2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog Major in Political Science, General Sequence Degree offered: B.A. or B.S.

Major Requirements

Minimum required credit hours: 40

Take 1 of the following courses

A minimum of 3 credit hours is required.

Take 1 of the following courses

Take 6 (18 credit hours) additional Political Science electives

The Political Science major requires a minimum of 12 credit hours at the 200-level and a minimum of 6 credit hours at the 300-level. Refer to the main Politics and Government Department catalog page for the a list of courses by concentration areas.

Notes

A maximum 6 hours of POL 398a01, IDS 398a02 and LGS 398a20 may count toward major.

Course Finder >

Graduation Requirements

These are general requirements for all students. Students may apply for and receive two bachelor's degrees at the same time. Refer to the Academic Policies and Practices section of the catalog for details.

  • 120 minimum total credit hours
  • A minimum of 40 of the 120 total hours must be senior college hours (200-300 level courses)
  • AMALI requirement (certain courses in General Education and/or major may fulfill the AMALI requirement)
  • IDEAS (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access in U.S. Society) requirement (certain courses in General Education and/or major may fulfill the IDEAS requirement)
  • Students completing a Bachelor of Science degree must complete a B.S. - Science, Math, & Technology degree requirement (beyond the General Education requirements) 
  • Students completing a Bachelor of Arts degree must complete a B.A. - world language degree requirement: LAN/FRE/GER/SPA/ITA/JPN/POR 115 (or equivalent) 
  • Some majors complete other types of degrees that do not include additional graduation requirements. For example, the Bachelor of Science in Education (B.S. in Ed.) or the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.). 

Specific Program Requirements

General Education Requirements

There are three ways to complete general education requirements for Illinois State University. These three general education programs have different requirements and affect only certain types of students.

  1. The first way is to complete Illinois State University's General Education Program (see below for details).
  2. The second way is to complete the Illinois Transferable General Education Core Curriculum available through the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI) (see below for details).
  3. The third way is to complete a baccalaureate-oriented Associates Degree (A.A. or A.S.) from a regionally accredited post-secondary institution. For those transferring from an Illinois college or university, the A.S. degree must include the complete IAI General Education Core Curriculum (GECC) or the student must complete the GECC to fulfill Illinois State’s General Education requirement.

Illinois State University's General Education Program

The complete General Education Program consists of 13 courses (39 semester hours). Because of laboratory or recitation requirements, some courses are listed as four or five credit hours in this catalog. All four or five hours will be credited toward graduation requirements, but only three hours will be credited in General Education for these courses. Depending on their major, students may be exempted from one General Education category (maximum of one course) because of disciplinary expertise gained in their major.

Program requirements that also fulfill General Education Program Requirements

 

Illinois Articulation Initiative for Transfer Students

To be eligible for IAI, at least one transfer course must have been articulated to an IAI core requirement. Refer to the Undergraduate Catalog for a complete list of IAI courses and policies. The Illinois Transferable General Education Core curriculum consists of 12 to 13 courses (37 to 41 hours of credit) within a five-category designation.

Program requirements that also fulfill IAI Program Requirements

  • POL 106 - Social & Behavioral Science
  • POL 140 - Social & Behavioral Science
  • POL 151 - Social & Behavioral Science