Recent History

The IU Southeast General Studies Program came into existence as a stand-alone academic program on July 1, 2012, with the disbanding of the IU system-wide School of Continuing Studies.  The General Studies Program administers the Bachelor of General Studies Degree (B.G.S.), the certificate in supervision, and minors in supervision and recreation, and functions within the Office of Academic Affairs.  It operates independently of the six IU Southeast schools, with the Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs serving as Dean, supported by the aforementioned staff.  It also offers a Certificate/Minor in Supervision and a minor in Recreation.

Mission

The General Studies Program uniquely exists to serve the working adult who has acquired significant knowledge and skills from different sources.  This program helps students transform their credits from other college programs, associate degrees, the military, or additional self-acquired competencies into a B.G.S. and/or a certificate/minor in order to pursue educational or career opportunities that may not fit readily into an existing major.

Admission Requirements/Transfer Procedures

The General Studies Program is open to all qualified high school graduates or individuals with the General Educational Development (GED) certificate.  Any student with a minimum of 26 credit hours and a minimum GPA of 2.0 may apply for admission as follows:

1. Whether transferring from within the campus or from outside, interested applicants must meet with one of the General Studies academic advisors.
2. Applicants who have already attended a college or university should direct their prior institution(s) to forward an official transcript to the Office of Admissions, Indiana University Southeast, 4201 Grant Line Road, New Albany, Indiana 47150.

Methods for Acquiring Credit

The General Studies program accepts accredited course work earned through a variety of methods:

1. Up to 90 credit hours of transfer work from accredited institutions may be accepted from a four-year college, or up to 64 credit hours from a two-year college.  The 90 hours may be in combination from a two and a four-year college.  These hours may also include up to 30 technical hours of elective credit from Purdue University in mechanical or electrical engineering, and/or computer graphics technology.  Such course work must have grades of C or better to be transferrable to IU Southeast.
2. After meeting with a General Studies academic advisor, students may earn credit by examination by taking one or more DSST exams administered through the IU Southeast Student Development Center (only applies to the B.G.S. degree).
3. Students may also apply for Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) via the Learning Counts Program, from CAEL.  PLA is formerly known as Credit for Life Experience or SAC credit.  Information may be gained from the CAEL website (www.cael.org) or from the manager of the General Studies degree program.
4. Generally, all IU campuses accept for transfer credt those recommended by the American Council on Education (ACE), through whether they count toward the major, toward general education, or as an elective may vary.  For the full policy, see http://policies.iu.edu/policies/categories/academic-faculty-students/academic-student-affairs/transfer-credit-military.pdf.