Curriculum Definitions

Academic Major: “Main field of study in an academic program. For baccalaureate degrees, the academic major (comprised of core and cognate courses) and general education are the two principal components of the degree. For master’s degrees, the academic major (common core), concentration or specialization, and capstone experience(s) are the principal components of the degree. Academic major can be a sequence of courses, activities, and/or experiences constituting a major field of study, culminating in a credit-based degree” (PASSHE 1985-01-A).

For the B.A. degree, the major program must be a minimum of 30 credit hours and not exceed 42 credit hours including required cognate courses (PASSHE 1990-06-A). For the B.S. degree, the major program must be a minimum of 40 credit hours and not exceed 60 credit hours including required cognate courses (PASSHE 1990-06-A). Professional baccalaureate degrees (B.F.A., B.Mus., B.S.N., B.S.W., B.S.B.A., B.S.Ed.) should be a minimum of 30 credit hours. The maximum number of hours may reflect standards of the professional societies or accrediting agencies (PASSHE 1990-06-A).

For master’s degrees, the major program must be a minimum of 30 credit hours. At least 50% of the required coursework (excluding thesis, research, or internship hours) must consist of courses directed at graduate learners with the majority of students in the class obtaining graduate credit (PASSHE 1990-06-A).

For doctoral degrees, the number of credit hours required must meet the typical expectations of the discipline.

Academic Minor: “An organized program of study that comprises the fundamental requirements of an academic major (core and cognate courses) equivalent to a minimum of 18 semester credit hours. As a secondary field of study, the academic minor should reflect a minimum of 6 credits of advanced standing coursework. Exceptions to the advanced standing requirements may be granted on a case-by-case basis per request to the chancellor” (PASSHE 1985-01-A). KU policy limits minors to a maximum of 21 semester credit hours (KU ACA-021)

Academic Program: “An instructional program leading toward a certificate, associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree or resulting in credits that can be applied to one of these degrees” (PASSHE 1985-01-A).

Baccalaureate Degrees: (note: this is in review related to a recent approval for 90+ credit baccalaureate degrees made by the Board of Governors). Baccalaureate degrees require 120 semester credit hours unless (1) otherwise required by statute, regulation, or accreditation, and (2) approval by the chancellor. Baccalaureate degrees consist of two principal components, general education and study in depth in a major, which taken together, are designed to prepare the student for a productive career, involved citizenship, and continuous growth

Certificate: A formal credit-based credential designated on the academic record and awarded by an educational institution to indicate completion of an organized program of study at the postsecondary level that does not culminate in a degree. Certificates are not the same as certifications or licenses, which are typically awarded by third party, standard-setting bodies (not academic institutions), based on an assessment process that recognizes competencies in a particular occupational specialty as measured against a set of standards. Certificates may be awarded at the undergraduate or graduate level (PASSHE 1985-01-A). Certificates do appear on the academic transcript. KU is not currently authorized by our accreditors to offer post-master's level certificates. Post-Bacc level certificates must be 9 semester hours minimum (KU ACA-097)

Cognate Courses/Credits (also called “other requirements” on our program guides): Courses that are required for the major but not directly in the required program of study. These courses do count in the total major credits. An example might be a MATH course in a Chemistry program (PASSHE 1985-01-A).

Concentration: Focused groups of courses selected within an undergraduate major program or graduate degree. Concentrations must be a minimum of 12 credit hours within baccalaureate degrees and 9 within graduate degrees. Concentrations must be approved at the system level after going through curricular approval at KU (PASSHE 1985-01-A). Concentrations do appear on the transcript. Where concentrations are part of a major or graduate program, the degree may appear on the transcript as (for example) Business Administration: Finance, where the term before the colon is the parent program and the term after is the concentration. Majors may require all students to have a concentration or may have an option whereby students can complete the degree without or with a concentration. Where a major has multiple concentration options, all students in the major must share a set of core courses that represent a significant portion of the foundational program learning objectives. The core is generally expected to be a minimum of 12 semester hours for a BA or 15 semester hours for a B.S. or 1/3 of the program total, whichever is greater.

Co-Requisite Courses: Classes in which a required college-level courses is linked with learning support for “students who are assessed as unprepared for the foundational college-level course” (PASSHE 1990-06-A).

Directed General Education Courses/Credits: Courses that fulfill a GE requirement and are also required for completion of the program. These courses do not count in the total major credits. Total directed GE credits cannot exceed the credits required in each category of the GE programs. If a department requires 12 credits of category B courses, 9 credits may be counted as Directed General Education. The remaining 3 credits must be counted in Cognate Courses/Credits.

Specialization, Track, or Emphasis: These terms may be used to designate groupings of courses related to particular program SLOs. They must be approved as part of the Kutztown curriculum approval process. They are not formally defined by or approved at the system level (other than as part of the initial approval of a major), nor do they appear on the transcript as a formal degree designation.