McCausland College of Arts and Sciences
School of Earth, Ocean and Environment
Bulletin Year: 2026-2027

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Semester One (15 Credit Hours)

Critical	Course Code	Subject and Title	Credit Hours	Min. Grade1	Major GPA2	Prerequisites
!	MSCI 101	The Ocean Environment (CC-SCI)	4	C
!	MATH 141	Calculus 13 (CC-ARP)	4	C		C or better in MATH 115 or through placement exam
!	CHEM 111 & 111L	General Chemistry I (PR)	4	C		C or higher in MATH 111 or higher (or by placement into MATH 115 or higher)
	UNIV 101	The Student in the University or Carolina Core Requirement4 (PR/CC)	3

Semester Two (18 Credit Hours)

Critical	Course Code	Subject and Title	Credit Hours	Min. Grade1	Major GPA2	Prerequisites
!	ENGL 101	Critical Reading and Composition (CC-CMW)	3	C
!	MSCI 102	The Living Ocean (CC-SCI)	4	C
!	MATH 142	Calculus II (CC-ARP)	4			C or better in MATH 141
!	CHEM 112 & 112L	General Chemistry II (PR)	4	C		C or higher in MATH 111 or higher MATH (or by placement score into MATH 115 or higher); C or higher in CHEM 111L or CHEM 141L
		Carolina Core Requirement4 (CC)	3

Take during Semester Three or Four (0-2 Hours)

Critical	Course Code	Subject and Title	Credit Hours	Min. Grade1	Major GPA2	Prerequisites
		Preapproved Field Experience or MSCI 4605 (MR)	0-2	C		C or better in MSCI 101 and 102 or C or better in BIOL 101 and 102

Semester Three (17 Credit Hours)

Critical	Course Code	Subject and Title	Credit Hours	Min. Grade1	Major GPA2	Prerequisites
!	ENGL 102	Rhetoric and Composition (CC-CMW/ CC-INF)	3	C		C or better in ENGL 101
	MSCI 311	Biology of Marine Organisms (fall only) (MR/CC-INT)	4	C		MSCI 102 or BIOL 101
!	PHYS 201 & 201L or PHYS 211 & 211L	General Physics I or Essentials of Physics I (MR)	4	C		C or better in MATH 111/111i/112/115/116/122/141 or higher (PHYS 201); MATH 141 (PHYS 211)
		Foreign language6 or other Carolina Core Requirement4 (CC-GFL)	3
		History7 (CR)	3

Semester Four (14-15 Credit Hours)

Critical	Course Code	Subject and Title	Credit Hours	Min. Grade1	Major GPA2	Prerequisites
	MSCI 313	The Chemistry of the Sea (spring only) (MR/CC-INT)	4	C		C or better in MSCI 101, CHEM 111, CHEM 112, & MATH 141
		MSCI Elective (300-level and above)8 (MR)	3-4	C		See Bulletin listing
!	PHYS 202 & 202L or PHYS 212 & 212L	General Physics II or Essentials of Physics II (PR)	4	C		PHYS 201 (PHYS 202); PHYS 211 and MATH 142 (PHYS 212)
		Foreign language6 or other Carolina Core Requirement4 (CC-GFL)	3

Semester Five (16-17 Credit Hours)

Critical	Course Code	Subject and Title	Credit Hours	Min. Grade1	Major GPA2	Prerequisites
	MSCI 314	Physical Oceanography (fall only) (MR/CC-INT)	4	C		MSCI 101, MATH 141, & PHYS 201 or 211
		MSCI Elective (300-level and above)8 (MR)	3-4	C		See Bulletin listing
	CSCE 102 or higher-level CSCE course or MSCI 305 or MSCI 509	Web Design & Development using AI Tools or higher-level CSCE course or Ocean Data Analysis or MATLAB-Based Data Analysis for Ocean Sciences (CR)	3	C		See Bulletin listing
		Foreign language6 or Carolina Core Requirement4 (CR/CC)	3
		Humanities or Fine Arts (CR)	3

Semester Six (15-17 Credit Hours)

Critical	Course Code	Subject and Title	Credit Hours	Min. Grade1	Major GPA2	Prerequisites
		MSCI Elective (300-level and above)8 (MR)	3-4	C		See Bulletin listing
		MSCI Elective (300-level and above)8 (MR)	3-4	C		See Bulletin listing
	STAT 515	Statistical Methods I (CR)	3	C		C or higher in MATH 112, MATH 115, MATH 122 or MATH 141; or both C or better in STAT 110 or higher and C or better in MATH 111; or through placement exam
		Carolina Core Requirement4 (CC)	3
		Social Science (CR)	3

Semester Seven (15-17 Credit Hours)

Critical	Course Code	Subject and Title	Credit Hours	Min. Grade1	Major GPA2	Prerequisites
		MSCI Elective (300-level and above)8 (MR)	3-4	C		See Bulletin listing
		MSCI Elective (300-level and above)8 (MR)	3-4	C		See Bulletin listing
		Carolina Core Requirement4 or Elective9 (CC/PR)	3
		Carolina Core Requirement4 or Elective9 (CC/PR)	3
		Elective9 (PR)	3

Semester Eight (16-17 Credit Hours)

Critical	Course Code	Subject and Title	Credit Hours	Min. Grade1	Major GPA2	Prerequisites
	MSCI 505	Senior Seminar (MR)	1	C
		MSCI Elective (300-level and above)8 (MR)	3-4	C		See Bulletin listing
		Elective9 (PR)	3
		Elective9 (PR)	3
		Elective9 (PR)	3
		Elective9 (PR)	3

