Most people who earn a bachelor's degree in general studies didn't set out to. They changed majors, moved, stopped for work or family, and came back with a transcript that fits no single department. This is the degree universities built for that transcript. The general studies bachelor's programs below are ranked on what federal records show about the universities that award them, and the sections underneath cover what those records can't: your credit, your cost and your time.
Source: IPEDS, as of September 2026.
universities award a bachelor's degree in general studies
291
median graduation rate at the universities behind ranked general studies programs
50%
general studies degrees awarded a year by the median ranked program
39
This general studies bachelor's ranking scores 164 programs on federal figures and lists the 25 strongest.
The 25 Best Bachelor's Degrees in General Studies, Ranked
The 25 best bachelor's degrees in general studies come from universities that graduate a high share of their students, charge residents less and run a general studies program of real size. Scores are out of 100 under the weights on the methodology page.
1
Southern Utah University
Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies (BIS)
Utah
87.1- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 61%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $6,770 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 150
About the Program
You pick two or three disciplines and build a personalized program of study with an advisor, but the catalog decides the shape through three tracks. Track One splits the work evenly, with at least 21 credits in each discipline. Track Two leans on a 30-credit primary discipline and adds a 12-credit second discipline that is entirely upper-division, so it suits you if one field is clearly the main one.
Twelve credits of foundation core hold the degree together, running from an introduction through a research methods course and a capstone. Course substitution is not allowed in those courses, so nothing else you've taken stands in for the introduction, the research methods course or the capstone. Separately, 20 of your 40 upper-division credits are earned from SUU.
Approval has a deadline. Your curriculum design has to be signed off by the BIS Coordinator or the INDS Department Chair before you've earned 75 total credits, and you can't change your disciplines within your last 30 earned credits. So if you're arriving with a lot of credit already, settle your disciplines early, because the window to propose them and the window to revise them both close.
Grades count course by course, because every course in a BIS discipline has to be passed with a C- (1.7) or better. Two limits are worth knowing before you commit. The degree can't be used for state certification as a teacher, and it's a stand-alone program, so you can't pair it with another bachelor's program as a double major.
2
Georgia Southern University
Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies (B.I.S.)
Georgia
80.2- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 55%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $5,905 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 134
About the Program
Your major here is one concentration of 21 upper-division credit hours picked from an approved list, which is a small major inside a 123-hour degree. On top of that you pick 34 hours of general electives, which you can put toward one or two optional minors or an additional concentration. The catch is that you can't pick a minor in your concentration's field, so a minor adds a second field instead of doubling down on one.
Two courses in the major carry 1 credit hour each, which are an introduction to interdisciplinary studies and a capstone in interdisciplinary studies. The catalog also sets an experiential learning or research requirement, so you must select at least 3 credit hours from its list of choices. General requirements, called Core IMPACTS, take up 42 credit hours of the degree.
Credits you've already earned count if they meet the requirements for a concentration or minor, so the question isn't how many hours you bring but where they fit. The college's own advice is to talk to a BIS or OLBIS advisor. Watch the level of your electives too, because 14 of those elective hours have to be at the 3000 to 5999 level to reach the 39 upper-division hours a bachelor's degree needs.
Teaching is one named route out of this degree. The BIS to M.A.T. concentration is designed for people who plan to earn a Master of Arts in Teaching afterward and become certified teachers, so decide early if the classroom is where you're headed. For everyone else, the college lists employers of its BIS graduates, including State Farm, the U.S. Army, Fidelity Investments and Augusta University.
3
Arkansas State University
Bachelor of General Studies
Arkansas
78.8- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 55%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $7,754 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 205
About the Program
Electives carry this degree. You take 38 credit hours of general education and 9 of major courses, and the other 73 credit hours are electives that include your 2 emphases. Those electives can come from any courses offered, so long as you've met the prerequisites. The two emphases you choose with your advisor, from areas such as technology, communications, criminology, health and physical education, let you shape your Bachelor of General Studies around your interests.
The major courses named for this degree center on the profession. Critical Thinking in the Profession is a required major course. Leadership in the Profession is an independent study of a problem in a professional setting, which you finish by presenting a formal plan of action grounded in leadership theory. The Seminar in Professional Development is the capstone, but it opens at senior standing, so you need 90 or more earned college credits before you can take it.
Up to 90 eligible credit hours of prior college coursework can transfer in, which fits a degree the college says is designed for people with prior coursework or professional experience who need a way to finish. Admission asks for an online application, official transcripts and a 2.0 GPA for transferring credits. If you transfer in more than 12 credit hours, you also skip the Making Connections course.
Paying by the course is how tuition works, at $302 per credit hour or $906 per course. That rate is the same for all U.S. residents and all fees are included, so the per-course figure is the one to plan around wherever you live in the U.S. Watch the calendar in summer, because the Summer 1 and Summer 2 terms run 5 weeks for this degree.
4
Oklahoma State University
Interdisciplinary Studies, BA
Oklahoma
78.6- Public
- College graduation rate
- 68%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $10,110 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 223
About the Program
You build the major from a pair of blocks, 15 hours in one primary discipline and 12 hours from a second discipline or area of concentration that your advisor approves. The primary discipline comes from a list of Arts and Sciences prefixes, including anthropology, computer science, economics, history, philosophy and psychology. A capstone finishes it, A&S 4013 Multidisciplinary Studies Capstone, unless your advisor approves a 3-hour capstone or internship in the primary discipline instead.
Upper-division work has a firm floor in this degree. No more than 9 hours may be lower-division in the major, and at least 40 of the 120 total hours must be in courses numbered 3000 or above. You also need a 2.00 GPA in the primary discipline as well as overall, which means weak grades in your main field can hold up graduation on their own.
