The semester hour requirements listed below for program completion are the college’s minimum requirements and do not represent specific degrees. Individual programs may require additional semester credit hours. Successful completion of a College of Health Professions program does not itself insure eligibility for certification, licensure or registry. Students are advised to become familiar with the discipline-specific requirements published by each certification, licensure or registry agency.
General Education Course Requirements
Students enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs must fulfill state minimum core curriculum requirements for graduation in addition to prerequisite and program requirements. In general, the 35 semester credit core curriculum is listed below. Programs may have specific course requirements for these core requirements. Please check the program curriculum for specific courses or contact the College of Health Professions Admissions Office at CHPAdmissions@UAMS.edu or 501-686-5730 if you have questions. Some of the courses required as part of the core curriculum may also fulfill the prerequisite course requirement.
| Area | Semester Credits |
|---|---|
| English Composition | 6 |
| Speech Communication | 0-3 |
| College Algebra or higher level mathematics1 | 3 |
| Laboratory Sciences (must include laboratories) | 8 |
| Fine Arts/Humanities2, 3 | 6-9 |
| United States History or National Government | 3 |
| Other Social Sciences | 6-9 |
| Total | 35 |
Under Arkansas law or regulations, no associate’s or bachelor’s degree may be granted without a three semester credit course in American history or national government and a three semester credit course in college algebra or higher level mathematics. It is strongly recommended that prospective students contact the program of their interest to determine the acceptability of all prerequisite and core curriculum courses before enrolling in them.
A grade of C or better is required for all core curriculum courses.
Certificate Programs
Students enrolled in certificate programs must successfully complete approved prerequisite and program course work composed of at least seven to 18 semester credits or 24 to 42 semester credits if 75% of course work is currently offered in an existing associate of science or bachelor of science program for undergraduate certificate programs and 12 to 18 semester credits for graduate certificate programs.
Bachelor’s Degree Programs
Students are required to complete successfully at least 120 semester credits of approved prerequisite, program, and core curriculum in order to be eligible for graduation in a bachelor’s degree program in the college. In addition, at least 40 semester credits of the total must be taken from upper-level (i.e., 3000 and 4000: junior and senior) courses.
Additional Information
Professional Licensure Disclosure
Footnotes
1: Institutions may require students majoring in math, engineering, science, education and health professions to take higher or specific science courses as a part of the State Minimum Core.
2: An extra three semester credit course in fine arts or humanities may be taken in lieu of speech communication. If this is done, nine semester credit of fine arts or humanities will be required. For some programs, speech communication is required by their accrediting agency. See the prerequisites list in each program section of this catalog for information specific to that program.
3: The fine arts requirement cannot be fulfilled with a studio course. Humanities requirements may be selected from the courses in the subject areas of philosophy, political science, literature and the humanities. The course in national government, if selected to meet the United States history or national government requirement, cannot also be used to meet the humanities requirement in political science. Acceptable courses in literature must be broad survey courses; world literature is especially recommended.