Purpose

The Applied Liberal Arts & Sciences (ALA&S) program is designed to provide students with foundational knowledge in liberal arts, promote student progress toward degree completion, and improve student retention and graduation rates. It supports New College’s mission and goals by providing a multidisciplinary, liberal arts-based degree option for students and continuing the program’s tradition of providing highly student-centered advising and innovative degree options.

This program may be a good fit for students who

• struggle to pass courses required by their major program
• have not been able to advance in their major program due to difficulty enrolling in or passing prerequisite courses
• changed majors late in their academic careers and lacked resources or time to advance in the new major
• are concerned that they might not graduate because of these academic difficulties

Eligibility

To be eligible for admission to the ALA&S program, a student must

• be a current UA student, or have been enrolled at UA within the last 5 years
• not be on track to graduate within 6 years of their college start date
• have completed at least 80 credit hours, with at least 30 hours earned in residence at UA, while pursuing a declared major in one of UA’s bachelor’s degree programs

This program is not intended for current or transfer students who are otherwise capable of completing an established major but are looking for a non-traditional or faster path to graduation, nor is it designed for students who have not finished their majors due to financial reasons.

Prospective students will not be recruited to UA to enroll in this degree-completion program, and students can’t declare this program as a major themselves. The only path to admission is by working with academic advisors and ALA&S program faculty/staff to determine whether the student is a good candidate for this program, followed by completion of the ALA&S application process.

Transfer students may transfer in as many as 60 hours from other institutions, but to be considered for admission to the program, they must have completed at least 80 credit hours, at least 30 of which must be earned in residence at UA while pursuing a declared major in one of UA’s bachelor’s programs. This requirement is to prevent transfer students from switching directly into the Applied Liberal Arts & Sciences degree without attempting at least two semesters of work in another major at UA.

The number of transfer hours that will be applied to the major will vary by student depending on the minors they pursue, but at least six upper-level hours per minor (i.e., 12 of the 30–48 required for the major) must be completed in residence. 

Enrollment Process

Referral

Working in partnership with departmental or college advisors or other student services staff from across campus, potential ALA&S students will be identified. Students will be referred to the program by their academic advisor or other partners after failure to progress toward the degree in their most recent/current major. An advisor can begin the process of referring a student by completing the ALA&S Student Referral Form.

Admission

The student will apply to the Applied Liberal Arts & Sciences major by completing an application documenting academic and professional goals and consulting with a program representative (i.e., the director or assistant director). ALA&S staff will also conduct a DegreeWorks review of the student’s eligibility.

Advising

After admission, students will be assigned to an ALA&S advisor and together they will develop an approved course of study and “milestones contract” for progress toward degree completion. Because each student will be pursuing an individualized course of study, the advising process will be highly student-centered and more time-consuming than is typical for many majors.