Program Overview

General Studies (B.G.S.) Program

The Bachelor of General Studies (B.G.S.) degree is a graduation pathway without a traditional academic major in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS). This program accommodates students whose academic careers have spanned many years, even decades, and who may have begun their academic careers in colleges, departments, and degree programs that no longer exist.

Overview

The General Studies program enables the university to support and honor the work that students have done in the past, and may do upon their return, without certifying expertise in a specific field that may have undergone considerable change since a student first started.

Requirements

To be accepted into the General Studies program, students must meet the following minimum admissions requirements:

• The student holds senior-level standing at Wayne State.
• The student faces a temporal problem (i.e., student stepped away from school; length of time away is at least 5 years).
• The student is in good academic standing, with a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher.
• The student has completed the vast majority of university general education requirements (if enrolled after 1985).
• The student has completed the vast majority of CLAS (college level) requirements.
• The student must have completed at least 15 credits applicable to a CLAS-based or discontinued major.
• The student has completed at least three college-level semesters and a minimum of 30 credits at Wayne State.
• The student has completed at least 15 credits of intermediate level (3000- or above) coursework at Wayne State.
• The student has advisor support for their application to the General Studies program.

Admission Criteria

Preference will be given to students who:

• Have a total number of earned credits that is at or near 120 semester credits (or, at or near 180 quarter system credits, if returning from before Fall 1980).
• Have non-academic factors that prevent completion of their current degree path (e.g., work, age, deployment, residential location, etc.).
• Have no other feasible pathway to graduation. Students with majors from other colleges and schools at Wayne State University will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Application Process

Application materials include an application form completed by the student's advisor, and a personal statement from the student indicating how they meet the above minimum criteria for admission.

Application Deadlines

• Fall term: August 1.
• Winter term: November 1.
• Spring/Summer term: April 1.