaureate Degree Requirements

To qualify for a baccalaureate degree, students must satisfy the following requirements:

  1. Complete all requirements in the degree program as established by appropriate University committees.
  2. Complete University academic requirements, as established by appropriate University committees for each degree program, that includes:
    1. Basic skills proficiencies in English, reading and quantitative reasoning, and any applicable PCC1,
    2. Student Success Seminar (if applicable)
    3. A writing-intensive course,
    4. General Education2 
  3. Complete a minimum of 120 semester credit hours, with at least 42 hours at the 300 level or above.4
  4. Earn a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 on all college-level work taken at Eastern Kentucky University.
  5. Earn a minimum of 30 semester hours through EKU if the student is pursuing a 120 hour degree program. If the degree program sought requires greater than 120 semester hours, the minimum EKU residency credit shall be no less than 25% of the total program hours.5,6
  6. Earn the credits applicable to the major and supporting degree requirements within eight years prior to the date the degree is awarded. Credits more than eight years old may be used to meet general education, upper division and free elective requirements, as well as major requirements for the General Studies degree. The college dean of a student’s major may validate individual 8-year-old courses to count for non-General Studies major and supporting requirements.

Degree Requirement Notes: 

1

The Kentucky PreCollege Curriculum (PCC) is defined and prescribed by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE). Six hours of the same World Language must be completed within 24 credit hours of enrollment. Applies to students under 21 when first admitted, and/or transferred into EKU fewer than 24 credit hours. See Degree Works to confirm whether a student has a PCC requirement. PCC deficiencies must be remediated within the first 24 hours of enrollment, excluding developmental hours.

2

General Education Requirements for Baccalaureate Degrees: The General Education Program consists of 36 hours of course work in six Elements:

  1. Communication
  2. Quantitative Reasoning
  3. Arts and Humanities
  4. Natural Sciences
  5. Social and Behavioral Sciences, and
  6. Diversity of Perspectives and Experiences.

Students must earn the specified number of hours in each of these course categories. See the General Education section in this Catalog for more detailed information about general education requirements.

4

Hours Required for a Baccalaureate Degree: The University requires a minimum of 120 semester hours to earn a baccalaureate degree. In most cases this minimum is also the maximum. While there is no upper limit beyond 120 semester hours which may be set as a particular major program’s requirements, each program or program change is approved through the University’s committee system and any program requiring beyond 120 semester hours will require substantiation of additional requirements.

5

According to AACSB International business accreditation standards, students enrolled in University baccalaureate degree programs, other than those within the School of Business, will not receive credit toward their degrees for more than 25 percent of their undergraduate programs in credit hours in courses offered through the School of Business and/or business courses (courses commonly taught in school of business) transferred from other colleges and universities or taken from other units within Eastern Kentucky University. Students who desire to take business courses are encouraged to enroll in the Business minor.

6

Degree programs offered by the College of Business and Technology have more stringent residency requirements. Please refer to degree requirements in the College of Business and Technology section of this Catalog.

Degree Program Definitions

A. Major (Baccalaureate): A major is a primary area of study defined by a set of course and/or credit hour requirements within a specified discipline or with a clearly defined multi-disciplinary focus. Thirty semester hours is the minimum requirement for a baccalaureate degree major. A course that meets a core program requirement for a major may also fulfill, at the same time, a University graduation requirement; with the exception that a course cannot be used to meet both a major core requirement and a general education area. At least 25% of the major (which includes core courses, concentrations, and major electives) must be earned at EKU. See the Comprehensive Baccalaureate Degree Requirement section for more details on degree requirements.

B. Concentrations (Baccalaureate): A concentration (synonymous with an option, emphasis, specialty or track) represents a collection of courses offering a student the opportunity to develop a focus within the broader area of their major program. There will be a common grouping of courses (a minimum of 21 semester hours) shared by the major core and its associated concentration. The concentration adds onto the major core an additional 12-18 semester hours of specified coursework to develop the desired expertise. Concentrations may, or may not, be a required component of the program of study. Deviations from the 12-18 hour concentration may be granted by the Council on Academic Affairs when unusual program requirements dictate.

C. Minor (Baccalaureate): Minors require a minimum of 18 semester hours and at least 25% of all required coursework for the minor must be earned at EKU. A list of specified courses may be added for students seeking a teaching certification extension in the minor. A student may not declare a minor with the same subject matter (course prefix) as their declared major program of study. Students seeking only an associate degree may not declare a minor. The same course credit may be applied for both major core or supporting requirements and a student’s minor. A minor course that is a required part of major core cannot also be used to fulfill a general education requirement.