Because this is a B.A., you have a foreign language requirement, which can be satisfied by 9 hours of college credit in the same language, including 3 hours at the 2000-level. Transfer credit has ceilings too. No more than one-half of major course requirements can be transfer work, one-fourth of hours can be earned by correspondence, and transfer correspondence hours stop at 8, so check where your existing credits fall.
5
State University of New York at New Paltz
Bachelor of Arts in General Studies
New York
76.9- Public
- College graduation rate
- 72%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $8,524 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 32
About the Program
Three focus areas, not a single major, make up the center of this degree. You choose three of seven focus areas and complete 15 credits in each, for 45 credits. The seven are Literature & Writing, Social Sciences, Global Studies, United States Studies, Fine & Performing Arts, Environmental Literacy and General Business. Be clear on the last of those, because the General Business focus area is not a business degree and shouldn't be confused with the BS General Business major.
The degree includes a portfolio of your own work. That portfolio is completed by a recorded presentation in the one-credit capstone, the Senior Portfolio Project. Grades count along the way, because a course needs a C- or better to count toward the General Studies major.
Admission is for people who have earned at least 60 college credits with a 2.5 GPA, so this is a degree-completion program and not a starting point. The Bachelor of Arts in General Studies was designed for those whose original path to a degree was interrupted or redirected. You can complete it through seated, hybrid or fully online coursework, and a General Studies Program Advisor works with you on advising and registration.
6
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Bachelor of General Studies
Alabama
76.8- Public
- College graduation rate
- 64%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $8,832 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 79
About the Program
Two minors make the major. You choose any 2 UAB minors from a list of over 80, and together they come to an estimated 36 to 51 hours, with each minor at least 18. A single course can't count toward both minors, so picking two closely related fields won't shorten the work. What you get is a degree built from two complete minors, each earned in full.
If you take the General Studies Capstone, it has to be in your senior year, not before. The capstone is a 1-credit course where you develop a portfolio and reflect on your academic accomplishments. You can also take a professional internship course worth 1 to 3 hours. Teaching is delivered largely through on-campus, in-person meetings, so plan to be there.
You work with an assigned BGS advisor to select the two minors. Credit from elsewhere has a limit built in, because you must complete 9 hours at the 400 level or above taken at UAB and meet residency requirements. Whatever you bring with you, some of your upper-level work is done at UAB.
Some graduates of this degree have gone on to graduate and professional school. The catalog says BGS graduates with high GPAs have been successful in meeting their professional school goals, including graduate school. So if that's where you're headed, keep your GPA in mind from the start.
7
University of Mississippi
Bachelor of University Studies (B.U.S.)
Mississippi
76.5- Public
- College graduation rate
- 72%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $9,412 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 59
About the Program
Returning after a gap is what the Bachelor of University Studies is for, and the admission rules show it. You need at least 90 degree-applicable credit hours already, no more than 60 of them from a 2-year college, and you can't already hold a bachelor's degree. Under Pathway 1 you also can't have attended any college or university for the past 24 consecutive months. So this is a degree you come back to finish, not one you start.
Emphasis areas decide what your transcript says. Put at least 30 hours into one emphasis, 18 of them at the 300 level or higher, and that emphasis appears on your transcript. Spread across three areas instead, with at least 10 credit hours in each and 6 of those at the 300 level or higher, and none appears. So depth shows on paper and breadth doesn't. The areas are Business, Creative Arts, Health & Human Services, Social Sciences, Humanities, Education and STEM.
Old failing grades stop counting against you once you're admitted, because all previous Fs are removed from your GPA calculation, transfer and in residence alike. That matters if a bad semester is the reason you left. From there the bar is a 2.0 GPA in residence, and at least 30 credit hours for the degree have to be taken at the University of Mississippi.
Advisors in the Office of General Studies review your previous academic work to find the shortest path to the degree, and the college puts the duration at as little as one semester. How long it takes you depends on what you bring. The degree requires 120 credit hours, a 30-hour general education core, and at least 30 credit hours at the 300 level or higher across the curriculum, so a record made up of lower-level courses will leave you more to do.
8
Brigham Young University-Idaho
Interdisciplinary Studies (B.I.S.)
Idaho
76.2- Private nonprofit
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 55%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $4,656 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 65
About the Program
Building your own degree is the premise here, and you do it by choosing from three different categories: science, technology, engineering and math, arts and humanities, and social sciences and business. Because you draw from the categories instead of concentrating on one main area, you finish with skills in several areas. That suits you if your interests cross those lines, but it means you won't concentrate on one main area.
Interdisciplinary study has courses of its own in this major, which include an introduction to interdisciplinary studies and a course on interdisciplinary innovation. You also gain experience using AI tools matched to your chosen areas of study, for research and for professional productivity, so the tools you practice with depend on the areas you choose.
9
University of Wyoming
Bachelor of General Studies (B.G.S.)
Wyoming
75.9- Public
- College graduation rate
- 59%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $6,938 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 44
About the Program
Two focus areas and one 3-credit capstone make up the major. You pick the focus areas from a menu of 16 across the university, each fielded by a specific college and each at least 18 credit hours. No course can count toward more than one focus area, so you can't stretch one set of classes across both. The capstone also fulfills a University Studies Program (USP) requirement, and the degree is offered on the Laramie campus, online, hybrid and at UW Casper.
Of the 39 credits in the major, 21 must be upper division, with at least 6 of those in each focus area, and you need a C or better in every credit that counts toward the major. So neither focus area can be filled with introductory courses alone. No college core applies to the degree, and one USP Human Culture course and one Physical & Natural World course may also count toward the major.
Arriving with a lot of credit is what this degree suits, because UW says the degree helps students who have accumulated 60 credit hours finish, and the catalog says it's not designed for first-year students. Declaring the major takes more than a form, because you must first receive intensive advising from the assigned advisor in the ACES office. One pairing is closed for accreditation reasons, so you can't choose both the Management, Marketing, and Decision Science and the Accounting and Finance focus areas.
