ÁùºÏ±¦µä

Breadth Requirement

Most major programs in the College of Liberal Arts will require the student to satisfy the breadth requirement. This page provides an explanation of the requirement and information on how to select potential breadth coursework.

What is the breadth requirement?

Breadth, as defined in the General Catalog

“Students seeking a Bachelor of Arts degree in the college shall be required to take, within the College of Liberal Arts, six units that are outside the departments in which they major or minor, and that exclude courses taken to fulfill the Core General Education requirements (Core Objectives 1 through 8).”

Breadth further explained

Think of the breadth requirement as broadening your exposure to the world of liberal arts through six units of liberal arts electives, with some restrictions applied. These courses need to be taken within liberal arts disciplines that are outside of your major and minor areas of study. Breadth courses must be unique and may not overlap with any other degree requirements, except that some overlap is allowed with Core Objectives 9–14 (as long as such courses still meet the other rules for breadth).

Determining potential breadth courses

  1. Find any major(s) and minor(s) you have declared in the table of liberal arts disciplines below.
  2. Eliminate the subject prefix associated with every major/minor plan you’ve declared.
  3. Choose your breadth courses from any of the remaining liberal arts subject prefixes. Courses at any level, 100–499, may be used.

Liberal Arts disciplines and course prefixes

  • American Sign Language and Deaf Studies: AM
  • Anthropology: ANTH
  • Arabic: ARA
  • Art & Art History (including Graphic Design): ART, GRC
  • Basque Studies: BASQ
  • Chinese: CHI
  • College of Liberal Arts: COLA
  • Communication Studies: COM
  • Criminal Justice: CRJ
  • Dance: DAN
  • English: ENG
  • Ethnic Studies: ETS
  • French: FREN
  • German: GER
  • Gender, Race, and Identity: GRI
  • Historic Preservation: HP
  • History: HIST
  • Holocaust, Genocide and Peace Studies: HGPS
  • Italian: ITAL
  • Japanese: JPN
  • Military Science: MIL
  • Music: MUS, MUSA, MUSE
  • Northern Paiute: PAIT
  • Philosophy: PHIL
  • Political Science & International Affairs: PSC, IAFF
  • Religious Studies: RST
  • School of the Arts: SOTA
  • Sociology: SOC
  • Spanish: SPAN
  • Theatre: THTR
  • Women’s Studies: WMST

Additional notes

  • Eligible test credits and transfer courses may be used for the breadth requirement.
  • Language courses may be used for breadth if they are outside of the sequence used to fulfill the language requirement.
  • Breadth courses cannot include prerequisites to a specific graduation requirement (e.g. ENG 101 cannot be used for breadth because it is a prerequisite to the CO1 & CO3 requirement, ENG 102).
  • Musical theatre students may not use any courses within the music, theatre, or dance subject prefixes for breadth.
  • Students whose first CLA major is declared in Spring 2019 or earlier may also use psychology (PSY) courses for breadth.

Example of breadth requirement for a sample student

Alex is an art major and philosophy minor who has finished CO1–CO8 and took French for the language requirement. After eliminating the ART and PHIL prefixes, Alex can choose from courses under any other prefix in the table for breadth. Some possibilities:

  • ANTH 202
  • COM 329
  • GER 111
  • MUS 121
  • SOC 490
  • And so on

Breadth requirement on advising reports

Breadth courses may not show automatically on your MyÁùºÏ±¦µä Academic Advising Report until after you have declared a minor or second major, if your degree requires one to be declared.

Due to limitations on the advising report coding for this requirement, breadth courses may need to be entered manually in certain situations, including but not limited to the following:

  • If you have declared more than two major/minor plans
  • If your first major is not in the College of Liberal Arts
  • If your minor or second major is Psychology
  • If you are a Musical Theatre major
  • If you are using courses from a language prefix for breadth, such as French or Spanish.

If you have declared a minor/second major (where required) and have completed your breadth courses, but your advising report does not indicate breadth has been satisfied, email the College's breadth advisor at CLAbreadth@unr.edu (include your name, NSHE ID# and breadth courses) to request a manual update.