Louisiana State University and A&M College

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4.4 Program length

Program length is appropriate for each of the institution’s educational programs. (Program length)

Compliance Status

Louisiana State University and A&M College is in compliance with this principle.

Narrative

Louisiana State University and A&M College (LSU) awards baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral degrees with appropriate program lengths that follow commonly accepted “good practices” in each degree program discipline. LSU uses the semester credit hour as the unit by which course work is measured, and it follows the federal guidelines for defining a credit hour [1]. Credit-hour degree requirements are the same regardless of the method of delivery, i.e., face-to-face or on-line.

The necessary review and consideration required by the Louisiana Board of Regents Policy on New Academic Programs [2] also ensure that degree programs are based on fields of study appropriate to higher education and consistent with the role, scope, and mission of the institution. In addition, The Louisiana Board of Regents requires the use of the U.S. Department of Education Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) taxonomy for all degree programs, further ensuring that they are based upon fields of study appropriate to higher education. When submitted to the Louisiana Board of Regents, “proposals for graduate-level programs and for highly technical and/or selective baccalaureates require review by external consultants.” Consequently, the proposed program is evaluated by an external source verifying the appropriateness of these programs in a higher education setting.

All academic courses and programs of study are initiated by faculty, approved by a series of faculty committees at the department, college, and university levels, and approved by the Office of Academic Affairs as described in LSU Policy Statement 45 (Courses and Curricula) [3].

Baccalaureate Degree Programs

All LSU degree programs follow the semester credit hour program length policies of the Louisiana Board of Regents. Policies for the length and content of baccalaureate degrees are consistent with the Louisiana Board of Regents Academic Affairs Policy 2.15 that states,

The standard number of credits required for baccalaureate degrees is 120. Institutions with compelling reasons (e.g., the academic program is defined as a 5-year baccalaureate program; professional accreditation or certification requirements; etc.) for exceeding the 120 credit hour standard may request an exception to this standard according to their respective system's policy [4]

All baccalaureate degree programs at LSU require at least 120 undergraduate semester hours of credit (Table 1). Because of other accreditation agency or post-graduation certification requirements, 17 degree programs require more than 120 credit hours (Table 2). All undergraduate students at LSU must also satisfy the General Education requirements (39 credit hours) [5] in order to graduate. The Degree Requirements section of the General Catalog [6] summarizes overarching requirements and regulations for undergraduate degree programs. Additionally, all degree programs are based on expert knowledge of the faculty who design the curriculum to develop mastery of knowledge and skill in the discipline and to maximize the likely success of the student. Many LSU baccalaureate (and post-baccalaureate) degree programs are accredited by external accreditation agencies stipulating additional credit hour requirements (length) and course or programmatic content to attain accreditation by the agencies (Table 3).

Requirements for a Second Baccalaureate Degree

To earn a second baccalaureate degree from LSU, a student must complete 30 semester hours of credit in addition to the 120 or more required for the first degree and meet all the academic and residency requirements of the college(s) concerned [7].

