Program Details

• Major Name: Regents Bachelor of Arts
• Degree Program: Regents Bachelor of Arts
• Degree Designation: RBA
• College / School: Liberal Arts

The Regents Bachelor of Arts is an innovative baccalaureate degree program designed for adult students. The basic principle underlying the degree is that credit is awarded for what students know regardless of how that knowledge is obtained. The program differs from other baccalaureate degrees in that Regents students — in addition to taking traditional college courses — may earn college-equivalent credit for selected work and life experiences that can be equated to college courses. Students write portfolios to obtain such credit.

The Regents program assumes that adults have different needs and goals than traditional undergraduates. The program is designed to provide students with a comprehensive general education without the requirement of a major. No specific courses are required for graduation, allowing students to design their own programs of study.

There is considerable flexibility in how, when and where course requirements are met; students may earn credit through regular courses, online courses, credit by exam, standardized awards, writing portfolios to petition for eligible courses based on work experience, or a combination of each.

The Regents BA Program was created by the West Virginia State Board of Regents in 1975. Although that board no longer exists, the degree program continues in the 10 public universities and four-year colleges in the state.

Benefits of an RBA degree:

There are tremendous benefits for pursing the RBA degree. Some of those benefits include:

1. Convenience: many of our students would like to continue working and/or maintaining their family and social commitments. Thus, they would be able to develop a suitable Academic Success Plan with their assigned advisor that best fits their individual schedules.
2. Cost: Many of our students have accumulated a vast number of years of work experience in various fields. Therefore, they are eligible to petition for College Equivalent Credits (CECs). Additionally, our students often have earned numerous professional certificates and/or licenses as part of their professional development, which may equate to CECs. The aforementioned avenues are much cheaper relative to taking college courses.
3. Career advancement: The RBA degree provides recipients with opportunities to further their careers by pursuing a Liberal Arts or more specialized focus if they choose to incorporate our Areas of Emphases and/or minors.

The RBA degree is perfect for:

1. Working adults since it allows them to balance work, family and other social commitments while remaining committed to pursuing a collegiate career.
2. Adults that have already earned an Associate degree and/or professional certificates and licenses that equates to college credits.
3. Service men and women (veterans, law enforcement, firefighters, etc.) who may have earned college credits based on their service training.
4. Adults who may have started their academic careers but never completed, or are looking to begin college, in order to advance or change careers.
5. Adults with plans to continue on to obtain a graduate degree

Graduation Requirements

A. The Regents BA degree requires students to complete general education course work, as follows:

• Six credit hours demonstrating skill in writing or public speaking.
• Six credit hours of humanities in areas such as English literature, foreign languages, history, humanities, philosophy, religious studies and approved courses in art, music and theater.
• Six credit hours of social science in areas such as anthropology, communication studies, economics, geography, political science, psychology, and sociology.
• Three credit hours of natural or physical science.
• Three credit hours of approved mathematics, statistics, or computer science.

B. The Regents BA degree requires students to take a minimum of 30 hours of upper division course work. Upper division courses are those offered at the junior and senior levels and are usually numbered as 300- or 400-level courses. Upper division courses take the place of a major and may be taken in any subject area or combinations of areas as students wish.

C. The Regents BA degree has a residency requirement of 24 hours of course work taken at public higher education institutions in West Virginia with at least 6 upper division credits from WVU.

D. Regents BA students must complete a minimum of 120 credit-hours to be eligible for graduation.

E. Students must have a minimum GPA of 2.00 (on a 4-point scale) to be eligible for graduation.

To learn more about degree requirements, please follow the link below:

RBA Major Requirements