2025-2026 Academic Catalog

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Astrophysics Minor

General Requirements

Students must satisfy all requirements as outlined below and by the department offering the minor.

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Program Requirements

  1. Students must complete a minimum of 16 PHYS credit hours.

  2. Students must complete a minimum of six upper-division (3000-level and above) PHYS credit hours.

  3. Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all courses that apply to the minor and must achieve a minimum cumulative minor GPA of 2.0. Courses taken using P+/P/F or S/U grading cannot apply to minor requirements.

  4. Students must complete a minimum of nine PHYS credit hours with CU Denver faculty.

Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations

  1. Requirements for the minor in astrophysics may be used to fulfill the requirements of the major in physics.

  2. A student majoring in physics who wants to minor in astrophysics cannot use the 3000-level and above courses applied to the Astrophysics minor for their Physics Major requirements.

  3. A student seeking a minor in astrophysics who also wants to minor in physics or biophysics can only use one of the 3000-level and above courses applied to the Astrophysics minor for their Physics Minor or Biophysics Minor requirements.

Complete the following Introductory Physics Lecture/Lab Courses:10
College Physics I
General Physics I: Calculus-Based
Intro Experimental Phys Lab I
Applied Physics Lab I
College Physics II
General Physics II: Calculus-Based
Intro Experimental Phys Lab II
Applied Physics Lab II
Complete a minimum of six credit hours from the following Upper Division Astrophysics Elective credit 16
General Astronomy II
Physical Cosmology
Energy and the Environment
Thermal Physics
Thermodynamics
Independent Study: PHYS 2
Directed Research 2
Internship 2
Optics
Astrophysics
Independent Study: PHYS 2
Advanced Physics Topics 2
Total Hours16
1

Students must complete a minimum of six upper-division (3000-level and above) PHYS credit hours. Additional astrophysics-related special topics or elective courses may be approved by the department advisor. Electives with a prefix other than PHYS may be considered in consultation with your departmental academic advisor and with approval of the physics department chair.

2

Topics in these classes vary, as do the number of credits that can be earned. See departmental advisor for approval.

To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website.