University Studies BUS

This degree focuses on providing a path to earn a bachelor’s degree for students who have previously earned college credit, but not a degree.  The degree is designed for students, who have not been enrolled in a post-secondary institution for at least 24 consecutive months, and have 90 hours of coursework applicable toward the University Studies degree. The goal of the University Studies program is to educate and support returning students to find success in academic and professional endeavors; beyond the post-secondary degree and to their next career-related or graduate school pathway.

Eligibility Requirements:

1. Must be admissible or re-admissible to USM
2. Must not have attended college for the past 24 consecutive months
3. Must not have attained a bachelor’s degree
4. Must have completed 90 credit hours or more towards the Bachelor of University Studies. Repeated courses can only be counted once.

Academic Amnesty for University Studies Students:

Undergraduate students who seek admission to The University of Southern Mississippi and enroll in the University Studies degree, are eligible for Academic Amnesty. Academic Amnesty withholds all USM grades of F (or WF) earned prior to readmission from the GPA calculation necessary to be admitted/readmitted and graduate with a minimum GPA of 2.0. In order to qualify, the student must be out of school for at least 24 consecutive months (two full academic years) and have not taken classes at USM or any other institution of higher education during that time. Amnesty does not remove courses from the student’s transcript, but excludes those grades earned prior to returning to USM from use in calculating a specialized GPA for degree conferring purposes. If a student leaves the University Studies degree all grades of F waived under the Academic Amnesty program would be recalculated in the student’s cumulative GPA. Students who opt for academic amnesty will have transcripts marked to indicate they graduated under the Academic Amnesty policy and students will have to retake all classes necessary to meet general education and major requirements for degree completion. Grade repeat opportunities for courses taken after the amnesty will be available to the student for future use based on the institution’s current grade repeat policy. The Academic Amnesty policy may be used only once during a student’s undergraduate academic career and is only available to University Studies students. This policy applies to all courses taken, including transfer credit. It may adversely impact student financial aid eligibility and may not be honored at other educational institutions. 

University Studies BUS Degree Requirements (120 hours)