Sociology, B.A.

Offered by Sociology, Anthropology, and Public Health .

Sociology is the study of social relationships among people and the institutions and organizations they use to organize these relationships. There are many subfields within sociology, including medical sociology, aging, population, religion, gender roles, family, work organizations, occupations, crime and delinquency, urban sociology, political sociology, and others described in the course listings below.

SAPH also offers a Sociology Minor .

University Requirements

Completion of Minimum University Requirements for an Undergraduate Baccalaureate Degree .

Minimum 120 credits and minimum GPA of 2.0
Completion of 45 upper-level credits, the residence requirement, the Writing Intensive requirement, and the General Education requirement

Major Requirements

Minimum 31 credits
Minimum grade of ‘C’ all courses applied to the major. P/F and S/U courses do not count toward the major.
Minimum 16 credits completed in residence at UMBC

Course Requirements

Core Requirements (13 credits)

Complete the following. Students pursuing the Psychology, B.S. or Psychology, B.A. may complete PSYC 312 instead of SOCY 301 .

Elective Courses (18 credits)

Complete 18 credits from the following or other approved courses, including a maximum of 6 credits from ANTH courses and excluding SOCY 396 and any other P/F courses:

Four-Year Academic Pathways

The Four-Year Academic Pathways webpage offers helpful sample pathways for students eager to explore their academic options and stay on track for a four-year graduation. These pathways provide a starting point for students to plan how to complete their degree in four years. However, it’s important to remember that these are just samples. In consultation with their academic advisor, each student will create an individualized degree plan that reflects their unique academic background, interests, and career goals.

Students must develop their personalized degree plan by the time they’ve earned 45 credits and regularly update it with their advisor as their goals and academic journey evolve. This approach ensures that students make thoughtful, strategic choices that set them up for success throughout their time at UMBC.

Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s Programs

Qualified students may apply to an accelerated program, which allows them to take graduate courses as undergraduate students and later apply those courses to master’s degrees. A student may apply to participate in an accelerated program even if the desired graduate program is in a department other than the one in which they are majoring. More information is available from the Accelerated Program page of the Graduate School website.