Special Credit and Restrictions
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences allows for several ways of satisfying requirements toward graduation that fall outside of the standard curricula. Certain guidelines govern the choice of courses and use of credit hours, and they must be observed.
One of the special features of LAS programs is that most majors allow you the opportunity to take a wide variety of courses. You can use these electives to prepare for professional study, to complement the liberal arts component of your program, to prepare for business and career opportunities, or to explore additional areas of interest.
In addition to all the courses you use to meet the minimum specific graduation requirements of the college, you may use as electives:
- any course sponsored by a unit in the college;
- any course in a unit sponsoring a major in the college (i.e., art—excluding applied art courses—computer science, economics, finance, music—excluding applied music courses—and physics); and
- up to 24 hours of courses offered by departments and schools in other colleges on campus (e.g., accountancy, business administration, engineering, applied art courses, and applied music courses).
You may also apply up to 4 hours of basic physical activity courses toward the total hours required for graduation. Professional physical education courses and 199 courses carrying 2 or more hours of credit may be applied to the total hours required, up to a maximum of 24 hours of elective courses from colleges other than LAS.
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The following courses or combination of courses do not fulfill requirements toward graduation in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
- Repeated courses
- More than 24 hours of elective courses taken outside LAS
- More than 4 hours of religious foundation courses
- More than 24 hours of aviation courses (courses accepted for credit as free electives must be from the Pilot Training Curriculum)
- More than 4 hours of basic kinesiology courses (numbered 100–110)
- More than 6 hours of ROTC courses (courses must be from the approved list)
- More than 12 hours of calculus and analytic geometry
- More than 12 hours of basic physics
- More than 11 hours of 100-level life science courses toward a major in the School of Integrative Biology or School of Molecular and Cellular Biology
- More than 9 hours of basic rhetoric (including Rhetoric 102, 103, 104, 105, 108; English as a Second Language 113, 114, 115; Speech Communication 111, 112)
- More than 10 hours of second-year non-primary language proficiency
- First- and second-semester non-primary language proficiency
- More than 11 total combined hours of independent study courses (usually numbered 290 through 294) and undergraduate open seminars (199 courses)
- More than 12 hours of 199 courses (excluding discovery courses)
- Algebra (Mathematics 012 or equivalent) for students beginning June 1989 or later
- More than 12 hours of LAS 110
- CHEM 101, if taken before Fall 2004 (unless approved for credit by a dean)
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Students who receive college credit for advanced placement (AP) work will find that some course credit generally will apply toward the relevant General Education Requirement. For example, English Literature AP scores of 4 or 5 will provide 3 semester hours of credit in English 103 and count toward the requirement in literature and the arts. Programs of Study lists current credit policies for AP examinations. Similarly, you may use proficiency credit received through a department’s own testing program to satisfy General Education Requirements.
- The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign does not award proficiency credit based on scores from either the paper-and-pencil or the computer-based CLEP examiniations.
Departments in the University give proficiency examinations each semester, similar to the regular semester examinations, in courses normally open to freshmen and sophomores. You must obtain the consent of the department concerned to take these examinations. Proficiency examinations in more advanced undergraduate subjects are given on recommendation of the head of the department and approval of the dean of the college. The examinations are administered at various times, so you should contact the department concerned during the first week in the semester.
You may not take a proficiency examination to raise a grade or to earn credit in a course that you have failed. You also may not take a proficiency examination for credit in a subject of elementary character if you have received credit for more than one semester of work in the subject at an advanced level. To find out whether you are eligible to take a proficiency test, consult a admissions/records officer or your advisor. For additional information, see the appropriate section in the Student Code.
If you pass a proficiency examination, you receive credit toward graduation for the amount regularly allowed in the course, provided that this does not duplicate credit counted for your admission and that the course is acceptable in your curriculum. You need a grade of C- or better on a proficiency exam to earn credit. Credit is entered on the transcript as “Pass.” No official record is made of failures, although some departments may not let you retake the examination. Grades received on proficiency examinations are not considered in computing averages.
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Known as “undergraduate open seminars,” 199 courses involve considerable flexibility and topics of current interest. They may be started at any time through the fifth week of classes and carry 1 to 5 hours of credit. You should realize, however, that no change in credit for a 199 course will be allowed after the fifth week of classes. If you are interested in starting a particular section of 199, find a faculty member of the appropriate department to teach the course. If there are enough students interested in the topic and if the department approves the course plan, the course can be implemented immediately.
You may not apply more than 12 hours of 199 credit toward graduation, and credit toward a General Education Distribution Requirement is not normally given for 199 courses. Discovery courses are excluded from this limitation.
You may not apply more than 18 total combined credit hours in 199 courses or independent study courses toward your graduation requirement: for LAS departments, courses are numbered 390 to 490s. Of these 18 hours, you may earn no more than 12 hours in 199 courses. Senior thesis will count toward the 18-hour maximum. This rule does not restrict the maximum credits permissible for graduation, when you include independent study as an integral part of a formal, college-approved program of study, such as Individual Plans of Study and Study Abroad.
In any given semester, you may register for no more than 4 hours of LAS 110. No more than 12 hours of LAS 110 credit may be applied toward graduation. Credit toward departmental or college requirements depends on approval by the appropriate unit. Credit toward graduation for more than 12 hours in LAS 110 requires the consent of the director of Unit One (Allen Hall) and your college. You must petition for approval from your advisor and the LAS Central Student Office to include credit from such courses toward your major requirement, unless a department has set designated limits.
