The plan of study below lists only the core courses required for a BA in Astronomy.  This does not include required GE CLAS Core courses, which may be found here, and electives.  Undergraduates are also strongly encouraged to be active participants in research within the department.

^GE  _{This course satisfies a General Education requirement.}
^a  _{Enrollment in math courses requires completion of a placement exam.}
^b  _{This course is typically offered every other year [odd-years only]. Check MyUI for course availability since offerings are subject to change.}
^c  _{May take Electronics (PHYS:3850) (4 s.h.) instead to fulfill major requirements.}
^d  _{May take Introductory Optics (PHYS:4720) (3 s.h.) instead to fulfill major requirements.}
^e  _{Although this course is not required for the BA, it is currently listed as a prerequisite for PHYS:3811 (Electricity & Magnetism I)}

The GE CLAS Core has 11 required areas, grouped into three categories. Students must fulfill the requirements in each GE CLAS Core area. The requirements below are for students who entered the University of Iowa during Summer 2023 or after. Students who entered during a previous semester are held to different requirements as indicated on a student's degree audit.

^a  _{A single course may satisfy both the Sustainability requirement as well as another Core Category - either Natural, Quantitative, and Social Sciences or Culture, Society, and the Arts.}
^b  _{The Natural Sciences GE requirements are met by taking PHYS:1701 and PHYS:1702 (Physics I and II) or ASTR:1771 and ASTR:1772 (Intro Astronomy I and II).}
^c  _{The Quantitative or Formal Reasoning GE requirements are fulfilled by taking MATH:1850 (Calculus I).}

Below is a summary of the total semester hour requirements to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Astronomy.

^a  _{This total does not include the Natural Sciences or Quantitative Formal Reasoning requirements, both of which are met with required courses in the major.}