Physics (B.S.)

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Student Learning Outcomes

66 Major Hours, 120 Degree Hours

Students in this major must also complete requirements for a degree in the College of Arts & Sciences .

Departmental Requirements (36 hours)

Select 7 credit hours below of elective coursework or the Applied Physics specialization

Electives (7 cr hrs)-no specialization

PHYS 498 - Research (C) (1 cr hr required)
PHYS XXX-Upper division electives (6 cr hrs required)

Applied Physics specialization (7 cr hrs)

Nondepartmental Requirements (30 hours)

Students who complete the Physics major will have fulfilled the requirements for the Mathematics Minor and are not required to complete an additional minor, although they are welcome to add another minor.

Non-Departmental Requirements in Chemistry and Computer Science may be applied to an additional minor.

B.S. / M.S. Accelerated Options

Undergraduate Physics majors may elect to complete both the B.S. and M.S. thesis with Analytics for Large Datasets specialization concurrently. Students who pursue the accelerated option will be awarded their undergraduate degree first, but may be awarded both degrees upon completion of the graduate requirements. Students may apply for admission to the M.A. or M.S. program after completing 75 undergraduate credit hours and may begin taking graduate level courses upon completion of 90 undergraduate credit hours and acceptance into the accelerated graduate program. Additional information about the accelerated degree can be found on the accelerated program catalog page for the M.S. in Physics.

Secondary Education/Physics Education (B.S.)

See Physics (B.S.) with Secondary Education Certification for program requirements for degree along with the appropriate teaching certification courses.

Students must have a CGPA of 2.6 to co-register for EDFN 338 and SEED 296 and to be admitted to Teacher Education. Beginning Summer 2015, students must have a CGPA of 2.7 to be admitted to the Teacher Education Program.

Four-Year Program Guides and Costs

USD encourages students to take 15 credits per semester or 30 credits within the year in order to graduate in 4 years. To help students complete their academic degree program in four years, we provide a sample academic plan. Please work with your academic advisor to confirm your plan.

Location Matters for Non-Licensure Track Programs

This program is not designed or advertised to lead to a professional license or certification required for employment.

USD is permitted to operate under the terms of the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (NC-SARA) policies and standards in offering online courses/degree programs to residents in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Online courses/programs may also be offered to residents of California (a non-SARA state) because it does not regulate out-of-state public institutions.

Additionally, this program is authorized to offer supervised field study experiences (internship, externship, clinical, rotation, practicum, independent study, study away, etc.) in South Dakota. Please be aware that there may be some restrictions on your ability to engage in supervised field study outside of South Dakota. Please contact a program representative if you have questions regarding supervised field study.

Distance education courses or programs will not be offered outside of the United States without prior written approval from the University, which may be withheld for any reason. If you are taking distance courses while physically located outside of the United States, it is your responsibility to confirm the following: (a) if the country will recognize an online degree; (b) the availability of supervised field study opportunities in the country; and (c) if the country charges any additional taxes, withholdings or fees associated with online distance education programs.

For more information, please visit USD’s State Authorization page or contact your admissions counselor.