Life Sciences majors may not count toward graduation more than 11 hours of 100-level life sciences courses (including cross-listed courses on this campus and courses transferred from other institutions).
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There are rules that govern the transfer of credit for courses taken abroad. Learn More
Although often confused with study abroad, off-campus study refers to special situations in which students perform independent study (290 series) at a location other than U. of I.'s Urbana campus. Learn More
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Guided individual instruction (correspondence courses) is individual instruction online or by mail. It is intended primarily for students who cannot come to campus for study. Students may apply a limited amount of correspondence work toward your degree. Correspondence courses do not count toward your official class load. The course hours are not counted in the enrolled hours needed for full-time status, Dean’s List, or James Scholar minimum load. Before enrolling, students should become fully acquainted with the regulations.
Information about correspondence courses is available from the LAS Central Student Office or from the University’s Guided Individual Study Office. If you are enrolled for courses in residence, you must obtain the approval of the dean of the college to enroll concurrently in correspondence courses. If you are on drop status, you may enroll in a correspondence course only with the written permission of an LAS dean. You may take correspondence courses as credit/no credit, if you are already eligible to do so under current credit/no credit guidelines.
After matriculation and with the approval of the college's dean, students may count toward their degree as much as 60 semester hours of credit earned in extramural courses and/or correspondence study, provided that:
- they complete all remaining requirements for the degree in residence at the University, or
- they present acceptable residence credit for work done elsewhere and complete the requirements needed for their degree in residence at the University.
In all cases, 21 advanced hours and 60 total hours must be completed in residence at the University. Correspondence and extramural courses count toward satisfying the minimum residence requirement toward graduation.
Credit for correspondence work taken from fully accredited institutions may be allowed, if approved by the dean.
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LAS does not allow credit for military service. However, students enrolled in Army, Navy, or Air Force ROTC programs may apply a maximum of 6 hours of credit from approved courses in the ROTC programs toward the LAS degree. To be applicable, such courses must be advanced courses and must have been approved for such credit by the LAS Courses and Curricula Committee.
- Military Science 301 (3 hours LAS credit)
- Military Science 302 (2 hours LAS credit)
- Military Science 341 (2 hours LAS credit)
- Military Science 342 (2 hours LAS credit)
- Naval Science 204 or 307 (3 hours LAS credit for each course)
- Naval Science 323 (3 hours LAS credit)
- Air Force Aerospace Studies 331-332 (3 hours partial credit for yearlong sequence)
- Air Force Aerospace Studies 341-342 (4 hours partial credit for yearlong sequence)
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences allows up to 24 credit hours of specified aviation courses to be used as free electives. Such additional courses may not be used to satisfy any other degree requirements.
- AVI 101 Private Pilot, I
- AVI 120 Private Pilot, II
- AVI 121 Private Pilot Requalification
- AVI 130 Private-Instrument, I
- AVI 140 Private-Instrument, II
- AVI 200 Pre-Commercial Pilot
- AVI 210 Commercial Pilot
- AVI 211 Commercial Pilot-Multiengine
- AVI 320 Flight Instructor-Airplane
- AVI 322 Instrument Flight Instructor
- AVI 324 All Attitude Orientation
- AVI 350 Practice Teaching-Airplane
- AVI 358 Human Factors in Human-Machine Systems
- AVI 380 Multiengine Land-Special Rating
- AVI 381 Cockpit Resource Management
- AVI 391 Special Ratings and/or Specialized Flight
- AVI 392 Professional Multiengine Indoctrination
- AVI 393 Corporate Jet Pilot Orientation
- AVI 429 Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory
- AVI 441 Interactive Systems Modeling, Analysis, and Design
- AVI 455 Aviation Accident Investigation and Analysis
- AVI 456 Human Performance and Engineering Psychology
- AVI 495 Aviation Psychology
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Approval of the instructor and the teaching department is necessary for an undergraduate to enroll in a 500-level course. The Graduate College does not have to approve the registration. You must complete the following steps to register in a 500-level course:
- Pick up an application from the Records Service Center, Office of Admissions and Records.
- Obtain the signature of the instructor of the course.
- Ask your undergraduate advisor to sign the application form. You may not be self-advising for this purpose.
If you have satisfied both college and major residency requirements, you may use basic medical science credit satisfactorily completed at a fully accredited medical, veterinary, or dental school for courses acceptable to the major and apply that credit to LAS degree requirements. The amount of transfer credit may not exceed 30 hours, and duplication of courses completed on this campus is not permitted. Credit will be counted only upon completion of at least one year of professional study.
If you plan to complete your baccalaureate degree requirements by attending a medical, veterinary, or dental school, you must obtain an evaluation of credit before attending that school. It is quite possible that less than the maximum amount of credit may be acceptable as transfer credit; therefore, be certain to consult your admissions/records officer as early as possible.
If there is a question whether a course meets the criteria for acceptance of the amount of credit to be granted, the course will be evaluated in the appropriate academic department. You will be responsible for providing the necessary information to the head of that department (or the head’s designate); that person, in turn, will make a recommendation to the college regarding the credit. The dean of the college or a designate will make the final determination.
The prior agreement regarding transfer credit from professional schools must be included in your major plan-of-study form.
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