Create Your Own Major (BARSC)
Let your intellectual passions and career goals guide your curriculum in the South Carolina Honors College. Our Baccalaureus Artium et Scientiae (BARSC) degree program gives you the academic freedom to build a major tailored to your interests.
About the BARSC Degree
The Baccalaureus Artium et Scientiae (Bachelor of Arts and Sciences, or BARSC) is the most selective undergraduate degree program at the University of South Carolina. The program gives students the unique opportunity to create their own curriculum by developing a challenging course of study tailored to specific interests and career goals. To be admitted in this program, an applicant must be enrolled in the Honors College, have a minimum GPA of 3.6 and write a statement of purpose that is approved by the dean.
Once admitted, you'll create and submit a program of study approved by a faculty panel. Your program must satisfy the Carolina Core requirements, the BARSC general education requirements and all requirements for graduation with honors from the South Carolina Honors College (these requirements have some overlap). You'll take at least 68 credits of Honors course work, including a more extensive six hour senior thesis. Finally, you must have a 3.5 grade point average to graduate.
The BARSC degree requires focus and hard work, but many students have found that the program is a great way to start studying what they love in depth without waiting for graduate school.
I was passionate about many different disciplines coming into college, and I changed my major multiple times before landing on BARSC. With this program, I have had the opportunity to pursue my specific interests while shaping what I want my career to be.
Meet Some of Our BARSC Students
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Harrison Bench, environmental policy
Harrison Bench is a junior BARSC student studying environmental policy. Bench knew he had a passion for environmental science, but he also wanted to study law and policy. He has participated in the South Carolina Washington Semester Program (WSP), where he gained knowledge about federal policymaking and constituent service. Bench plans to apply to law school as his next step, using the flexibility and uniqueness of BARSC to differentiate himself as an applicant.
What he's saying: "With BARSC, I had the opportunity to make my education what I wanted it to be. Pursuing this curriculum was the best way to combine my interests while still getting a general education and taking Honors courses to create a degree that was specific and tailored to me.” -
Riley Sutherland, history and American studies
Riley Sutherland is a senior BARSC student studying history and American studies. Sutherland’s research focuses on women and the military during the American War of Independence and how their post-war lives were remembered. It’s a specific research area that Sutherland discovered with the help of her BARSC committee. While pursuing her BARSC degree, she will also be pursuing an accelerated master’s degree with the University of South Carolina’s history department.
What she's saying: “BARSC has given me the tools to consider my research – and any academic study – with more versatility. Each class has been a sort of magnifying glass that allows me to see my research in a new and exciting light.”