History Major Requirements (36 credits)

Minimum GPA for Admissions: 2.5, Major; 2.5, Cumulative

Minimum GPA for Graduation: 2.75, Major; 2.0, USU

Minimum Grade Accepted: C+ in major courses

Number of Required Credits: 36

History Major PRE-MAJOR Lower-Division Requirements

Students who wish to become History majors must apply for admission after completing the Department’s pre-major program (at least 15 credits with an overall GPA of 2.5).  The pre-major provides a set of “foundation courses” (including broad surveys of Western, World, and U.S. history and General Education classes closely tied to the humanities.  No student, including transfer students, may count more than 12 credits of lower-division coursework in History toward the history major.  The pre-major involves the completion of the following TWO categories of requirements:

Complete the following lower-division survey course requirements in sections A, B and C with a grade of C+ or better in each class, for a total of 9 credits.

History Major Upper-Division Requirements

After satisfying the major requirements, students will complete their remaining 27 credits by taking 3000 and 4000 level history courses (with a grade of C+ of better in each class).  The upper division classes provide a more focused, detailed and rigorous examination of historical periods and themes.

• One of these courses must be HIST 3000, History Research Methods
• One of these courses must be HIST 4990, the capstone course for the major, taken in a student’s senior year
• Since new courses may be approved from time to time, any upper-division course having a HIST prefix is acceptable
• No more than 3 credits of HIST 4930 may be applied toward the major

Since the study of history requires an understanding of many fields of human behavior, students majoring in history must select a minor.  Historians are encouraged to take electives in fields that will broaden their knowledge of the world and are closely allied to history, such as religious studies, literature, economics, geography, anthropology, political science, sociology, classics, philosophy or foreign language.

Students who wish to undertake graduate work should pursue the BA degree. 

During their senior year, they should take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE).