Bachelor's degree Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====United States==== {{Main|Higher education in the United States}} Bachelor's degrees in the United States are typically designed to be completed in four years of full-time study, which typically represents an average of 15 hours of weekly instruction per four-month semester, two semesters per year, for a total of eight semesters and 120 instructional credit hours, although some programs, such as engineering or architecture,<ref>{{cite web|title=Penn State College of Arts and Architecture|url=https://stuckeman.psu.edu/arch|access-date=2 July 2013}}</ref> may take five years, and some universities and colleges allow students, usually with the help of summer school, who are taking many classes each semester or who have existing credit from high school [[Advanced Placement program|Advanced Placement]] or [[International Baccalaureate]] course exams, to complete them more rapidly. Some US colleges and universities have a separate academic track known as an "honours" or "scholars" program, generally offered to the top percentile of students, based on [[GPA]], that offers more challenging courses or more individually directed seminars or research projects instead or in addition to the standard [[core curriculum]]. Those students are awarded the same bachelor's degree as students completing the standard curriculum but with the notation ''[[in cursu honorum]]'' on the [[college transcript|transcript]] and the [[diploma]]. Usually, the above Latin honours are separate from the notation for this honours course, but a student in the honours course generally must maintain grades worthy of at least the ''cum laude'' notation anyway.<ref>{{cite web|title=WVU Honors College |url=http://honors.wvu.edu/current/handbook_policies.php |access-date=30 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204072301/http://honors.wvu.edu/current/handbook_policies.php |archive-date=4 February 2013 }}</ref> Hence, a graduate might receive a diploma ''Artium Baccalaureatum rite'' or ''Artium Baccalaureatum summa cum laude'' in the regular course or ''Artium Baccalaureatum summa cum laude in cursu honorum'' in the honours course. If the student has completed the requirements for an honours degree only in a particular discipline (e.g., English language and literature), the degree is designated accordingly (e.g., "BA with Honours in English"). In this case, the degree candidate will complete the normal curriculum for all subjects except the selected discipline ("English", in the preceding example). The requirements in either case usually require completion of particular honours seminars, independent research at a level higher than usually required (often with greater personal supervision by faculty than usual), and a written honours thesis in the major subject. Many universities and colleges in the United States award bachelor's degrees with [[Latin honours]], usually (in ascending order) ''[[cum laude]]'' ("with honor/praise"), ''[[magna cum laude]]'' ("with great honor/praise"), ''[[summa cum laude]]'' ("with highest honor/praise"), and the occasionally seen ''[[maxima cum laude]]'' ("with maximal honor/praise"). Requirements for such notations of honours generally include minimum [[grade point average]]s (GPA), with the highest average required for the ''summa'' distinction (or ''maxima'', when that distinction is present). In the case of some schools, such as [[Bates College]], [[Carleton College]], [[Colby College]], [[Middlebury College]], [[Guilford College]], [[Franklin College Switzerland]], and larger universities like the [[University of Virginia]], [[Princeton University]], [[North Carolina State University]], [[University of Massachusetts Amherst]], a senior [[thesis]] for degrees in the [[humanities]] or [[laboratory]] [[research]] for [[natural science]] (and sometimes [[social science]]) degrees is also required. Five notable exceptions are [[Reed College]], [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], [[The Evergreen State College]], [[Sarah Lawrence College]], and [[Bennington College]], which do not have deans' lists, Latin honours recognitions, or undergraduate honours programs or subjects. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page