BACS Information
- Undergraduate Record
- Declaring the Major
- Degree Handouts and Resources
- Degree Requirements
- Distinguished Majors Program
- “Old” BACS Requirements
Undergraduate Record
The official undergraduate record contains the official rules for completing the degree program. If there is any disagreement between these pages and the rules in the undergraduate record, the record is the final authority.
UVA BACS Undergraduate Record 2022-2023
Declaring the Major
See the page on Declaring the BACS.
Degree Handouts and Resources
For information on the “old” BACS degree requirements, see the bottom of this page.
Degree Requirements
BACS Prerequisites
To declare the degree, you must have completed the following:
- An introductory computer science course, such as CS 1110 , CS 1111 , CS 1112 , CS 1113 or CS 1120 , or an equivalent course; or successful completion of the associated place-out test.
- CS 2100 - Data Structures and Algorithms 1 (with C+ or higher) or equivalent or successful completion of the associated place-out test.
BACS Required CS Courses
All BACS majors must complete the following courses (20 credits):
- CS 2120 - Discrete Mathematics and Theory 1 (Credits: 3)
- CS 2130 - Computer Systems and Organization 1 (Credits: 4)
- CS 3100 - Data Structures and Algorithms 2 (Credits: 4)
- CS 3120 - Discrete Mathematics and Theory 2 (Credits: 3)
- CS 3130 - Computer Systems and Organization 2 (Credits: 4)
- CS 3140 - Software Development Essentials (Credits: 3)
Computer Science Electives
All BACS majors must complete 9 credits (normally 3 courses) of CS electives. These are CS courses at the 3000-level or above, in addition to the required courses listed above. At most, 3 credits of CS 4993 (Independent Study) can be counted towards this requirement. CS 4980 and CS 4998 cannot be counted towards this requirement.
Integration Electives
All BACS majors must complete 12 credits of Integration Electives. These are non-CS courses that contribute to this program of study by exploring applications of computing to arts and sciences fields in a significant way or by providing fundamental computing depth and background. Integration electives are courses offered by departments in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The list of approved courses can be found in the BACS section of the UG Record.
Distinguished Majors Program
Prof. David Evans manages the BACS Distinguished Majors Program (DMP), and details about that program can be found at https://csdmp.github.io/. Students who apply to and are accepted to be in the Distinguished Majors Program must complete the usual degree requirements as well as a fourth year thesis project. This requires two semesters of CS 4998 - Distinguished BA Majors Research (3 credits each semester) in addition to the usual requirements.
“Old” BACS Requirements
The BACS degree program changed significantly for students who started at UVA in Summer 2022 and later. Some current BA majors are still completing the “old” degree program. Here is some advising info for those students.
- The official degree requirements are in the 2021-22 Undergraduate Record at this link.
- Here’s a check-list of requirements for the “old” degree requirements.
- SIS automatically recognizes the list of integration electives for these students linked to from that page in the UG Record. Here’s a direct link. (Courses on a more recent list can count, but the student must fill out the request form.)
- Current students can declare the major with the “old curriculum” at this time only if they were able to complete CS2150 by the end of Fall 2022 (with a C- or higher) and pass CS3330 no later than Spring 2023.