Graduation Requirements - Undergraduate

A Bachelor's degree usually requires four academic years of study and a minimum of 128 credit hours, which are accumulated by taking a series of courses. Each completed course counts as one to four credits toward a degree. 

Students graduate with one of two degrees depending on the academic discipline studied: the Bachelor of Arts (BA) for a major in the humanities, social sciences, communications, and business, or the Bachelor of Science (BS) for a major in International Finance or Computer Science. BA and BS Degrees are awarded to candidates who meet the following criteria: 

• Completion of a minimum of 128 credits, distributed among general education requirements, major requirements, and electives. 
• At least 64 credits, including the last 16, earned in residence at AUP. 
• Completion of at least half the upper-level courses required for the degree at The American University of Paris. 
• A minimum GPA of 2.00 with no grade below “C-” in courses specified as requirements for the major and/or for the minor. 
• Clearance of all financial obligations to the University. 
• A degree application filed with the Registrar’s Office. 
• Any additional restrictions imposed by specific departments. 

Students are awarded the BA or BS degree based on requirements in effect at the time of matriculation. However, the student may choose to follow any new requirements implemented during his/her time at AUP. 

The University confers BA, BS and MA Degrees in January, May, and July. A graduation ceremony is held in May for students (both graduate and undergraduate) who have completed all the necessary graduation requirements. 

A pillar of the American model of education is the undergraduate General Education program that exposes students to a broad range of academic disciplines. In the American system, this “generalizing” stream of courses is balanced by concentrated or “specializing” study in a single discipline or “major.” This General Education program at AUP has been designed to complement work in the major, by running parallel to it over the course of a student's academic trajectory. Students must fulfill General Education requirements in the following areas: 

• FirstBridge (freshmen only) 
• Speaking the World 
• Modeling the World 
• Comparing Worlds 
• Mapping the World 

FirstBridge 

Freshman students begin their General Education studies with a FirstBridge during their first semester at AUP. This program is a set of two creatively joined courses linked by a Reflective Seminar. Each set of FirstBridge courses will bridge multiple academic disciplines, with a team of two AUP professors, and with Paris itself. Once a week, FirstBridge classes meet for a Reflective Seminar led by one of the two professors. Throughout FirstBridge, students explore a range of interdisciplinary issues and questions, complete individual and team projects, and enjoy occasional field trips in Paris, France, or other European countries, while improving skills in writing, public speaking, and information literacy. The FirstBridge program carries eight credits. 

Speaking the World: Language and Cultural Literacy 

English. This requirement consists of eight credits (two courses) in English writing. EN courses require substantial reading, analysis, writing and revision in the context of important works of world literature in a range of genres. Students fulfill this requirement, in most cases, with one semester of EN 1010 (College Writing) and one semester of EN 2020 (Writing and Criticism). 

Depending on placement test results, students may have to complete additional English courses before embarking on this requirement. Entering freshmen take the AUP English Placement Test during Orientation. Based on the results, a student takes prerequisites for the requirement listed above, follows the requirement listed above, or is exempt from the above requirement (by placing above EN 2020). A grade of “C” or above must be earned in these courses to meet the General Education requirement. Since writing in English forms the basis for success in most other courses, Transfer students may be awarded transfer credits for the equivalent of English Composition I and II from an Anglophone university. However, students who are unable to demonstrate English writing proficiency sufficient for upper-level coursework will, on the advice of their professors and advisor, be placed in an appropriate EN class. All advanced standing credits in English, regardless of exam taken, will transfer in as “free elective” credits if the exam results were the equivalent of “C” or above. These qualifications do not contribute to fulfilling the Speaking the World English general education requirement. 

French. AUP students are required to complete two courses in French language to facilitate their integration in Paris (FR1100: French & Culture I and FR1200: French & Culture II). 

All new students who have not completed two courses of university-level French (or hold the French Baccalauréat diploma) must take a placement test at Orientation. Either by means of exemption or completion of the necessary French language sequence, students must demonstrate a proficiency level equivalent to that obtained in FR 1200 (French and Culture II). A minimum grade of “C” is required in French courses in order to fulfill the requirement. 

Modeling the World: Scientific and Mathematical Investigations 

To fulfill this requirement students must: 

• Complete one natural or physical science course with laboratory; 
• Take one specially designed General Education course in basic math and reasoning skills (or a higher level math course) or demonstrate competence in quantitative skills on the assessment test taken at Orientation. 

Comparing Worlds Past and Present: Historical and Cross-Cultural Understandings 

Being able to make comparisons across cultures and across periods of time is a critical interpretive skill for citizens of the 21st century, and gives its force to this rubric of the general education program. Courses listed under this heading include both diachronic and synchronic investigations, both disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives, both liberal arts and pre-professional modes of knowing. This requirement is fulfilled by completion of one course chosen from the following list of approved courses. (The courses in the list below are all coded as either type “GE100” or type “GE115” on the schedule. So, for example, the first course in the list below would be shown as “AH1000GE100.” GE100 is the designation for courses meeting the “Comparing Worlds Past and Present” category; GE115 is the designation for courses meeting both the Comparing Worlds Past and Present category as well as the Mapping the World category.) ​​​​​​​

Mapping the World: Social Experience and Organization 

At AUP, we have drawn upon the metaphor of cartography, or mapmaking, to designate another area of skill and knowledge acquisition for future global citizens. Maps depend upon the subject position of the mapmaker and represent powerfully our differing perspectives on social organization. Under this rubric, students are required to take courses that help them understand how human experience has been organized in time and across time, in space and across space, and how various forms of social experience emerged in human history. This requirement is fulfilled by completion of one course chosen from the following list of approved courses. (The courses in the list below are all coded as either type “GE110” or type “GE115” on the schedule. So, for example, the first course in the list below would be shown as “AN1002GE110.” GE10 is the designation for courses meeting the “Mapping the World” category; GE115 is the designation for courses meeting both the Comparing Worlds Past and Present category as well as the Mapping the World category.) 

Students then take an additional course from either the Comparing Worlds or Mapping the World rubric. 

In choosing a total of 12 credits from these two categories, students must select courses in at least two different disciplines and those disciplines must be different from the student's major discipline(s). An exception is made, however, for students completing the requirements of a double major: in such cases, courses fulfilling the requirements of one of the majors can also be accepted as satisfying the Comparing Worlds or Mapping the World requirements. 

There are two possibilities for transfer students wishing to use previously earned General Education credits to fulfill either of the thematic rubrics outlined above. 

Option 1. Establish equivalency for an AUP course that carries General Education classification. This is done by completing the course substitution paperwork. 

Option 2. Some courses that are not direct equivalents could still be suitable for General Education equivalence. Students who would like courses to be considered for equivalence should submit full course syllabi for review by the General Education Committee. These syllabi can be submitted directly to the Associate Dean for Academic Administration, who will take care of all communication between the student and the Committee.