About the Sociology Bachelor’s Program
Sociology is the study of groups in society and individuals in those groups. Areas of concentration and faculty expertise include criminology and deviance, intimate relationships and families, race and ethnicity, inequalities, gender, aging, social psychology, medical sociology, culture, education, religion, food, social geography, social research methods, and social theory. A major or minor in sociology is beneficial to students planning careers in a variety of areas, including business, law, law enforcement, government, international development, medicine, social services, education, public relations and marketing, and human relations. The department also offers a criminology concentration for sociology majors who wish to specialize in this area. Courses in sociology fulfill core curriculum requirements in the social and behavioral sciences and multicultural core requirements in the College of Arts & Sciences and the university.
A student majoring in sociology must complete 30 hours in sociology or criminology, 24 of which must be upper-division courses (3000 or 4000). At least 6 hours of the College of Arts & Sciences general education requirements must be upper-division. Communication Literacy requirements will be met in the required upper-division core courses specified below through numerical data analyses, written papers, and visual/audio in-person or Web-based presentations. A maximum of 9 hours of transfer credit may be accepted for the major. Core course requirements are as follows:
- SOC 1301 , SOC 3391 , and SOC 3392 .
- Either SOC 3393 or SOC 3394 . Students expecting admission to graduate work in sociology should take both of these courses.
- 18 hours of sociology and/or criminology electives, with 15 hours at the 3000- or 4000-level.
Communication Literacy Requirement. Communication Literacy courses for the Sociology major include SOC 3391 , SOC 3392 , SOC 3393 , and SOC 3394 .
Admission Requirements: Students who transfer to Texas Tech from other institutions, TTU students who wish to switch their major from another discipline, and TTU students who are second-semester freshmen must meet the 2.0 GPA threshold to be eligible for a major in Sociology. Students who wish to declare a major in Sociology during their first semester as freshmen will be exempt from the 2.0 GPA minimum until their second freshman semester. Current and future sociology majors whose GPA falls below 2.0 will be placed on probation for one semester, during which time they must raise their GPA to 2.0. If they are not successful, they will be dropped from the major after that semester. Students will be referred to an advisor from the College of Arts & Sciences’ Office of Student Success.
