Degree Requirements
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:
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General Education |
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Major |
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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 category
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 categories III and
IV. 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.
Click here for possible GE "double counts" with the various majors.
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