D. Supporting Courses: Supporting courses are courses that are outside the degree program that provide necessary skills or knowledge. A course cannot be listed as a supporting course if it is offered by the home department of the degree program, unless it is tied by prefix to a different degree program. Supporting courses that are approved as general education courses may be used to fulfill both supporting and general education requirements.

Concurrent (Dual Degrees) and Subsequent Degrees

Concurrent Degrees: A student may qualify to earn two degrees concurrently (dual degrees) by completing all requirements for both degrees, including major, supporting, and general education requirements. Courses used in one degree program may also be used in the other. The student has the responsibility to file a separate graduation application for each degree being sought. If the two degrees are in the same college, the student must file two applications in the office of the college dean. If they are different colleges, one application must be filed in each dean’s office. Please refer to the “Application for Graduation” section of this catalog for more details.

Concurrent Associate Degrees: If two 60 credit hour associate degrees are pursued concurrently, a minimum of 75 credit hours must be earned. If one or both of the associate degrees has program requirements in excess of 60 hours, the degree program with the highest number of required hours will be considered the student’s first associate degree, and the hours required to earn the second associate degree shall be 25% of the second program’s total hours. Students seeking only an associate degree may not declare a minor.

Concurrent Baccalaureate Degrees: If two 120-credit-hour baccalaureate degrees are pursued concurrently, a minimum of 150 credit hours must be earned. If one or both of the baccalaureate degrees has program requirements exceeding 120 hours, the degree program with the highest number of required hours will be considered the student’s first baccalaureate degree, and the hours required to earn the second baccalaureate degree shall be 25% of the second program’s total hours.

Concurrent Baccalaureate and Associate Degree: The minimum number of hours required for concurrently earning an associate and a baccalaureate degree is the number required by the baccalaureate degree. Associate degree earners are expected to complete that degree prior to completion of their baccalaureate degree.

Subsequent Degrees: Students having earned one degree, either from Eastern Kentucky University or from another regionally accredited institution, may subsequently pursue an additional degree, either associate or baccalaureate, by completing all requirements of the subsequent degree, including major, supporting, and general education requirements. For students who earn their first degree at EKU, hours earned prior to the awarding of a first baccalaureate or associate degree may be counted toward the minimum required to earn a subsequent baccalaureate or associate degree.

Students must earn at least 15 approved semester hours at EKU for an associate degree beyond those required for the earlier degree. A subsequent baccalaureate degree requires at least 30 approved hours earned at EKU beyond those required for the earlier degree.

Students who have completed a previous degree elsewhere and apply to Eastern Kentucky University, should have official transcripts from the institutions previously attended sent to Eastern Kentucky University’s Admissions Office.

Multiple Majors/Minors

Students pursuing baccalaureate degrees other than General Studies may consider more than one major and/or minor. All requirements for the declared major and/or minor must be completed by the time the initial degree is awarded. Associate degrees are not eligible for minors or second/multiple majors.

Students are required to declare a primary degree program (specific baccalaureate degree and first major). This program of study is that which will be recorded on the diploma, and which will determine the degree awarded by the University. A second or additional major represents a further emphasis of study and shall be designated on the student’s academic transcript. Earning a second or other major, however, is not to be considered as completion of an additional or distinct degree program.

Double Majors vs. Dual Degrees: A student pursuing one degree, but two major areas of study, is said to have a “double major”. To complete a double major the student must earn all hours required by the degree program of their first major plus any additional course(s) needed to fulfill only the major and supporting requirements of the second major. A student who fulfills all requirements for two complete degree programs, earning no fewer than 150 credit hours is said to be a “dual degree candidate”. Students who wish to earn two baccalaureate degrees (dual degrees) should refer to the Concurrent Degree policy. Note that associate degrees are not eligible for minors or second/multiple majors.

Awarding Subsequent Majors/Minors: EKU does not award a subsequent major/minor/concentration after an initial degree is conferred unless the student completes a subsequent degree program. A student who earns a double major baccalaureate degree may not return to complete a subsequent degree in either of the double major subjects. While multiple majors, minors and certificates earned by a student are formally posted to the student’s academic transcript, only the degree earned and one major will be printed on the diploma. Students interested in pursuing multiple majors, minors, certificates and/or concentrations should contact the Office of Academic & Career Services, a college advising office, or the department of interest for additional information.