Professional Studies, BPS

Students are required to meet with their faculty advisor to schedule classes and discuss degree requirements, see Section 10.4.

The Bachelor of Professional Studies degree program is a 42-hour individualized program designed to provide a broader freedom of course choices than is available in traditional majors. Collectively, the creative and critical thinking skills embedded throughout the institution’s general education curriculum, the content knowledge learned in the focused study areas, and the ability to plan, make decisions, and lead taught throughout the Professional Studies core lead to well-rounded graduates ready to make a difference across a number of professions.

Upon completing the program requirements, students will:
- Demonstrate a thorough understanding of two focused study areas
- Develop connections between otherwise disparate concepts across two focused study areas
- Perform critical analysis of arguments/problems and craft thoughtful responses and/or develop creative solutions
- Craft written documents common to the modern workplace and appropriate for professional environments
- Make decisions based on evidence and explain the rationale for those decisions
- Plan a significant final project/paper that synthesizes key elements of the student’s learning experience within the program (e.g. general education, focused study areas, professional studies core

Note: Students should strongly consider a more specialized major before enrolling in the Professional Studies program. Some employment opportunities may prefer bachelor’s degrees from more specific fields that require a larger number of credits in a discipline than is afforded through this program’s broader generalized approach.

Note: Students considering graduate study should research the admissions standards of the programs/institutions in which they are interested and consider aligning focused study area course selections to prerequisite courses for those programs of interest.

Professional Studies Core (12 Semester Hours)

Focus Groups (30 Semester Hours)

Fifteen (15) semester hours must be completed from two focus groups listed below with at least nine (9) semester hours from each area completed at the 300- or 400-level and nine (9) semester hours from each area must be completed at MUW.

Focus Group: Fine & Performing Arts
Art, Music, Theatre

Focus Group: Business Administration
Accounting, Business, Business Quantitative Analysis, Economics, Finance, Management, Management Information Systems (excluding MIS 157), Marketing

Focus Group: Food and Nutrition
Culinary Arts, Nutrition

Focus Group: Health Related Professions
Health and Kinesiology

Focus Group: Humanities I
English, Foreign Languages, Philosophy, Communication, Religion

Focus Group: Humanities II
History, Political Science, Geography

Focus Group: Human Sciences
Family Studies, Psychology, Sociology

Focus Group: Information Technology
Management Information Systems (excluding MIS 157), Computer programming course(s)

Focus Group: Legal Administration
Legal Studies

Focus Group: Management
Management

Focus Group: Marketing
Marketing

Focus Group: Mathematics/Programming
Mathematics, Fortran, Programming in C++

Focus Group: Natural Science
Biology, Microbiology, Chemistry, Physics

Focus Group: Pre-Professional Programs
*Education, *Baccalaureate Nursing (NU 300 or higher), *Speech-Language Pathology

* Credit in Education, Baccalaureate Nursing, and Speech-Language Pathology must be earned prior to application to Professional Studies major.

** Courses used to satisfy the University General Education Curriculum may not be applied to a Focus Group or the Professional Studies Core.

*** A course may not be used to satisfy both a Focus Group requirement and a Professional Studies Core requirement.

**** A course may not be used to satisfy requirements of two Focus Groups

***** Twenty-one (21) semester hours of the forty-two (42) semester hours in the Focus Groups and Professional Studies Core must be earned at MUW. At least one-quarter of the total degree hours required must be earned at MUW and one-half must be earned at a four-year institution.

****** Any course being used to satisfy either a Focus Group requirement or Professional Studies Core requirement may not be used to satisfy another minor or major.

******* A course completed to satisfy major requirements of a degree previously earned at MUW may not be used to satisfy a major requirement of the Professional Studies degree.

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Professional Studies, BPS

Professional Studies Core (12 Semester Hours)

Focus Groups (30 Semester Hours)

Total Hours Required: 120 Semester Hours