Credits/class hours required for graduation

<p>Oh. Well, I don’t really know what counts as part of the “major” and what counts as…whatever the other classes would be. I’ve never heard anyone calculate things like that and it’s not like some schools where you can show up and take whatever for 2 years, and then pick a major. The final number differs for all majors but it’s usually somewhere around 185 for 4-year programs. How many electives you have to take and what kind is different for every major. </p>

<p>If you’re just talking about the classes that are in the major’s specific department, there’s a minimum of 21 of them/63 credits…but that gets you nowhere near being able to graduate with that major. Out of the classes, 8 are suppose to be general electives, 8 are specific kinds of electives (ie you have to take at least 1 history class, one literature class, and so on), 4 are university-wide composition/seminar requirements, and 3 are specific math/science classes. That leaves 37 or 40, depending on how you count the math/science classes. I needed 9 classes for my minor.</p>

<p>Most Cal States–120 for a BA, 125 for a BS, 130 for engineering or nursing.</p>

<p>Of course, these are the bare minimums, and you will be encouraged to take many electives. They aim for a 15 credit hour load on average for each student, with engineering and nursing students usually taking close to 20.</p>