Employers of UW general studies alumni include ANB Bank, National Print Group, the State of Wyoming, Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino and Black Diamond Digital Imaging. Teaching is a different matter. The Bachelor of General Studies doesn't satisfy teacher licensure requirements through the Wyoming Professional Teaching Standards Board, even with the education focus areas, so plan on a separate route if the classroom is your goal.
10
Texas Tech University
Bachelor of General Studies in Arts and Sciences Multidisciplinary Studies
Texas
75.7- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 69%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $11,852 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 209
About the Program
Three concentration areas take the place of a major in this degree, which is not based on a specific major or minor. Any academic minor recognized at TTU can serve as a concentration area, and the area then follows that minor's curriculum. When you use a minor as an area, you complete a defined set of courses with requirements the minor already sets out.
Two of your three concentration areas have to sit within the College of Arts & Sciences, which leaves one area you can take from elsewhere at TTU. That rule shapes the degree, because at least two of your three areas will be arts and sciences subjects. The program page describes a Business Administration path as one way to build the degree, so a business direction is on offer within those limits.
Forty of the 120 credits in the degree have to be at the junior or senior level, so lower-level credits you bring with you can't carry the whole degree. A language rule sits on top of that. If you didn't take two years of one foreign language in high school, you'll complete two semesters of a single foreign language at the first-year level or higher before you graduate, which adds courses to your plan.
Working adults and transfer students are who the degree was designed for, and everything runs 100% online and asynchronously. Tuition is priced by the credit hour, at $415 to $500, which means the tuition you pay depends on how many credit hours you still have to take.
11
State University of New York at Cortland
Bachelor of Science in Integrated Studies
New York
75.3- Public
- College graduation rate
- 68%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $8,815 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 41
About the Program
Integrated Studies courses don't meet at a set hour. Integrated Studies courses run online and asynchronously, which means all classwork happens online with no regularly scheduled meeting times. The Bachelor of Science in Integrated Studies is designed for people who have already earned credits, up to an associate degree, or who want prior learning counted for credit, so you're finishing a degree and not starting from zero.
Career readiness is the organizing idea of the coursework, which is designed around the career readiness competencies of the National Association of Colleges and Employers. You see that in the 19 credit hours of Integrated Studies core, which includes a course on leadership, ethics and decision-making, and in the culminating senior seminar, where you analyze your academic and career development and then build and present a professional portfolio.
Expect to spend 9 credit hours on applied learning through an applied learning experience. Upper-division study is the other requirement to plan around. All degrees require 45 credit hours at the upper-division level, which means a large transfer of lower-level credits still leaves that upper-level work for you to complete.
Credit you already hold does much of the work. You can apply up to 64 credits from 2-year institutions and up to 90 from 4-year institutions, and prior learning and transfer together can cover as many as 90 of the 120 credits. Military service, work experience, and earned licenses and certifications can count. But thirty credits must be taken at SUNY Cortland, so no combination of outside credit finishes the degree.
12
West Virginia University
Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Studies (B. MdS.)
West Virginia
75.1- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 65%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $9,648 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 119
About the Program
Three minors make up the heart of this degree, and two minors must be from CAHS, the College of Applied Human Sciences. Each minor is 15 hours, so the three carry equal weight and none of them acts as your main subject. The additional minor is the open one, which is where a subject from outside applied human sciences can enter your plan.
Applied human sciences is the field this degree points toward, so your plan of study is meant to serve a career aim in that field. The CAHS minors you can choose include Addiction Studies, Health Coaching and Human Services, along with Esports Management, Sport Coaching, Special Education and Secondary STEM Education. Because two of your minors come from that list, you could pair Addiction Studies with Human Services, for example.
Outside the 51-hour major sit 69 hours of university requirements, and the degree plan's requirements include 33 hours of general electives and a 2-credit first-year seminar. Those electives are room you can use, but not freely, because at least 60 of your credit hours must be 200 to 400 level coursework. So electives filled with introductory courses can leave you short of that floor.
Career planning is written into the major through a course on career exploration in applied human sciences, and the major also requires a capstone experience course. Each is 3 hours. Fall below a 2.0 GPA and you're placed on academic probation, with added requirements such as meetings with academic advisers and a retention specialist, study halls and tutoring. So the consequence of falling below 2.0 is closer supervision, and it's spelled out in advance.
13
University of North Texas
Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in Integrative Studies
Texas
73.4- Public
- College graduation rate
- 61%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $11,164 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 365
About the Program
The Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in Integrative Studies is built on three fields of study. You choose them yourself and complete 12 semester hours in each, 36 in all, but the choice has rules. One field must come from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, and you can't take two fields from the same college or school unless that college is Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.
Choosing the BA or the BS changes how far each field has to go. For the BS, at least 9 hours in each field must be advanced, and for the BA it's at least 6. Every course you use in the three fields needs a grade of C or better, and a course can't count toward both a field and a minor or double major, so adding a minor means extra courses, not reused ones.
If you're transferring, the major is built to use as many of the credits from other institutions as possible. But the rules on where you earn your hours still set a floor. Of the 120 semester hours, at least 30 must be taken at UNT, and of the 42 advanced semester hours, 24 must be taken at UNT. So count your advanced credits first. You can study on campus or online.
Graduates have gone into education, business, banking, counseling, administration, law, social media and marketing, and medicine, which tells you the degree doesn't point at one occupation. Two parts of the major help you aim it. An internship course was designed specifically for students in this major, and a focus in Strategic Corporate Communication combines Communication Studies, Journalism, Management and Technical Communication.
14
Utah State University
Integrated Studies, BS/BA
Utah
73.4- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 59%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $8,305 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 47
About the Program
Career Focus Areas take the place of a fixed major in Integrated Studies, BS/BA. You follow one of six, among them Humanities and Arts, Business and Communication, and Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the area gives you a guided pathway in which you define outcomes and career options to create your major requirements. But if you study online, the choice narrows to one of two career focus areas, Business Communication or Social Science and Human Services.
