What is Liberal Arts & Integrative Studies

The Liberal Arts & Integrative Studies (LAIS) Program is ideal for students with academic and career aspirations that require study across multiple academic subjects. Since each student has the responsibility for the quality of his or her education, the successful LAIS student will be one who can develop a challenging Plan of Study and stick to it. The LAIS degree is not intended for students who are undecided about their interests.

Historically, the Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts & Integrative Studies has attracted many students who feel restricted by the specialized nature of traditional degree programs and want to combine two, three or more academic disciplines. Other students, particularly those returning to the university after years away, or those with full-time jobs, choose this degree because it has more flexibility to combine courses into themed concentrations. It is self-designed by each student to meet very specific academic or career goals.

If you have any questions about the LAIS Program - please, ask an LAIS Advisor.

Whether you’re new to LAIS or almost done with the degree, scheduling can at times be overwhelming because of the designed flexibility offered by this program.  The following is designed to help give you some guidance as you make your course registration selections.

The Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts & Integrative Studies degree (BA-LAIS) without optional minor(s) or concentration(s) consists of three main parts.  The first component is the UNM General Education, which is required of all majors and consists of 31 credit hours.  The component of BA-LAIS which makes it a baccalaureate degree rather than associate level is the upper division (300/400 level) requirement of 51 credit hours minimum.  The remaining part of this degree consists of 38 elective credit hours that may be at any level, and are often prerequisites for upper division electives, lower division concentration/minor requirements not part of GenEd, or courses taken before declaring LAIS as your major.    

Your upper division elective selections should ideally support your focus areas.  Focus areas can be as broad or as narrow as you want.  For example, a focus area may be titled “Social Science” and consist of courses from the following prefixes: COUN, ECON, EDPY, POLS, PSYC, PADM, PH, SOCI (and/or others).  Or a Social Science focus may consist of only PSYC courses, in which case you may want to consider elevating that status from focus area to a transcribed minor, the requirements of which are found under programs in the UNM Catalog.  While minors are optional for the BA-LAIS degree, you may earn up to two if desired. 

Any UNM Main Campus upper division courses you can register for will count towards a BA-LAIS degree, but not all courses are available to LAIS students.  Some have program restrictions, such as those imposed by the School of Engineering, Anderson School of Management, and the Accelerated Online Programs.  There are numerous upper division courses with no restrictions, but some have prerequisites, which are listed under courses in the UNM Catalog.  As a reminder, the 38 hours of electives at any level contained within the composition of a BA-LAIS degree is a great place to potentially complete prerequisites for any upper division courses you especially want to take. 

The ”Guiding Questions” and “Professional Goals” elements found here are great places for self-evaluation as you consider what electives are best for you to select since unlike some degrees the transcript of every BA-LAIS graduate is very different.  We also have some samples here, but these are not all inclusive of the infinite options available.        

If your goal is to complete this degree fully online, this page may be of assistance to you.            

As always, we welcome you to speak with a LAIS Advisor at any point in your academic journey.