Undergraduate Program

College of Arts and Sciences and Department of Political Science Undergraduate Admission Requirements

A minimum of 26 credit hours; 23 credit hours must be in courses acceptable toward graduation.

A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.00 on all work.

Transfer students must have a 2.00 transfer GPA.
Continuing UNM students must have a 2.00 institutional GPA.

Demonstrated academic achievement by satisfying the following:

Completion of General Education Curriculum: Communication.
Completion of General Education Curriculum: Mathematics and Statistics.
Completion of General Education Curriculum: Second Language.

Completion of Department of Political Science admission course work with grades of "C" or better:

Two POLS courses from 1120, 1140, 2110, 2120, 2130, 2140, or 2150.

Degree Offered

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (B.A.)

Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program

The Department of Political Science offers a Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program. The Program enables completion of the B.A. in Political Science, and the Master of Arts (M.A.) in Political Science in five years of study. See the "Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program" section of this page for specific admission information and requirements.

Major Study Requirements

A total of 36 credit hours is required for a major in Political Science. These credit hours must be distributed among the following:

12 credit hours from the core courses (1120, 2110, 2120, 2130, 2140, and 2150), including at least one course from each of the following groups: (1120 or 2150), (2110 or 2120) and (2130 or 2140).
21 credit hours from courses numbered 300 or above.
3 additional credit hours from any level.

NOTE: Students who have already had courses in political science may not count POLS 1140 toward a major. A grade of "C" or better is required in all political science courses counted toward the major. Only 3 credit hours of POLS 2996 is permitted toward the major. However, students may enroll in additional credit hours of POLS 2996 and count them as electives. No more than a total of 6 credit hours of Internship (291 and/or 491) or Independent Study (499) combined can be counted toward the major.

Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program

The shared-credit program allows high-achieving Political Science majors to take graduate courses for shared undergraduate credit in their senior year and finish the M.A. in Political Science in one additional year.

Admission Requirements

Students seeking admission to the shared-credit program should contact the Political Science Graduate Director in the Fall semester of their junior year and apply to the graduate program early in the Spring semester of their junior year. Applicants should have completed 90 credit hours toward the B.A. degree by the end of their junior year and must also meet the following other requirements:

B.A. program core requirements completed;
POLS 280 completed with a grade of “B” or better;
Two upper-division courses (taught by regular department faculty) completed with a grade of “B” or better;
Political Science major GPA of 3.5 or higher;
Overall GPA of 3.20 or higher.

Program Requirements

For shared-credit coursework to count toward the M.A. degree, the student must maintain at least a 3.20 GPA in courses taken for graduate credit after admission to the program.

Students enter the program in the Fall semester of their senior year, and will complete the following alongside their undergraduate classes:

POLS 581 (4 credit hours),
POLS 582 (1 credit hour), and
a professional seminar in one of the subfields (3 credit hours).

In the Spring of their senior year, students must complete the following alongside their remaining undergraduate courses:

two other graduate courses in Political Science (6 credit hours).

These 21 credit hours count towards the upper-division course requirement for the B.A. in Political Science.

In the Fall semester of their "plus-one" year, participants are enrolled as graduate students and take:

POLS 580 (3 credit hours),
two other graduate courses in Political Science (6 credit hours).

In the Spring semester of their "plus-one" year, students take:

two professional seminars and one graduate research seminar (9 credit hours).

Additional Information

Shared-credit coursework will count toward the undergraduate degree whether or not the student gains admission into the M.A. program provided that the student earns a grade of “B” or better in those courses. After meeting the course and GPA requirements, students in the Shared-Credit Degrees Program graduate with the B.A. in Political Science at the end of the Spring semester of their senior year and with the M.A. in Political Science at the end of the Spring semester of their "plus-one" year. Students who choose not to complete the graduate portion of the program are still awarded the undergraduate degree when all undergraduate requirements are met.

Distributed Minor for Political Science Majors

A Political Science major may pursue a distributed minor consisting of courses in related disciplines, provided the minor program of courses is approved by the department chairperson.

Minor Study Requirements

A total of 24 credit hours, including at least three of the core courses and four courses numbered 300 or above, is required for a minor in Political Science. A grade of "C" or better is required in all courses counted toward the minor. Only 3 credit hours of POLS 2996 are permitted toward the minor. However, students may enroll in additional credit hours of POLS 2996 and count them as electives. No more than a total of 3 credit hours of Internship (291 and/or 491) or Independent Study (499) combined can be counted toward the minor.

Departmental Honors

Superior sophomore and junior students are invited to apply for admission to the Undergraduate Honors Program, beginning in the junior year. Students participating in this program are eligible to graduate with departmental honors if recommended by the faculty on the basis of outstanding performance. Those enrolled in the honors program are expected to complete the following sequence of courses for a total of 9 credit hours: POLS 495, 496 (or, with prior approval, another 400-level course) and 497.

Undergraduate courses in Political Science (POLS) are categorized in content areas. The category for each course appears in parenthesis at the end of the course description according to the following legend:

Introductory and General (I); Core (C); American Politics (AP); Comparative Politics (CP); International Politics (IP); Political Theory (PT); Public Policy (PP).

Keys and Symbols Reference