Planning for work is taught inside the degree, because you take two courses taught by career specialists from the Career Design Center, and their purpose is to help you with career exploration and design. Internships come up as well, since the college says many Integrated Studies students participate in the Advanced Internship Course.
Declaring the major takes 12 USU credits, 60 earned credits and a 2.0 GPA, so you declare the Integrated Studies major partway through college. That fits who the degree is aimed at, which is students with existing college credit from Utah State or another accredited institution. If your credits come from somewhere else, you still need the 12 USU credits before you can declare.
Advisors build the plan with you, and it's an individualized semester-by-semester plan. That matters because your major requirements are ones you help create, so the plan is what tells you which courses are left. The degree is available at the Logan campus, at statewide campuses and through USU Online, and the online program has its own academic advisor.
15
American Public University System
Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies
West Virginia
72.8- Private for-profit
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 57%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $8,400 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 71
About the Program
Two or more disciplines make up your focus in the Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies, and you choose them from business and management, natural and social sciences, communication and media, and social services. The major is 39 semester hours and includes a required course, Applied Interdisciplinary Perspectives, while the degree closes with a separate 3-hour Senior Seminar in Interdisciplinary Studies as its final program requirement.
Electives take up 48 semester hours, and credits you earned toward a minor or certificate in an unrelated field can count toward them. That is a lot of room, and it suits the way the college describes the degree, as an online degree completion program where you build your own area of focus. If your earlier coursework wandered across subjects, the elective block is where it has a place to land.
Paying for the degree needs a plan, because the program does not qualify for federal student aid. Tuition is $360 per credit, $250 per credit at the preferred military rate, and $324 per credit with a Veteran Grant or Opportunity Grant. So check which rate applies to you before you budget, and work out where the money comes from if federal aid was part of your plan.
Courses start monthly, so you don't wait for a term to open, and they run online and vary from 8 to 16 weeks. Pair that with the transfer limit, up to 90 of the 120 credits, and the degree can be a short final stretch if you arrive with a lot behind you. Whatever you bring still has to fit the structure, which includes 30 semester hours of general education alongside the major.
16
University of Nevada-Reno
Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies
Nevada
72.1- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 61%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $8,994 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 62
About the Program
Two minors stand in for a major here. You complete two distinct minors offered by the university, then a 15-unit breadth requirement outside them with at least 9 units upper division. But the declared minors for the cluster aren't earned at graduation, so what you earn is the degree itself. The degree is intended for you if your academic or career interests fall outside the existing majors.
One of the two minors can be a custom minor, which is how you study a field that has no established minor. The rules are tight. A custom minor must contain 18-24 units with a minimum of 9 upper division, it must have a theme, and it can't be in a field that already has an established minor, so you're proposing something new instead of reshaping what exists.
Online is possible, but it narrows the degree. You can complete it in person, online or through a combination of both, yet minor availability is limited for online study to Addiction Treatment Services, Communication and Political Science. Since you need two minors, that leaves little room to choose. Tuition and fees for online study are what is listed for on-campus degrees.
Entry starts partway through college, because you must have completed a minimum of 60 undergraduate credits from an accredited institution. You also can't declare the major until you've met an academic advisor in the Exploratory and Pre-Professional Advising Center. And if you already hold a bachelor's, this isn't a route to another, since the degree can't be used as a second bachelor's degree or second major. It was formerly listed as General Studies.
17
University of Nebraska at Kearney
Bachelor of General Studies
Nebraska
72.0- Public
- College graduation rate
- 58%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $8,270 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 44
About the Program
Customizing your own bachelor's degree is the idea, and you do it with guidance from an academic advisor. Don't mix the degree up with something that shares its name, though. The LOPERs General Studies program is a required component in all undergraduate degrees at UNK, which makes it a separate thing from the Bachelor of General Studies.
Online study leads to the same degree that on-campus students receive, so the Bachelor of General Studies you earn at a distance is the one earned on campus. Because you're building the degree yourself, advising is where it starts. The contact the college gives is its director of Academic Advising and Career Development.
18
Murray State University
Bachelor of Integrated Studies (BIS)
Kentucky
71.8- Public
- College graduation rate
- 61%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $9,708 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 111
About the Program
Two routes run through the Bachelor of Integrated Studies (BIS). You can follow an integrated studies pathway, which has a more set curriculum but is available by distance learning, or you can design an interdisciplinary plan that combines two or more areas of interest. Listed fields of study and pathways include General Studies, Health Care Administration, and Health and Exercise Studies, so you're choosing a subject as well as a route.
Getting in requires college credit already on your record. You must have earned at least 60 credit hours with a minimum 2.2 GPA, and the degree is aimed at adults, non-traditional students and military members with previous college credit. The bar is higher if you're a current Murray State student switching in, because you need 60 earned hours, a minimum 2.5 GPA and contact with an integrated studies advisor.
Finishing takes 120 total hours with 30 earned at Murray State, so transfer credit can't cover the whole degree. You also need 39 upper-division hours and a 2.5 GPA in your field of study, which sits above the 2.0 required overall. Significant life and work experience may earn credit through a portfolio process. Courses start at five different times a year, and regional campus options include Ft. Campbell, Hopkinsville, Paducah, Madisonville and Henderson.
Graduates of Integrated Studies hold jobs the college lists as bank president, child care director, college professor (with a Ph.D.) and executive assistant to president. Those titles sit in different fields, which fits a degree built from previous credit and a field of study you choose, so the degree doesn't point to a single occupation.
19
West Texas A & M University
Bachelor of General Studies (B.G.S.)
