All undergraduates seeking a baccalaureate degree from George Mason must complete a set of university general education requirements. Students earning a bachelor of arts degree (BA) in COS must fulfill additional requirements. Students earning a bachelor of science (BS) degree have no additional requirements. The requirements vary depending on catalog year. For questions on which catalog year applies to you, please see your academic advisor.

The current catalog can be found here.

College Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts Degree

The BA degree provides students with a breadth of knowledge, as well as the necessary skills to make in-depth study of a major truly meaningful. In addition to the university-wide general education program , students pursuing a BA degree must complete the course work below, and the courses listed in the departmental sections that follow. Except where expressly prohibited, a course used to fulfill a college-level requirement may also be used simultaneously to satisfy other requirements, such as university-wide general education requirements, college-level requirements, or requirements for the major. In some cases, the COS requirements below may be superceded by requirements of the major degree program.

• Philosophy or religious studies: 3 credits, fulfilled by any course in philosophy or religious studies (PHIL, RELI)
• Social and behavioral science: 3 credits in addition to the university-wide requirement in social and behavioral science for a total of 6 credits. The two courses used to fulfill the combined college and university requirements must be from different disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. This requirement may be fulfilled by completing any course in ANTH, CRIM, ECON, GOVT, HIST (except 100 or 125), LING, PSYC, or SOCI and these courses in GGS: 101, 103, 110, 301, 303, 304, 305, 306, 315, 316, 320, 325, 330, 357, 380.
• Science: 1 credit in addition to the university-wide requirement for a totel of 8 credits. This requirement can be fulfilled by completing two of any approved natural science courses that include a laboratory experience. This requirement may not be fulfilled by BIOL 124 or 125.
• Non-Western culture: 3 credits of an approved course in the study of a non-Western culture in addition to the course used to fulfill the university-wide general education requirement in global understanding. A course used to fulfill the university-wide general education global understanding requirement may not be simultaneously used to satisfy this college-level requirement. A course used to fulfill this requirement may be used simultaneously to fulfill any other requirements (university-wide general education requirements, college-level requirements, or requirements for the major). This requirement may be fulfilled by any of the following courses: ANTH 114, 300, 301, 302, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 311, 313, 330, 332, 396; ARTH 203, 204, 319, 320, 380, 382, 383, 384, 385, 482; CHIN 318, 320, 325; DANC 118; ECON 361, 362; FREN 451; GGS 101, 316, 325, 330, 399; GOVT 328, 332, 333, 340, 341, 345, 432, 433; HIST 130, 251, 252, 261, 262, 271, 281, 282, 328, 329, 353, 354, 355, 356, 365, 366, 367, 387, 426, 459, 460, 461, 465, 466; MUSI 103; RELI 211, 212, 272, 313, 314, 315, 337, 374, 375, 490; or RUSS 353, 354. Students who can document attendance at a native school in a non-Western country for at least four years may request a waiver from this requirement through the CHSS Undergraduate Academic Affairs Office.
• Foreign language: intermediate-level proficiency in one foreign language. This requirement may be fulfilled by completing a course in a foreign language numbered 202, 209, or 210; or by successfully completing a 300- or 400-level course that requires intermediate-level proficiency and is taught in the foreign language; or by achieving a satisfactory score on an approved proficiency test; or by presenting for admission to George Mason University an approved score on the TOEFL and on the TOEFL essay (for students whose native language is not English).  International students should consult the Undergraduate Academic Affairs Office about a possible waiver of the foreign language requirement.

Bachelor of Science

The BS degree provides students with a more intensive approach to the technical core knowledge and concepts in their major field of study. Therefore, this curriculum has a reduced number of courses in humanities and social sciences in comparison with the BA degree to allow students to achieve greater depth in their majors. Students pursuing a BS degree must complete the university-wide general education program plus the requirements for their major. Requirements for each BS major in COS are listed in the departmental sections that follow.

Teacher Licensure

Degree programs that prepare students for high school teaching careers are available in the following COS departments or programs: Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Science; Biology; Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics. Students who wish to become K-12 teachers, and who plan to seek teacher licensure should also consult the College of Education and Human Development chapter and attend an information session early in their undergraduate career. For more information, call 703-993-2892, e-mail cehdgrad@gmu.edu, or go to gse.gmu.edu.