University College Dublin (UCD) are set to reform arts degree courses as a means to improve the employability of its students, according to the Irish Times. Changes to the degree include internship and Erasmus opportunities, which will extend some courses from three to four years. Students will also have the option of either choosing two subjects to major in, or a major and minor degree, with a choice of 19 subjects.
UCD are implementing a new 4 year humanities degree, and a 4 year modern language degree where students will study two languages. Social science students will have the option to study abroad, undertake research or take an internship in the revised 4 year degree plan. Joint honors degree students will have the option to study abroad which will extend the course length from 3 to 4 years. The single honors economics degree, and psychology, social science and sociology degree will both remain at a three year course duration.
Presently, the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in UCD is the largest third-level degree in the country, and can be taken as a single or joint honours degree. CAO points for the course have dropped from 375 in 2008 to 310 in 2016. The Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences degree allows students to choose three subjects in their first year and specialise in two subjects in their final two years. For single honor degrees, students choose two subjects in first year and specialise for the final two years. No changes are to be made on course intake, which amounts to 1,400 students annually. Changes to the degree will be implemented from September 2018.
Trinity offer a two subject moderatorship (TSM) course, which is a joint honors arts degree, and offers 25 subjects with 172 combinations where each combination in the moderatorship requires its own CAO points. Trinity is looking to reform its arts degree as part of the college-wide Trinity Education Project by introducing new combinations and subjects. The changes are set to be implemented from September 2019.