Texas
71.7- Public
- College graduation rate
- 55%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $9,101 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 175
About the Program
Electives are the degree. Beyond the core curriculum you complete a minimum of 78 hours of electives, and at least 36 of those hours have to be at the advanced level with a grade of C or better. So you can specialize in education, business or agriculture, but the advanced-level rule means you can't fill the degree with introductory courses. Some advanced coursework is available online.
No single discipline can take over, because a maximum of 36 hours in one academic discipline may count toward the degree. A discipline is designated by a course prefix, such as ENGL for English or POSC for political science, but music and education are each treated as one discipline whatever the prefix. So MUAP, MUEN, MUSI and MUMI hours all draw on the same 36, and the education prefixes do too.
Prior learning counts for a lot, since up to 84 hours of it is accepted, and you can complete those hours at your community college or get started at WT. That makes the degree a realistic finish if you've already done a good deal of college elsewhere. Advising runs through the Office of General Majors, which has a B.A.A.S./B.G.S. advisor, so ask early how your hours fit under the discipline cap.
20
Mississippi State University
Mississippi
71.4- Public
- College graduation rate
- 67%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $9,815 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 64
About the Program
Some 23,150 students attend Mississippi State University, a public university in Mississippi State, Mississippi. The program's last federal report shows 64 bachelor's degrees conferred, so it is larger than 66 in every 100 programs measured here. Across the whole college, 67% of students finish, which is a higher rate than 88% of the institutions behind this list. Expect tuition and fees of $9,815 a year as a resident and $26,580 otherwise. Admission is selective enough to plan for, with 78% of applicants accepted. Strongest of its measures is the graduation rate of its college, which lands at the 88th percentile.
21
George Mason University
Bachelor of Arts in Integrative Studies
Virginia
71.1- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 68%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $13,815 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 136
About the Program
Your concentration does the job of a major in this degree, and the catalog says so directly, calling it the equivalent of a major. You choose from established options such as Legal Studies, Childhood Studies, or Leadership and Organizational Development, or you build an individualized concentration of 30 credits with faculty. That second route needs the executive director's approval.
Every major takes a course on understanding integrative studies and finishes with the senior capstone. You complete at least 30 credits of INTS coursework, at least 15 of them at the 300 and 400 levels, and the catalog describes learning that includes in-community projects, field work, internships and work with faculty on research. Those 30 INTS credits also fulfill the writing intensive and synthesis Mason Core requirements, so the same courses do double duty inside your 120 credits.
Grades in the major carry a floor: you need a minimum GPA of 2.00 across the courses applied to it. Study abroad counts, but with a cap, because a maximum of 15 credits of study abroad coursework can be applied to the major. You'll also complete Advanced Composition, so plan on a writing course on top of the writing the INTS credits already ask of you.
Legal Studies and Social Science for Education both point somewhere specific after the BA. With advanced planning, Legal Studies can make you eligible for an accelerated law degree through Mason's Scalia Law School. Social Science for Education meets Virginia Department of Education content-area requirements, and qualified students can apply to earn the BA and an MEd in Curriculum and Instruction within five years, which is why the concentration choice deserves an early decision.
22
University of Connecticut
Bachelor of General Studies
Connecticut
70.7- Public
- College graduation rate
- 83%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $20,366 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 119
About the Program
Returning adults are who the Bachelor of General Studies is designed for. You select courses from multiple disciplines and academic departments and work with your academic advisor to establish a coherent plan of study, so the courses have to add up to something you and the advisor can both explain.
Breadth is enforced by a cap. You need 30 credits at the 2000-level and above, but no more than 21 of them can come from any one academic department on your final plan of study, which stops the degree from becoming a single-department major under another name. Writing is handled the same open way, because the writing requirement can be met by any 2000-level or above W course.
Admission starts at 60 college credits or an associate's degree from a regionally accredited college, so this isn't a degree you begin from nothing. Transfer students meet the criteria with a minimum GPA of 2.7, or a 3.0 in their last 12 credits, which gives you a second way in if your early grades were weak but your recent ones aren't. You'll also have an interview with an academic counselor.
Eight years is the time you're expected to finish in, counted from admission, unless the Program Director grants an extension. So you can move through the minimum of 120 credits slowly, but the clock is running from the day you're admitted. The catalog lists the degree at the Avery Point, Hartford, Stamford, Storrs and Waterbury campuses.
23
Southeast Missouri State University
General Education
Missouri
70.1- Public
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 58%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $9,495 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 116
About the Program
Every bachelor's student at Southeast clears the same general education core, this degree included, so you need at least 42 credit hours of it before the degree is done. Those hours are split across set categories: 6 in written communication, 3 in oral communication, 3 in mathematics, 6 in social and behavioral sciences, 7 in natural sciences, 9 in humanities and fine arts, and 3 in civics. That leaves 5 hours you can put in any category, which is where you lean toward the subjects you'd rather spend your time on.
Two of those categories won't let you stay in one subject. The 9 humanities and fine arts hours must come from at least two disciplines, and the 7 natural science hours from two disciplines. The catch is how the university counts a discipline: Chinese, French, German and Spanish are one, European and world civilization are one, the music subjects are one, and art history with studio art are one. So French plus Spanish counts as a single discipline, which means you'll need to reach into a second field to finish the category.
One natural science course must include a lab, so ask how that works at a distance before you plan the term. No more than 3 credit hours can come from performance-based courses like studio drawing or a music ensemble, so fine arts hours can't all be studio time. Civics adds 3 credit hours of coursework plus an exam that carries no credit but is required to graduate. The two American history surveys sit on both the civics and social science lists but count toward only one requirement, so one course can't cover both.
If you're arriving with credits, two rules decide how much of this core is already behind you. Courses carrying the MOTR designation count as general education credit at any public college or university in Missouri. Most students also take a freshman seminar on connecting with the university, which counts toward the 5 additional-requirement hours, but it's waived once you transfer 24 credit hours. Credits earned in high school through dual credit or early college programs don't count toward that 24, which means hours banked in high school won't get you out of the seminar.
