9.2     Program Length [CR]

The institution offers one or more degree programs based on at least 60 semester credit hours or the equivalent at the associate level; at least 120 semester credit hours or the equivalent at the baccalaureate level; or at least 30 semester credit hours or the equivalent at the post-baccalaureate, graduate, or professional level. The institution provides an explanation of equivalencies when using units other than semester credit hours.  The institution provides an appropriate justification for all degree programs and combined degree programs that include fewer than the required number of semester credit hours or its equivalent unit.

Judgment

x   Compliance           o  Non-Compliance           o Partial Compliance

Narrative  

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette offers a program inventory of 53 Bachelor’s degrees, 13 Post-Bachelor Certificates, six Graduate Certificates, 31 Master’s degrees, and 11 Doctoral degrees. By mandate of the Louisiana BOR in 2001, UL Lafayette does not offer any Associate’s degrees. No accelerated Bachelor-to-Master programs are currently offered. All degrees awarded are based on semester credit hours.

All undergraduate baccalaureate degrees at the University meet or exceed the BOR minimum of 120 semester credit hours. As stated in the “Undergraduate Degree Requirements” section of the University’s Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Catalog, the minimum number of semester credit hours required for any Bachelor’s degree at UL Lafayette is 120. Individual degree programs may exceed 120 hours to comply with specific accreditation requirements.

The minimum credit requirements, the specific course requirements for each individual program, and each department’s course descriptions may be found in the Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Catalog under “Undergraduate and Graduate Degrees.”

The BOR evaluates program length during the process of considering requests for new programs. The University specifies the courses and the number of credit hours in degree programs when programs are initially created, and continues to monitor changes through its internal program review process. Any review or revision of a program must address the issue of minimum number of hours. As described in Section 9.1, following approval by Department Heads and Deans, all course additions, deletions, and changes must be approved by one of the two University Curriculum Committees (undergraduate or graduate level). Changes must then be approved by the Provost or his designate, currently the Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs – Academic Programs. Curriculum changes require the approval of the Department Heads, Deans, and Provost or Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs – Academic Programs.

With the exception of Post-Bachelor Certificates and Graduate Certificates, all post‐baccalaureate, graduate, and professional degrees at UL Lafayette require at least 30 semester credit hours of graduate‐level coursework. For Master’s degrees the required number of semester hours ranges from 30 to 87.

Each of the nine Ph.D. programs (Applied Language and Speech Sciences, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, English, Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, Francophone Studies, Mathematics, Systems Engineering, and Earth and Energy Sciences) requires a minimum of 72 semester hours of credit beyond the Bachelor’s degree.

The BSN to DNP program requires 70 credit hours and 1,000 post-Bachelor supervised academic program practice hours in DNP residency courses. The MSN to DNP requires 39 post-MSN credit hours and 420 post-MSN clinical clock hours. The EdD program in Educational Leadership requires 60 hours beyond the Master’s degree. Information from the Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Catalog 2018-2019 allows the comparison of all graduate programs. Specific course requirements for each graduate degree program, along with the course descriptions, are listed in the Catalog.

 

Supporting Documents

Board of Regents Program Inventory for UL

Graduate Program Length Table

UL Lafayette Grad School Catalog

UL Lafayette Graduate Degrees

Undergraduate & Graduate Degrees: UL Lafayette

Undergraduate Programs – Length