Historical Course Designations and Breadth Requirements

All L&S undergraduate students are required to fulfill the L&S Breadth of Exploration in the Liberal Arts and Sciences. The L&S Breadth includes:

·        Humanities: 12 credits (of which 6 credits must be Literature credit)

·        Social Science: 12 credits

·        Natural Science: 12 credits

NOTE: Although all L&S undergraduates must complete a minimum of 12 natural science credits in order to graduate, there are differences between the B.A. and B.S. natural science breadth requirement.

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) candidates must complete a minimum of one (1) 3-credit Biological Science course and one (1) 3-credit Physical Science course. The additional 6 credits can be any combination of natural, biological or physical science credits to bring the total to 12 credits.

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) candidates must complete a minimum of 6 credits of Physical Science and 6 credits of Biological Science.

Only those courses that have both a specific Breadth designation and "C" (Counts as LAS credit) in the "L&S Credit Type" section of the Course Search & Enroll app or in the current Guide with breadth in the course designation section count toward the breadth requirement. The following types of courses do not count toward the breadth requirement:

·        elementary-level courses in mathematics

·        elementary- and intermediate-level courses in foreign language or courses in conversation and composition in a foreign language

·        English composition

·        directed study/independent study courses

·        practical and skill courses such as elementary-level courses in journalism, public speaking, acting, and theater production; courses in art; and courses in music performance

·        free elective coursework

The following types of courses are inappropriate for satisfying the breadth requirement, and so lack breadth designation:

·        courses that are highly specialized or narrowly pre-professional in nature; and

·        internships, practicums, directed study, tutorials, senior theses, and other courses whose content is negotiated between students and faculty on an individual basis.

Courses designated as Natural Science (N) partially satisfy the natural science requirement but not the specific physical or biological sciences course requirements. If a course can meet more than one breadth designation, students may select the division in which they want that course to count for purposes of the breadth requirement; however, the course may be counted only once and in only one division.

The following is a list of symbols located in the "geBLC" column of the former Timetable, the UW–Madison Transfer Equivalency Database (TED), and the Credit Transfer Wizards. These symbols are still used to designate course attributes in L&S. The symbols are as follows:

Letters in the "g" column (or the Gen Ed designation in the "Gen-Ed" section of the Course Guide under Additional Info) identify a course which counts toward either the Communication requirement or the Quantitative Reasoning requirement for general education as follows:

a—course counts toward the Communication Part A requirement.
b—course counts toward the Communication Part B requirement.
q—course counts toward the Quantitative Reasoning Part A requirement.
r—course counts toward the Quantitative Reasoning Part B requirement.

The symbol "e" in the "e" column (or "yes" in the "Ethnic" section of the Course Guide under Additional Info) identifies a course that counts toward the L&S Ethnic Studies requirement.

Symbols in the "B" column (or the breadth designation in the "Breadth"section of the Course Guide under Additional Info) show how courses count in meeting the breadth requirement for the L&S B.A./B.S. degrees.

B—Biological Science. Counts toward the Natural Science requirement.
H—Humanities
I—Interdivisional. Does not satisfy any breadth requirement
L—Literature. Counts toward the Humanities requirement
N—Natural Science. Satisfies the Natural Science requirement but not the Biological or Physical Science requirements
P—Physical Science. Counts toward the Natural Science requirement
S—Social Science
W—Either Social Science or Natural Science
X—Either Humanities or Natural Science
Y—Either Biological Sciences or Social Science
Z—Either Humanities or Social Science

Symbols in the "L" column (or the level designation in the "Level" section of the Course Guide under Additional Info) show course level. Sixty credits of advanced and intermediate level courses are required for the L&S B.A./B.S. degrees.

E—Elementary
I—Intermediate
A—Advanced
D—Intermediate or Advanced

Symbols in the "C" column are:
C—courses which count for degree credit in L&S and which count as part of the 100 credits in L&S for students under the 1971 degree requirements or for the 108 Liberal Arts and Science (LAS) credits for students under BABS07.

Course Level

Each L&S course and each approved non-L&S course have been evaluated for level:

·        Elementary (E),

·        Intermediate (I),

·        Advanced (A), or

·        Intermediate/Advanced (D).

Course levels are indicated with each course listed in the Guide that also count for L&S Liberal Arts and Science credit. Only courses that are designated as counting as Liberal Arts and Science credit in the Guide are able to count toward level in L&S for students.