The ultimate goal of attending college is to graduate, ideally on time or even early.
Whether you are an incoming or current student, it is important you understand your undergraduate degree requirements and stay on track for graduation:
- You will need a minimum of 120 credits. These credits will be from a combination of General Education and major program courses. However, you may end up sharing one to three courses in your major with your GE requirements, so the 45 credit minimum can be reduced by as much as 9 credits, making the minimum 36 credits
- To graduate within four years, you should earn an average of 30 credits a year (minus any credits you transfer into Chapman).
- A full-time course load is 12 credits, and it is important to take at least this many per semester (to stay on track for graduation and retain financial aid awards).
- Most Chapman classes are 3 credits.
You can view all Undergraduate Degree Requirements in our Catalog. You can select the Catalog year that you entered to find the specific requirements applicable to you:
- 2023-24 Undergraduate Catalog
- 2022-23 Undergraduate Catalog
- 2021-22 Undergraduate Catalog
- 2020-21 Undergraduate Catalog
- 2019-20 Undergraduate Catalog
How do those 120 credits work?
In general, there are three categories of classes that you will need to take before graduation: major courses, General Education courses, and elective courses.
Major program requirements
Every major has its own requirements, which can include a combination of required courses and electives (where you must pick a course/courses from a selection of options).
For every major, you will need to take a certain number of required major credits to graduate with that degree. You can find the list of required courses and electives for your major program in the Chapman Catalog.
You can learn more about major requirements here.
General Education requirements: minors and more
Chapman’s General Education (GE) courses provide a broad base of knowledge that complements specialized learning in your major.
GE courses also allow you to discover and cultivate new interests. In fact, as part of the General Education process all students must add at least one of the following:
- A second major.
- A minor.
- A "Themed Inquiry."
You can learn more about our General Education Program here.
Electives
Each major requires a different number of credits to complete the degree. Depending on your major requirements and your GE courses, you might have room to take elective courses. These can be entirely up to you based on your interests, as long as you meet the prerequisites for the courses.
