BA in Liberal Studies

Complete your degree in a community of learners

If you’re seeking personal and professional change, you’ve found the degree program that will help you take the next step. Our BA in Liberal Studies degree program enables you to concentrate in the following academic areas: Addiction Studies, Business and Management Studies, Child Studies, Creative Writing, Liberal Studies (general), Psychology, Queer Studies, and Urban Studies. Our program offers a strong foundation through flexible coursework, experiential learning, and hands-on faculty advising. Join our community of engaged adult learners and acquire the skills, knowledge, and real-world experience to meet your personal and professional goals. This degree is offered by AU Los Angeles.

Program Overview

Our liberal studies courses inspire our students to become independent lifelong learners with the ability to think critically about the social issues that influence their lives. By linking knowledge to agency and action, our program will support your commitment to social justice and personal responsibility in our communities and the world at large. An advisor will be assigned to work with you personally in order to tailor a degree plan that realizes your specific academic goals and passions. All Antioch courses and other learning activities are assessed through narrative evaluations written by the instructor at the end of the term. However, you have the option of requesting a grade equivalent as part of a narrative evaluation in order to be reimbursed for tuition by your employer, to apply for certain grants or scholarships, or for admission to graduate programs that require letter grades.

Major and Minor Concentrations

The BA in Liberal Studies degree offers the option of Major and Minor Areas of Concentration. Students must successfully complete 40 units toward a Major Concentration and 20 units toward a Minor Concentration in order for the concentration to be included on the official transcript.

• Addiction Studies
• Business and Management Studies
• Child Studies (minor only)
• Creative Writing
• Liberal Studies (general)
• Psychology
• Queer Studies (minor only)
• Urban Studies

Degree Requirements

• 180 total quarter units (earned at AULA and transferred in).
• Minimum of 36 transferable quarter units (24-semester units) from previous institutions. Minimum of 45 Antioch University units (earned at AULA).
• Successful completion of our gateway course, Educational Foundations, during the first quarter of enrollment.
• 36 units of General Studies courses (6 units in each of the following domains): Communications, Science, Humanities, Quantitative, Social Science, and Fine Art.
• 75 upper division units.
• 6 units of non-classroom learning (prior learnings, internships, independent studies).
• For those selecting a concentration, a minimum of 40 units are required for a major area of concentration, and/or 20 units for a minor area of concentration.

The length of time a student takes to complete the degree depends upon (1) the number of credits transferred into the program and (2) the number of credit hours taken each term. For example, a student who transfers in 90 quarter units (60-semester units) can complete the degree in 6 to 7 quarters of full-time enrollment or 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 years.

Learning Outcomes

The bachelor’s programs offered at AULA provide students with a broad base of knowledge, skills, experience, and the intellectual flexibility to become critically informed participants in their professions and communities. The programs foster students’ critical awareness by examining the multiple contexts that shape knowledge and inspire courageous action. By linking knowledge to agency, the programs challenge students to demonstrate their commitment to personal responsibility, concern for the rights of others, and to the goal of achieving social justice in our communities and our world.

• Critical and analytical thinking
• The ability to understand issues from multiple perspectives
• The ability to connect learning to lived experience
• Social awareness, community engagement, and global citizenship
• Core competency in foundational skills including:
  • Writing
  • Quantitative reasoning
  • Information literacy
  • Technological literacy
  • Oral communication
  • Research

Schedule

Antioch’s academic year is comprised of four quarters: fall (October), winter (January), spring (April), and summer (July). Quarters are ten weeks long with a three-week break in between, during which instructors review and evaluate students’ work. Bachelor’s degree classes have anywhere from 8 to 18 students in each class, and are offered in three formats:

1. Three- and four-unit regular classes that meet face-to-face for one 2 hours and 50-minute session per week for 10 weeks. This is the most common format.
2. Three- and four-unit online and hybrid classes that alternate face-to-face or video-conference meetings with online activity.
3. One- and two-unit workshops that meet for just one or two full days during the quarter and occur on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays.

Additionally, students have a variety of options for earning credit through non-classroom learning activities: internships, prior learning, and independent study projects. View samples of current and past schedules

Prior Learning for Credit

We respect your life experience and recognize that college-level learning often takes place outside of academic settings. Many students bring a wealth of such prior learning to their studies, and we offer the option to convert this learning into academic credit through appropriate documentation, self-reflection, and evaluation by a qualified faculty member. Demonstration of prior learning can take many forms but typically involves showing evidence of the student’s knowledge of the topic and situating that knowledge in an academic context. For example, a student who entered the program as an accomplished digital artist earned credit by compiling a portfolio of her digital art and writing an analysis of her learning in the field. Another student who had lost a brother to AIDS reviewed literature on the stages of grief and wrote a paper integrating the findings of academic studies with her personal experience of grief. Undergraduate students can earn up to forty-four university credits for prior learning. Earning academic credit for prior learning activities may accelerate a student’s time to degree completion and significantly reduces tuition costs. Students wanting to explore this option must take the Prior Learning workshop before earning this type of credit. 

Internships

The internship office maintains partnerships with over 200 organizations in Los Angeles and supports students who wish to earn academic credit for hands-on, workplace experience. As interns, students expand their social networks, apply new skills, and actively contribute to community life. As part of the internship process, they also reflect upon the relationship between academic studies and real-world activities. The following are just a few examples of the many exciting internships our students pursue:

• Promoting resilience through empathy and community building at the Relational Center;
• Mentoring youth artists at Venice Arts to develop skills in photography and other creative media;
• Learning and applying anti-bullying principles at The AnonymoUS Initiative;
• Literary editing and web publishing for Antioch’s online literary journal Two Hawks Quarterly;
• Assistant-Teaching for Bridge, Antioch’s free community humanities program for non-traditional adult students;
• Learning at their own jobs.

Internships represent one way for students to satisfy the non-classroom learning degree requirement.  

Fast Track to Graduate Programs

Antioch offers “Fast Track” options into two of our graduate programs. Once accepted, undergraduate students complete their remaining bachelor’s degree units by taking first-term graduate courses. Units earned in Fast Track apply toward both the student’s bachelor’s and master’s degrees, saving significant time and money in the process. Prior to applying for the graduate program, undergraduate students must consult with their Academic Advisors to determine their eligibility to become a Fast Track candidate and gain approval from the Undergraduate Studies Chair. Our Fast Track option is available for the following graduate programs: Master of Arts in Psychology (MAP), and Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (MFA).

Undergraduate New Student Orientation

New Student Orientation is scheduled every term. It’s a chance for students to visit the campus, meet faculty, register for classes, and get started on their educational journey. Upon acceptance into the program, students receive specific information for the New Student Orientation designed for them. To RSVP for an orientation, admitted students should email: [email protected] or call 310.578.1080 x.3210.