It is important for students to understand the requirements for the bachelor's degree. Spend some time perusing the rest of this section for the "up close" detailed view. Students who educate themselves on the various requirements are far less likely to make mistakes in their academic planning.

In general, there are three primary components to the bachelor's degree:

	General Education
	Major
	Electives

General Education (GE)

The General Education program, designed to introduce the student to a breadth of knowledge, prepares the student to understand and actively participate in a diverse and complex world. Through General Education courses, students develop lifelong skills such as critical thinking, written and oral communication, quantitative reasoning and problem solving. The specific learning goals for each area can be found in the University Catalog. The General Education requirements can be satisfied in a minimum of 51 units.

Major

The major is the academic field in which the bachelor's degree is earned. Major requirements are usually a combination of specified courses and electives within the major. In addition, some majors may have experiential requirements such as field experience or internships.

Many freshmen begin their academic careers without having declared their major. The earlier the major is identified, however, the better choices students can make regarding the selection of classes. The Academic Advisement Center has an Undeclared Student Resource room in UH 124. For other useful information, visit the Undeclared Students page on this site.

Electives

A student must accumulate a minimum of 120 units to earn the bachelor's degree (some degree programs require higher totals). Some students choose to complete the requirements for a minor to gain those additional units while other students simply enjoy sampling courses from across the campus departments. General electives may be from the student's major department or other departments.

Relationship of General Education (GE) and Major Requirements

Courses offered by the department of the student's major may NOT be used to fulfill the unit requirements of GE areas B, C, D, E or Z. Some majors require that students take courses from other departments. If those courses appear on the list of approved GE courses, the student would then be allowed to "double count" the class for both the major and for GE. For example, Liberal Studies majors may take ENGL 341 (Children's Literature), an approved GE course. These students can use ENGL 341 to satisfy a requirement for the major AND for GE. An English major would not be allowed to use ENGL 341 to satisfy GE requirements.