The Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) degree is an undergraduate degree specifically for adult learners who have delayed or interrupted their studies, or for whom their original major is no longer appropriate.
- A student is required to have at least 60 earned credit hours with a overall GPA of 2.0 or higher and complete general studies, math and English composition before a BGS major can be declared.
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The BGS provides multiple paths to degree completion. It is designed to be multidisciplinary and have maximum flexibility to suit the needs of a wide variety of students.
Your path to a bachelor’s degree will be built around your unique college credit history, and, if applicable, incorporate transfer credits and past major-specific work.
Please speak to an advisor to develop a degree path based on your unique college credit history.
Online Completion
All general education requirements can be met with online courses, and several minors are also offered online, including:
- business
- criminal justice
- psychology
- childhood studies
Degree Requirements
Students receiving the BGS degree are subject to the following degree requirements:
- Completion of a minimum of 120 credits, including 45 from a senior college (100 level and above)
- Completion of a minimum of 30 credits in upper level coursework with at least 15 credits earned at Missouri Western
- Earn 30 of the last 45 credit hours at Missouri Western
- Participation in departmental and campus wide assessment efforts
- Earn an overall GPA of at least a 2.0 and a GPA of at least 2.0 in each concentration
Concentration Areas
The majors options for the BGS degree are as follows:
- Completion of two existing Missouri Western minors.
- Completion of an existing Missouri Western minor and a custom concentration area that consists of a minimum of 18 unique credit hours.
- Completion of an entirely custom concentration that consists of a minimum of 36 credit hours
- One of the concentrations must have a credit bearing applied learning component.
- A minimum 2.0 GPA is required in each concentration and no more than 2 Ds are allowed in both concentrations combined.
Custom concentrations:
- Must contain a minimum of 9 hours 300 level or above.
- Students should work closely with a faculty advisor in ensuring that a custom concentration represents a coherent curriculum.
- Custom concentrations require the approval of the area dean, and the curriculum must be detailed on the BGS Custom Concentration Form and submitted with the Major Declaration Form.
FAQs
Yes, two minors from the same discipline can be used for the BGS. If particular courses are in both minors, they can only be used once. Each minor/concentration must include a minimum of 18 unique credit hours. Additional hours for the second minor will need to be approved by the chair to substitute for the courses already used in the first minor.
Yes. Often one of the courses in the minor will be used to fulfill the applied learning requirement.
No. While Missouri Western graduates must earn at least 30 of their last 45 hours at Missouri Western, and while at least 15 upper division hours must be earned at Missouri Western, transfer courses may be used for the BGS minors. It would be theoretically possible (although HIGHLY unlikely) for a student to have both minors consist fully of transfer hours. Department chairs may determine that a particular number of hours within the minor must be earned at Missouri Western.
Yes and No. College credit more than 10 years old cannot be used to fulfill minor requirements unless approved by the relevant department chair. General education credits more than 10 years old may be used to fulfill general education requirements.
What about online courses?
Missouri Western offers more than 300 courses online. Several minors and some majors can be completed entirely online.
In addition, members of the air force may complete their GEM requirements through online courses at Missouri Western.