The bachelor's degree in political science is a first-cycle programme (a 'transition' bachelor's degree), consisting of 180 credits spread over three years (60 credits per year). It prepares students for a number of master's degree programmes in the second cycle, which they can take at Louvain-la-Neuve or another university in Belgium or Europe (for details, see the 'Access to further studies' page).
The first year of the degree is common to the political science, information and communication and sociology and anthropology programmes offered by the faculty. In addition to the educational commitment to providing a solid foundation for a multidisciplinary programme, which is one of the hallmarks of the programmes offered at UCLouvain Saint-Louis - Bruxelles, this shared first year facilitates reorientations at the beginning of the programme: students can change their orientation in year 2 to one of the other two programmes (information and communication or sociology and anthropology) without having to make up any course units.
The programme gradually becomes more specialised: the second year includes 20 credits in political science, and the third year includes 30 credits in political science.
The programme is made up of lecture-based course units, with introductory courses in the humanities and social sciences (philosophy, law, history, economics, psychology, sociology, political science, information and communication), as well as lessons in academic methodology accompanied by practical work (e.g. approaches and research methods in social sciences).
At the end of the programme, there is a workshop during which students work together in the field in small groups and present their work to a panel of experts, who assess the quality of the presentation and the relevance of the analysis.