UMass Amherst College of NRE
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Graduation and General Education Requirements

The University of Massachusetts has the following requirements for graduation:

Total Credits:
A minimum of 120 credits must be obtained, 45 of which must be earned in residence. Residence credits are defined as credits earned for work done while registered at the Amherst campus or while enrolled in one of the University's formal exchange programs.

Minimum Overall GPA:
A cumulative average of at least a C (2.0 grade point average) is required. The official grading system runs from A (4.0) to F (0.0).

Minimum Major GPA:
A minimum cumulative average of 2.0 is required for those courses comprising the major.

University General Education Requirements:
General Education requirements consist of courses with letter designations in the following areas:

Writing: College Writing (CW) taken during the freshman year and completion of the Junior Year Writing Requirement (PLSOILIN 380).

Social World: Six courses including one course in Historical Studies (HS), two courses in Social and Behavioral Sciences (SB), and two courses in the Arts where one must be in literature (AL) and the second may be in one of the visual or performing arts (AT). In addition, two of the six courses in the Social World area must also have a Social and Cultural Diversity designation (D).

Biological and Physical World: Three courses with at least one course in the Biological Sciences (BS) and at least one course in a Physical Science (PS). These will be satisfied by Plant Biology, Soils, and Chemistry courses required by the Plant, Soil & Insect Sciences major.

Tier I and Tier II - Analytical Reasoning: The Tier I requirement may be fulfilled by achieving a sufficiently passing score on the Math Placement Exam which is offered during summer orientation and at the beginning of each semester, or by completing MATH 104 (Algebra, Analytic Geometry, and Trigonometry). Students with a weak background should take the two-semester sequence MATH 101 and MATH 102 instead. The Tier II requirement is fulfilled by completion of a required statistics course (RES-ECON 211).

 

 
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