The plan of study below lists only the core courses required for a BS 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.

A pdf document outlining this sample plan may be found here.

^GE  _{This course satisfies a General Education requirement.}
^a  _{Enrollment in math courses requires completion of a placement exam.}
^b  _{These courses are offered every other year - ASTR:3771 [even-years only], ASTR:3772 and ASTR:4850 [odd-years only]. Check MyUI for course availability since offerings are subject to change.}
^c  _{May take Electronics (PHYS:3850) (4 sh) instead to fulfill major requirements.}
^d  _{May take Plasma Physics I (PHYS:4731) (3 sh) instead to fulfill major requirements.}

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 Science 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.}