Bachelor's Degree Requirements

Our students pursue a major and choose two clusters that interest them rather than follow a complex group of general education or foundation requirements. Undergraduates develop their academic plans in close consultation with their assigned advisers and the professional advisers in the College Center for Advising Services.

The following are general degree requirements:

  • Eight semesters of approved coursework (normally 128 credits) with an average of "C" or better.
  • The primary writing requirement, normally WRT 105, with a grade of "C" or better.
  • A major in a specialized field within one of the three broad areas: humanities and arts; social sciences; natural sciences, mathematics and engineering, with an average of "C" or better.
  • cluster (an authorized set of three related courses), or a minor or major, in each of the other two areas, with an average of "C" or better. *

* Students in the professionally accredited engineering programs complete four or five humanities and social science courses, three of which must compose a cluster in one of these areas.

See the Rochester Curriculum page for more information about our "study what you love" philosophy.