FREE ELECTIVES
All students completing a degree in the College of Arts and Sciences are required to have 120 total hours
with 48 hours at the 3000/4000 level. Free electives are used to meet the 120 total hour, and 48 upper
level hour requirements. You need as many free electives it takes to reach these totals.
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Your free electives DO NOT have to be from your major. We suggest exploring another
discipline that you’re interested in.
Please note that the area on your Degree Evaluation indicating the number of free electives
is just an ESTIMATE. The actual number of free electives you need may vary from the
number stated on your Degree Evaluation.
o Please calculate your free electives by following these directions or ask your advisor
to do it for you.
o Please verify that all transfer work has been received.
You can find your hours at the top of your Degree Evaluation. It should look like this:
Must be 48 credits
To calculate free electives:
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Must be 120 credits
(total earned hours + registered hours + remaining hours) – 120 = free electives
(total upper level earned hours + registered upper level hours + remaining upper level
hours) – 48 = upper level free electives
Example:
A student has 93 total hours with 25 upper level. She is registered for 12 hours over the fall (all upper
level) and 9 hours remaining to finish her major, minor, and Foreign Language, however only 5 of these
are at the 3000/4000 level. How many free electives will they need to graduate? And how many at the
upper level?
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(93 + 12 +9) – 120 = -6
o She will need 6 hours of free electives to meet the 120 hour requirement.
(25 + 12 + 5) – 48 = -6
o All 6 hours of free elective must be at the 3000/4000 level to meet the 48 upper
level requirement