The Penn State undergraduate degree includes General Education, major degree requirements, and other academic experiences such as minors, internships, and/or undergraduate research. All three components together help students develop a solid foundation upon which they build a breadth of skills as well as the depth of knowledge in a specific content area.
Connecting career and curiosity, the General Education curriculum provides the opportunity for students to acquire transferable skills necessary to be successful in the future and to thrive while living in interconnected contexts.
Requirements differ for each major and in each academic college. Generally, major requirements include prescribed courses that all students in the major take, additional courses that all students choose from a select list and supporting courses the students choose based on individual interests and goals. Students should work with an academic adviser to clearly understand the specific requirements of majors of interest. General Education requirements may be partially incorporated into the requirements of a program. In addition, Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Science (BS) degree requirements may differ. Students are encouraged to work with an academic adviser to identify which degree best meets their needs.
The ALEKS Math Assessment evaluates a student’s readiness to take college-level math and science courses. Since these courses are demanding, students need to begin with the course most likely to lead to success. Students will not be permitted to take a course unless they have demonstrated readiness – either through the ALEKS Math Assessment or by completing high school calculus. Students required to complete ALEKS will do so as part of completing their NSO Tasklist. Students wishing to retake ALEKS to improve their score may do so by using the learning modules within ALEKS. Students may retake the assessment up to two more times after using the learning modules (for a total of three attempts).
Students who have completed high school calculus but are concerned about their readiness to succeed in college-level mathematics and science courses are encouraged to take the ALEKS Math Assessment. They can use the additional information to make informed decisions in consultation with an academic adviser.
The student’s major choice often plays the most prominent role in determining the upper division campus. “Upper division” refers to the junior and senior years. Most students will choose their major in the spring of the sophomore year. Academic advisers and staff at each campus guide students in exploring majors based on the student’s goals and then plan the final two years at a campus where that major can be completed.
Students first become eligible to declare a major upon completion of at least 27.1 credits (typically at the end of two semesters) and achieving a minimum cumulative grade point average of a 2.00 and third-semester standing for entrance. While many majors can be started and completed at the original campus, others require the student to transition to another Commonwealth Campus or to the University Park campus. Therefore, the student’s major decision may drive the upper division campus choice.
At the time a student has successfully completed 43.1 credits (typically at the end of the third semester) the student is eligible for a change of campus for the junior year as determined by the major choice. Students will be notified by email when to both declare their major and initiate the change of campus as appropriate.
Depending on the college and major, a degree program may also include world language proficiency, internship experience, human diversity courses, and/or electives.