24
South Dakota State University
South Dakota
69.6- Public
- College graduation rate
- 62%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $9,299 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 42
About the Program
Brookings, South Dakota is home to South Dakota State University, a public university of 12,056 students. During the most recent year on record it awarded 42 bachelor's degrees, a count at the 55th percentile for size. Across the whole college, 62% of students finish, which is a higher rate than 83% of the institutions behind this list. Tuition and fees run $9,299 a year in state against $12,809 out of state, so on price it sits at the 61st percentile. Getting in is rarely the obstacle, with 98% of applicants admitted. Strongest of its measures is the graduation rate of its college, which lands at the 83rd percentile.
25
Emporia State University
Kansas
68.0- Public
- College graduation rate
- 56%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $7,356 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 28
About the Program
Based in Emporia, Kansas, Emporia State University is a public university with 4,557 students on its rolls. During the most recent year on record it awarded 28 bachelor's degrees, a count at the 40th percentile for size. Its college-wide graduation rate is 56%, the 69th percentile, because the federal record tracks completion by institution. Residents pay $7,356 a year in tuition and fees, while out-of-state students pay $15,669. Admission is close to open, with 98% of applicants accepted. What lifts it most is price, where it reaches the 90th percentile.
How We Rank
Every eligible program at this level is scored out of 100. Each figure becomes a percentile against the 164 ranked programs, and the percentiles are weighted as below. The methodology page explains each choice.
- College graduation rate: 45%. Share of first-time, full-time students at the college who finish within 150% of the normal time. It describes the college, not this one program.
- In-state tuition and fees: 30%. Published in-state tuition plus required fees for a full-time year. Lower cost scores higher.
- Degrees awarded, latest year: 25%. General studies degrees the program conferred in the latest reported year. The one figure here that belongs to the program itself.
Reading the cards. Graduation rate is university-wide: the share of first-time, full-time students who finish within six years, as reported to IPEDS. It is not a rate for general studies students. Cost is published tuition plus required fees for a full-time year, 2023-24. Percentiles compare a program with all 164 ranked at this level.
Source: federal IPEDS records for each college, as of September 2026. Scores are this site's own.
What Is a Bachelor's Degree in General Studies?
A bachelor's degree in general studies is a four-year degree with no single major, built from coursework in several fields and finished under one university's rules. The federal classification gives it a code of its own and describes it as an undifferentiated program in the general arts, general science or unstructured studies. It's a bachelor's degree in full: 120 semester credits, which the Higher Learning Commission calls the commonly accepted minimum for a bachelor's degree, and the same seal on the diploma as every other degree the university awards.
What separates it from a liberal arts degree is who decides the shape. A liberal arts and sciences degree is filed under a neighboring code and comes as a planned combination of arts, sciences, social sciences and humanities that the faculty designed. A general studies degree hands most of that design to you and your adviser, which is exactly why it can absorb credit from three colleges and two abandoned majors.
Most general studies bachelor's programs put structure back in through emphasis areas. You'll choose two or three, complete a fixed number of upper-level credits in each, and the transcript then shows depth in those subjects rather than a scatter of introductory courses. The title varies. Bachelor of General Studies is the common one, and some universities award a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in general studies under the same federal code.
Read the catalog entry before the marketing page. The catalog lists the emphasis areas on offer, the upper-level credit rule and any capstone, and those three lines tell you more than any description of flexibility. If the university can't show you the degree audit form its advisers use to check students off, ask why.
Who Is a General Studies Bachelor's Degree For?
A general studies bachelor's degree is for students who arrive with credit and need a degree that will take it, and the federal record shows the universities know it. Of the 164 ranked programs, 112, or 68%, are at public universities, 54 can be completed fully online, and 16 are at historically Black colleges and universities. Texas alone accounts for 21. These are the institutions that enroll transfer students and working adults in numbers, and general studies is the degree they built to graduate them.
The size of the programs tells the same story. The median ranked program conferred 39 general studies degrees in the latest year reported to IPEDS, and 98 of the 164, 60%, conferred fewer than 50. A few run at another scale altogether: the 5 programs awarding 250 or more a year conferred 23% of the 12,175 degrees the ranked programs awarded between them.
Which kind you join changes the experience. A program awarding 20 degrees a year is often one adviser in a college of arts and sciences, handling the students no department claims. A program awarding several hundred has its own staff, its own course sections and start dates arranged around transfer students. Neither is better, but the large ones have answered your questions before, and the small ones will know your name.
It's the wrong degree for an eighteen-year-old who already knows the job. Nursing, engineering, accounting and classroom teaching each need their own degree, and a general studies transcript won't stand in for it. If that's you, choose the named major and keep general studies in reserve for the day the plan changes. Ask each university who advises its general studies students and how many students each adviser carries.
How Long Does a Bachelor's Degree in General Studies Take?
A bachelor's degree in general studies takes four years from a standing start, because the degree is 120 semester credits and a full-time load is 15 credits a term across eight terms. Almost nobody in these programs starts from a standing start. The time that matters is the time to cover the credits you still owe once a university has counted what you bring, and that is a different number at every university you send the transcript to.
The floor is set by the residency rule. The Higher Learning Commission's guidance puts the credits a university expects you to earn at the university itself at 30 of the 120, and at 15 credits a term that's two terms. A student who transfers 60 credits owes 60, which is four terms at full time and about eight at half of that. Part-time study around a job is the usual pattern here, so count in terms, not years, when you plan.
Three things shorten it. Credit by examination through CLEP clears general education courses you could pass today without taking them. Military training evaluated against the ACE Military Guide can clear more. Summer and shortened terms let you fit a fifth or sixth course into a calendar year. What stretches it is the upper-level rule in each emphasis area: the credits you bring are mostly lower-level, so you can hold 90 accepted credits and still owe a full year of junior and senior courses.
