What Is Considered Upper Division Credit?
- Each university has its own definition of what constitutes an upper-division course. Upper-division courses may be designated by a course number in the 300's or 400's. Upper-division courses may require a prerequisite course, or an instructor's permission. For example, an upper-division neurobiology course may require the student to first take a year of introductory biology. Upper-division courses may also include content that focuses on a topic in greater depth than lower-division courses, and whose learning outcomes focus on critical thinking and the ability to draw conclusions from evidence.
- The type of upper-division courses offered depends entirely on the subject a student is studying. For example, lower-division history may include survey courses such as "The History of Western Civilization," while upper-division credits can be earned for more specific courses such as "Peasants, Land, and Revolution in Latin America." Upper-division credit may also be earned for seminar courses. These tend to be small group discussions that focus in more detail on a specific topic and may include writing a research paper. Examples of history seminar courses are topics such as "Sparta: Mirages and Realities" and "Animals in European History in the Middle Ages."
- Each university sets its own regulations on the number of upper-division credits required to graduate. Generally, a bachelor's degree will require a student to earn a certain number of lower-division credits and a certain number of upper-division credits. For example, the University of Texas at San Antonio requires students for a bachelor's degree to earn a total of 120 credits, including a minimum of 39 upper-division credits. Florida State University also requires bachelor's degree students to earn a total of 120 credits, but at least 45 must be upper-division.
- Upper-division credits are usually earned in the junior and senior years of university. In some universities, students may not be able to take upper division credits earlier than this, while in others students many be able to earn upper-division credits at any time. For example, at the University of California at Santa Barbara, some upper-division courses are open to any student who has met the prerequisites, including those who took the prerequisites in high school, and who have completed at least six terms of college. Other upper-division courses are only open to students who are juniors and seniors, have at least a 3.0 grade point average and have approval from the department.