Table 1: All LSU Baccalaureate Degree Programs
Department	Curriculum/Major	Curriculum Code	Degree	# Hrs
College of Agriculture (AGRI) Degree Programs - Baccalaureate
Agricultural Economics & Agribusiness	Agricultural Business	AGBU	BS	120
School of Animal Sciences	Animal, Dairy & Poultry Sciences	ADP	BS	120
School of Human Ecology	Nutrition and Food Sciences	NUTR	BS	120
School of Human Ecology	Textiles, Apparel & Merchandising	HETAM	BS	120
Interdepartmental	Agricultural Education - Grades 6-12	AGED	BS	120
Interdepartmental	Plant & Soil Systems	PLSYS	BS	120
School of Plant, Environmental & Soil Sciences	Environmental Management Systems	ENSYS	BS	120
School of Renewable Natural Resources	Forestry (Forest Management)	FORM	BSF	128
School of Renewable Natural Resources	Natural Resource Ecology & Management	NREM	BS	128
College of Art & Design (ADSN) Degree Programs - Baccalaureate
Architecture	Architecture (Five-year Program)	ARCH	Bachelor of Architecture (BArch)	162
Art	Studio Art	STAR	Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)	120
Interior Design	Interior Design	ID	Bachelor of Interior Design (BID)	135
Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture	Landscape Architecture (Five-year Program)	LA	Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (BLA)	159
E. J. Ourso College of Business (BADM) Degree Programs - Baccalaureate
Accounting	Accounting	ACCT	BS	120
Economics	Economics	ECONS	BS	120
Economics	International Trade and Finance	ITF	BS	120
Finance	Finance	FIN	BS	120
Information Systems & Decision Sciences	Information Systems & Decision Sciences	ISDS	BS	120
Interdepartmental	General Business	GBUS	BS	120
William W. and Catherine M. Rucks Department of Management	Management	MGT	BS	120
Marketing	Marketing	MKT	BS	120
School of Coast & Environment (SCE) Degree Programs - Baccalaureate
Interdepartmental	Coastal Environmental Science	CES	BS in Coastal Environmental Science	120
College of Engineering (ENGR) Degree Programs - Baccalaureate
Biological & Agricultural Engineering	Biological Engineering	BE	BS in Biological Engineering (BSBE)	128
Gordon A. and Mary Cain Department of Chemical Engineering	Chemical Engineering	CHE	BS in Chemical Engineering (BSCheE)	128
Civil & Environmental Engineering	Civil Engineering	CE	BS in Civil Engineering (BSCE)	120
Civil & Environmental Engineering	Environmental Engineering	EVEG	BS in Environmental Engineering (BSEnvE)	128
Mechanical & Industrial Engineering	Industrial Engineering	IE	BS in Industrial Engineering (BSIE)	126
Mechanical & Industrial Engineering	Mechanical Engineering	ME	BS in Mechanical Engineering (BSME)	127-128
School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science	Computer Engineering	EEC	BS in Electrical Engineering (BSEE)	127
	Electrical Engineering	EE	BS in Electrical Engineering (BSEE)	127
	Computer Science	CSC	BS	120
Construction Management	Construction Management	CM	BS in Construction Management (BSCM)	122
Craft & Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering	Petroleum Engineering	PETE	BS in Petroleum Engineering (BSPE)	128
College of Human Sciences and Education (HSE) Degree Programs - Baccalaureate
School of Education	Early Childhood Education: PK-3 Teacher Certification	PK3CT	BS	120-122
School of Education	Elementary Grades Education	ELED	BS	120-125
School of Human Resource Education & Workforce Development	Human Resource Education	HRE	BS	120
School of Kinesiology	Kinesiology	KIN	BS	120
	Athletic Training	ATRN	BS	125
	Sport Administration	SPADM	BS	120
School of Social Work	Child & Family Studies	HECFS	BS	120
College of Humanities & Social Sciences (HSS) Degree Programs - Baccalaureate
Communication Sciences & Disorders	Communication Disorders	COMD	BA	120
Communication Studies	Communication Studies	CMST	BA	120
English	English	ENGL	BA	120
Foreign Languages & Literatures	Spanish	SPAN	BA	120
French Studies	French	FREN	BA	120
Geography & Anthropology	Anthropology	ANTH	BA	120
	Geography	GEOGA	BA	120
	Geography	GEOGS	BS	120
History	History	HIST	BA	120
Interdepartmental	Economics	ECONA	BA	120
	Interdisciplinary Studies	IS	BIS	120
	International Studies	INTL	BA	120
	Liberal Arts	LIBAR	BA	120
Philosophy & Religious Studies	Philosophy	PHIL	BA	120
Political Science	Political Science	POLI	BA	120
Psychology	Psychology	PSYCS	BS	120
Sociology	Sociology	SOCL	BA	120
Manship School of Mass Communication (MC) Degree Programs - Baccalaureate
Mass Communication	Mass Communication	MC	Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication (BAMC)	120
College of Music & Dramatic Arts (MDA) Degree Programs - Baccalaureate
School of Music	Music	MUSIC	Bachelor of Music (BM)	120
	Music Education	MUSED	Bachelor of Music Education (BMEd)	128
	Music	MUSAR	BA	120
Theatre	Theatre	THTR	BA	120
College of Science (SCI) Degree Programs - Baccalaureate
Biological Sciences	Biochemistry	BCH	BS	120
	Biological Sciences	BIOL	BS	120
	Microbiology	MBIO	BS	120
Chemistry	Chemistry	CHEM	BS	120
Geology & Geophysics	Geology	GEOLP	BS in Geology (BSGeol)	120
Mathematics	Mathematics	MATH	BS	120
Physics & Astronomy	Physics	PHYS	BS	120

Table 2. Baccalaureate Degree Programs with more than 120 credit hours
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE (AGRI) DEGREE PROGRAMS - UNDERGRADUATE
School of Renewable Natural Resources	Forestry (Forest Management)	FORM	BSF	128
School of Renewable Natural Resources	Natural Resource Ecology & Management	NREM	BS	128
COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN (ADSN) DEGREE PROGRAMS – UNDERGRADUATE
Architecture	Architecture (Five-year Program)	ARCH	Bachelor of Architecture (BARCH)	162
Interior Design	Interior Design	ID	Bachelor of Interior Design (BID)	135
Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture	Landscape Architecture (Five-year Program)	LA	Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (BLA)	159
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING (ENGR) DEGREE PROGRAMS - UNDERGRADUATE
Biological & Agricultural Engineering	Biological Engineering	BE	BS in Biological Engineering (BSBE)	128
Gordon A. and Mary Cain Department of Chemical Engineering	Chemical Engineering	CHE	BS in Chemical Engineering (BSCheE)	128
Civil & Environmental Engineering	Environmental Engineering	EVEG	BS in Environmental Engineering (BSEnvE)	128
Mechanical & Industrial Engineering	Industrial Engineering	IE	BS in Industrial Engineering (BSIE)	126
Mechanical & Industrial Engineering	Mechanical Engineering	ME	BS in Mechanical Engineering (BSME)	127-128
School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science	Computer Engineering	EEC	BS in Electrical Engineering (BSEE)	127
School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science	Electrical Engineering	EE	BS in Electrical Engineering (BSEE)	127
Construction Management	Construction Management	CM	BS in Construction Management (BSCM)	122
Craft & Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering	Petroleum Engineering	PETE	BS in Petroleum Engineering (BSPE)	128
COLLEGE OF HUMAN SCIENCES AND EDUCATION (HSE) DEGREE PROGRAMS - UNDERGRADUATE
School of Education	Early Childhood Education: PK-3 Teacher Certification	PK3CT	BS	120-122
School of Education	Elementary Grades Education	ELED	BS	120-125
School of Kinesiology	Athletic Training	ATRN	BS	125

NOTE: The narrative continues in "4.4 (Continued)."

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Author: Stephenie Franks
Last modified: 7/1/2015 7:33 AM (EST)

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Louisiana State University and A&M College

4.4 Program length