Ask for a degree plan laid out term by term before you commit, with every remaining course named and the term it's offered in. Ask, too, whether the university puts an age limit on the credit you bring, since a course from fifteen years ago may be counted differently from one taken last spring.
How Much Transfer Credit Does a General Studies Bachelor's Program Accept?
A general studies bachelor's program accepts as much transfer credit as the university's policy allows, up to the point where the residency minimum takes over. Under the Higher Learning Commission's assumed practices, the credits earned in residence are the university's own requirement to set, with 30 of the 120 the usual floor. Everything above that floor can in principle come from elsewhere, and in a general studies degree it usually does, because there's no major to reject a course for being off subject.
Ask about three kinds of credit by name. Coursework at other accredited colleges is the main one, and the U.S. Department of Education is plain that accreditation does not by itself make the credit transferable, because the university receiving it decides. Credit by examination through the College Board's CLEP program turns knowledge you already hold into credit without a course. Credit for military training rests on the recommendations in the American Council on Education's Military Guide, which a university may accept in full, in part or not at all.
Accepted isn't the same as applied. A university can take 90 credits from you and still leave you owing 45, because a credit counts toward the degree only where a requirement is open for it to fill, and the upper-level rule in each emphasis area opens only to junior and senior courses. The number that compares universities is credits still owed, and a university that accepts fewer credits but applies more of them can leave you closer to the finish.
Get the evaluation as a document that lists each incoming course beside the requirement it fills, and get it before you accept an offer. Lay the documents from your shortlist side by side and let the credits still owed decide, because that figure outweighs any rank on this page.
How Much Does a Bachelor's Degree in General Studies Cost in 2026?
A bachelor's degree in general studies costs a median of $9,818 a year in resident tuition and fees and $19,431 for nonresidents across the 164 ranked programs, on published IPEDS tuition and required fees for 2023-24. Across the ranked programs the resident rate runs from $4,656 to $66,014 a year, and nearly all of that spread comes down to two facts: whether the university is public, and whether you count as a resident of its state.
Read the chart as the price of a full-time year. At the median public university the nonresident rate is 2.1 times the resident one, $18,534 against $9,007, and the median private nonprofit college charges everyone $27,360 with no residency discount to earn. If you've moved states since you last enrolled, find out which rate you'd be billed at before you fall for a low resident figure.
A degree completion student doesn't buy four years, and that's where annual tuition misleads. Divide the median by the 30 credits a full-time year covers and the median ranked program costs about $327 a credit. Multiply that by the credits you still owe. Owe 30 and you pay about one year's tuition. Owe 60 and you pay two. A university with higher tuition that applies more of your credit can come out cheaper, which is why the evaluation above is worth reading before the price list.
Two more things a returning student should know. Federal aid depends on the accreditation covered next, and the Pell Grant carries a lifetime cap written into law at 12 semesters or the equivalent, so every term you drew a Pell Grant at an earlier college counts against what's left. Ask the financial aid office for your remaining Pell eligibility and for the per-credit charge, fees included, that applies to someone in your situation.
Are General Studies Bachelor's Programs Accredited?
General studies bachelor's programs are accredited through the university that awards them, because no agency accredits general studies as a field. When a university describes an accredited general studies program, it means the university holds institutional accreditation from an agency the U.S. Department of Education recognizes, and that accreditation covers every degree on its books, general studies included. There is no second seal to look for at this level, and any program that claims one is describing something else.
The reason it matters is money. Federal grants and loans go only to students at accredited institutions, so an unaccredited university would leave you paying the whole bill yourself. It matters a second time when you're done, because the university you might transfer to next and the graduate school you might apply to both start by checking the same thing.
Check it yourself in the Department of Education's accreditation database, where each university's entry names its accrediting agency and the dates of the agency's most recent action. Then check that the agency itself is one the Department recognizes, since the database lists those too. It takes five minutes per university and it is the one check on this page with a yes or no answer.
Understand what the check doesn't settle. The Department says accreditation is a separate decision from whether another institution accepts your credit, and the same holds for employers. Accreditation makes the degree real. It doesn't make anyone take it. Ask a university when its accreditation was last reaffirmed and whether it is under any sanction, and expect a direct answer.
Can You Go to Graduate School With a Bachelor's Degree in General Studies?
You can go to graduate school with a bachelor's degree in general studies wherever the graduate program's admission requirement is a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution with no named major, and each graduate program sets that requirement for itself. Many master's programs in business, public administration, education and human resources admit graduates of any major, and their admission pages say so when they do. Read the page, not the department's name.
Programs with prerequisites are where a general studies transcript can fall short. A master's in nursing, computer science, accounting or a laboratory science expects particular undergraduate courses, and a general studies degree meets that expectation only if you took them. If you already know the graduate program, get its prerequisite list now and build one emphasis area around it. The upper-level credits you owe anyway can be those courses.
Admissions committees read a general studies transcript for the emphasis areas, the grades in upper-level work and the direction of travel. Make the final 60 credits the strongest on the record, since those are the courses taken at the university whose name is on the degree, and choose a capstone or senior project you can describe in an application essay.
Two paths on this site take a general studies graduate as they are. The master's programs in liberal and general studies admit any major by design, and the doctoral programs in liberal studies and humanities show where that route ends for the few who follow it all the way.
What Jobs Can You Get With a General Studies Bachelor's Degree?
With a general studies bachelor's degree you can get any job whose requirement is a bachelor's degree in any field, and that covers a wide run of postings in administration, management, sales, human resources, government and nonprofit work. You can't get a job whose requirement is a named degree or a license that rests on one. Registered nurse, engineer, certified public accountant and licensed teacher all sit on the far side of that line.
