In summer 2012, we reduced number of credits for each political science course from 5-credit hours to 4-credit hours to reflect the amount of time students spend in class each week. This means that the total number of credits needed to graduate as a political science major went from 44 to 40 credits.
For political science minors, we've also increased the number of credits necessary to complete a political science minor from 19- to 20-credit hours, meaning minors must take at least five courses instead of four.
STUDENTS ENROLLED IN FALL 2012 OR LATER
If you first enrolled at the University of Denver in fall 2012, your political science major will require 40 credits. This will typically require that you complete 10 courses (each worth 4 credits).
The Office of the Registrar will waive up to half a credit hour (0.5), if you fall short of the 40-credit-hour minimum needed to complete your major.
STUDENTS ENROLLED BEFORE FALL 2012
If you first enrolled at DU before fall 2012, you can choose to complete the 40-credit-hour minimum for the major. This will allow several students—especially juniors who already have completed much of the major with several 5-credit-hour courses—to complete the major with 9 courses.
If you've taken nine courses and have earned fewer than 40 credits, the Office of the Registrar will waive up to 1-credit-hour. This means that the absolute minimum number of credit hours you must have to graduate will be 39. Otherwise, you must take additional courses to complete your major.
If you're a freshman or sophomore in 2012, you'll likely need to take 10 PLSC classes to complete the major rather than 9, and should plan accordingly.
We know this is complex stuff; contact polisci@du.edu if you have questions!