Below you’ll find a number of downloadable flowcharts which outline the exact requirements of certain recommended majors (remember, your major must be from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences) as well as nursing school pre-requisite coursework, Texas core requirements, and Honors credits required to graduate with University Honors. 

But first, our most highly recommended degree/major is the Liberal Studies B.A.  Why?

1) The Liberal Studies degree plan already neatly incorporates the UTSON nursing school pre-requisite courses within the Liberal Studies core and elective requirements, and

2) Instead of pursuing the coursework for a single major (for example, Psychology) a Liberal Studies student in the Nursing Dual Degree will instead complete the coursework for two minors:  for example, a Psychology minor (because you’re still interested in that field) along with, say, the Medicine & Society minor, a minor in Communication Disorders, or Kinesiology, or many, many more options. 

For a full list of the minors you can choose from as a Nursing Dual Degree student, click here.

Because of the above, we feel the Liberal Studies B.A. offers the most flexibility in allowing you to study a better variety of topics tailored to your particular expectations and needs for a nursing career, while still incorporating the pre-requisite courses all nursing students must complete.  And the Liberal Studies degree is not simply popular with Nursing Dual Degree students – it’s also the degree/major of choice for many prospective nursing students outside the Dual Degree program as well.

So your planned coursework for the next three years at UH can look very different, depending on your chosen minors.  Here are some possibilities with commonly chosen minors that we recommend you consider:

Liberal Studies B.A. with Psychology and Medicine & Society minors

Liberal Studies B.A. with Nutrition and Medicine & Society minors

Liberal Studies B.A. with Kinesiology and Medicine & Society minors

Liberal Studies B.A. with Communication Disorders and Medicine & Society minors

Lastly, because it remains a popular choice, here is an outline for coursework for the Psychology B.A. in the Nursing Dual Degree as well. 

There are of course many other majors within CLASS (and combinations of minors within the Liberal Studies major) to consider – though do know these options will require additional planning and consultation with advisors to make sure all Nursing Dual Degree and Honors requirements can be met.

Still, the above linked documents should assist you in your planning.  It’s not that you must follow any flowchart in its exact order – class availability and schedules will vary -- but it should give you a good idea of what needs to be completed over the next three years before applying to UTSON as part of the Nursing Dual Degree program.

We might also explain here our frequent recommendation of the Medicine & Society minor:  not only is it an Honors minor with lots of potential Honors credits and continued popularity amongst 400+ students as the minor of choice for those preparing on careers in the health professions – but at 15 hours, it is also quite easy to incorporate into the three-year timeline you’ll find in the flowcharts above.  If you choose, say, Communication Sciences and Disorders [18 hours] and Kinesiology [18 hours] as your minors instead, then that will require at least 3 additional hours of coursework, in addition to whatever Honors credits you will still need.

For more on the Medicine & Society minor, simply click here.

As is also noted in the above documents, depending on the individual situation, room might be also made to complete some requirements more quickly by bringing in dual or AP credit as a UH freshman where allowed.  Do note, however, that once you begin coursework at UH, all subsequent coursework and credits must be completed at UH, and not transferred from another school.

Students are also of course welcome to take summer courses at UH to complete these requirements in a more timely manner.  Or, if you need an additional semester to complete all of these requirements, this is certainly allowed as long as you are still satisfying all GPA and other program requirements.

Due to the complex nature of these degree plans, students are of course encouraged to meet regularly with their major advisors as well as Nursing Dual Degree advisor Dr. Aaron Reynolds to insure all requirements are being met.

For more information about the Nursing Dual Degree – such as why we recommend the B.A. over the B.S. for your UH degree, and answers to many other Frequently Asked Questions, simply go here.