For most people who finish this degree the job is already theirs. Pay scales and promotion ladders in the public sector, the military, hospitals and large employers set a bachelor's degree as a gate, whatever the major, and the degree opens it the day it's conferred. Ask your employer's human resources office which grade or role requires the bachelor's and whether it specifies the field. If it doesn't, this degree is the shortest route to that grade you're likely to find.
When you apply elsewhere, the emphasis areas are your major on the resume. Write "Bachelor of General Studies, emphasis in business and communication" and lead with the upper-level coursework and the capstone, not the degree title. Employers who verify a degree confirm the university, the level and the date, and a general studies degree verifies the same way any other bachelor's degree does.
The hard part is that a general studies degree comes with no profession attached: no placement office of its own, no alumni network in one industry, no recruiter who searches for the major by name. You supply the direction. If you can't say in a sentence what your emphasis areas are for, change them before you finish. The careers section lists the roles where the level of the degree, and not its field, is what gets checked.
What Should You Ask a University Before You Enroll in a General Studies Bachelor's Program?
Ask a university seven questions before you enroll in its general studies bachelor's program, get the answers in writing, and put them beside the same seven answers from every other university on your shortlist. The first two set the price. The rest decide whether you finish.
- How many credits will I still owe after you evaluate my transcript? This is the only figure that compares two universities honestly, and it is the one a recruiter is least likely to volunteer.
- How much of my remaining Pell Grant eligibility will your degree plan use, and what will I pay after aid? The lifetime cap is 12 semesters or the equivalent, and a plan that runs past it changes the cost of the last terms.
- Which emphasis areas can I complete in the terms I can attend? An emphasis area whose upper-level courses run only on weekday mornings is closed to someone working weekday mornings.
- Is there an age limit on the credit I bring? A university that recounts a decade-old course as an elective has quietly added a requirement back to your plan.
- Who advises general studies students, and how many students does each adviser carry? A degree you design yourself is only as good as the person checking the design.
- Can I see a term-by-term degree plan for the credits I owe? A plan that names each remaining course and the term it runs in is a promise. A credit total is not.
- What will the diploma and the transcript say? Bachelor of General Studies, Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science are all awarded under this code, and some universities print the emphasis areas on the transcript while others don't.
A university that answers all seven before you've paid anything is telling you how it will treat you afterward. So is one that won't.
How Were the Best General Studies Bachelor's Programs Ranked?
The best general studies bachelor's programs were ranked on three federal figures: the university's graduation rate, weighted 45%, its resident tuition and fees, weighted 30%, and the general studies degrees it awarded in the latest year, weighted 25%. Each figure is turned into a percentile against the 164 ranked programs, the percentiles are weighted and added, and the total is the score out of 100 on each card.
Each factor is there for a reason. Graduation rate is the one outcome the federal record holds for the university, so it carries the most weight. Resident tuition and fees are the price you'd pay, and lower scores higher. Degrees awarded is the one figure that belongs to the general studies program itself, and it carries the least weight because a large program is evidence of an established one, not a better one.
A program needed at least 10 graduates in the latest year to be ranked, and 164 of the 291 on record met that bar. Percentiles reward a program for beating the field, so a public university with a middling graduation rate can outscore a private college with a strong one on price alone. Read the factor breakdown on each card, not only the total, and see the methodology page for the full model and the reasoning behind each weight.
What Does This Bachelor's Ranking Leave Out?
This bachelor's ranking leaves out the two facts that decide the degree for a returning student: how much of your credit each university will apply, and how its general studies graduates fare afterward. The federal record holds neither for a single program, so neither is in the score, and the evaluation you request is the only place you'll get the first.
The graduation rate has a tilt you should know about. It follows first-time, full-time students for 150% of the normal time, which is six years for a bachelor's degree, so a transfer student who finishes in eighteen months is invisible to it and so is the part-time student who takes seven years. Across the ranked universities the rate runs from 9% to 95%, and 81 of the 164 sit below 50%. At a university built around transfer students, a low rate can say more about who it admits at eighteen than about how it will treat you at thirty-five.
The cost figure is the published price before aid, so the net price you'd pay is outside the model too, and it can invert the order of two universities on this list. Use the ranking to decide which universities get your transcript. Let the evaluations and the aid offers decide among them.
Common Questions About General Studies Bachelor's Degrees
Is a Bachelor's Degree in General Studies Respected?
What Is the Difference Between a General Studies Degree and a Liberal Arts Degree?
How Many Credits Is a Bachelor's Degree in General Studies?
Which University Awards the Most General Studies Bachelor's Degrees on This List?
How Many Credits of a General Studies Bachelor's Degree Must You Earn at the University?
Is a Bachelor of General Studies a BA or a BS?
Can You Finish a General Studies Bachelor's Degree in Two Years?
Can You Run Out of Pell Grant Eligibility Before Finishing a Bachelor's Degree?
Where Do the Figures in This Bachelor's Ranking Come From?
- Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
- Classification of Instructional Programs, codes 24.0102 and 24.0101
- IPEDS Graduation Rates survey component
- Assumed Practices, Higher Learning Commission
- Higher Education Act, section 401, Federal Pell Grants (20 U.S.C. 1070a)
- Accreditation in the U.S., U.S. Department of Education
- Overview of Accreditation in the United States, U.S. Department of Education
- College-Level Examination Program, College Board
- The Military Guide, American Council on Education
- Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs
The figures in this bachelor's ranking come from federal records that each university reports about itself, as of the dates shown.
Show the federal record for all 25 colleges ranked, in 19 states and territories
Southern Utah University Georgia Southern University Arkansas State University Oklahoma State University State University of New York at New Paltz University of Alabama at Birmingham University of Mississippi Brigham Young University-Idaho University of Wyoming Texas Tech University State University of New York at Cortland West Virginia University University of North Texas Utah State University American Public University System University of Nevada-Reno University of Nebraska at Kearney Murray State University West Texas A & M University Mississippi State University George Mason University University of Connecticut Southeast Missouri State University South Dakota State University Emporia State University