Graduation Requirements Summary

Minimum Total Hours	Minimum Major Requirements Hours	Minimum College & Program Requirements Hours	Carolina Core Hours	Minimum Institutional GPA
128	36	46-58	34-46	2.000

1. Regardless of individual course grades, students must maintain a minimum 2.000 cumulative GPA.
2. Some colleges require a minimum GPA for major courses. Courses indicated in this column are included in the major GPA for this program of study.
3. Students who place into MATH 115 will be required to successfully complete it with a grade of C or better before taking MATH 141. MATH 115 can be used as an approved elective. Students who start with MATH 115 should use the following sequence for the first three semesters:
   1. Semester One: ENGL 101, MSCI 101, MATH 115, UNIV 101 or other Carolina Core Requirement, Foreign Language or other Carolina Core Req.
   2. Semester Two: ENGL 102, MSCI 102, MATH 141, CHEM 111 & 111L, Foreign language or other Carolina Core Req.
   3. Semester Three: MSCI 311, MATH 142, CHEM 112 & 112L, PHYS 201 & 201L or PHYS 211 & 211L.
4. The Carolina Core provides the common core of knowledge, skill and academic experience for all Carolina undergraduate students.
5. All MSCI majors are required to complete a minimum of 60 hours of marine science field effort. Possibilities include taking the MSCI 460 class, semester or summer internship, REU, semester at sea, or faculty-sponsored field research or cruise or field data collection/analysis. Students who opt for an experience other than the MSCI 460 class must submit a petition for an alternative field experience to the Undergraduate Director. If the alternative is approved, the student must submit a short (2-3 page minimum) report at the completion of the experience to the Undergraduate Director for approval. Upon approval, the Undergraduate Director will notify the Dean’s office of the substitution, and the student’s record will be updated to reflect zero credit hours in MSCI 460 for meeting the field effort requirement. If the student takes the MSCI 460 class (2-credit hours), those credits will be counted towards their 23 major elective credit hours.
6. Students in the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences are required to demonstrate proficiency in one foreign language equivalent to the 122 course through course credit or the corresponding foreign language placement score.
7. The McCausland College of Arts and Sciences requires one U.S. History and one non-U.S. History course, both of which must be chosen from the approved Carolina Core GHS courses. Whichever is not fulfilled through the Carolina Core GHS requirement must be fulfilled through this college requirement.
8. In addition to the required 13 hours of major coursework, Marine Science majors must select 23 hours of Marine Science electives in consultation with a faculty advisor for a total of 36 major hours. The elective courses listed in the Undergraduate Studies Bulletin for Marine Science are commonly selected, but any course eligible for cognate credit in the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences can potentially be a major course in Marine Science. The determination of major courses in this interdisciplinary program is the result of consultation between the student and an advisor.
9. No courses of a remedial, developmental, skill-acquiring, or vocational nature may apply as credit toward degrees in the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences. The McCausland College of Arts and Sciences allows the use of the Pass-Fail option on elective courses. Further clarification on inapplicable courses can be obtained from the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences.

Program Notes

• ENGL 101 and ENGL 102 must be completed in the student’s first 60 semester hours of work in order for these courses to be credited toward graduation. MSCI 101 and MSCI 102 must be completed in the first year in order to stay on track with subsequent Marine Science courses and ensure a timely graduation. Other courses identified as “critical” must be completed before the beginning of the student’s 5th major semester.
• Marine Science majors may enroll in the following courses a maximum of two times to earn the required grade of C or higher: MATH through MATH 142, CHEM 111/111L, CHEM 112/112/L, PHYS 201/201L or PHYS 211/211L, PHYS 202/202L or PHYS 212/212L. For the purposes of this standard of progression, withdrawal with a W does not constitute enrollment. These courses, in addition to MSCI 101 and MSCI 102, must be completed before the beginning of the student’s third academic year (fifth major semester) as a marine science major.
• A maximum of 10 semester hours of a combination of independent study, MSCI 505, and undergraduate research courses may count in the 36 hours of major credit required for the Marine Science major.
• All undergraduate students must take a 3-credit course or its equivalent with a passing grade that covers the founding documents. This course may fulfill any requirement in the program of study. Courses that meet this requirement are listed in the academic bulletin.
• The last 30 credit hours toward your degree must be earned in residence at the University of South Carolina-Columbia.

Code Definitions

University Requirements: Bachelor’s degree-seeking students must meet Carolina Core (general education) requirements.

Code	Definition
CC	Carolina Core
CC-AIU	Carolina Core – Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding
CC-ARP	Carolina Core – Analytical Reasoning and Problem-Solving
CC-CMS	Carolina Core – Effective, Engaged, and Persuasive Communication: Spoken Component
CC-CMW	Carolina Core – Effective, Engaged, and Persuasive Communication: Written Component
CC-GFL	Carolina Core – Global Citizenship and Multicultural Understanding: Foreign Language
CC-GHS	Carolina Core – Historical Thinking
CC-GSS	Carolina Core – Social Sciences
CC-INF	Carolina Core – Information Literacy
CC-INT	Carolina Core – Integrative Course
CC-SCI	Carolina Core – Scientific Literacy
CC-VSR	Carolina Core – Values, Ethics, and Social Responsibility
CR	College Requirement
MR	Major Requirement
PR	Program Requirement