A Free Elective is defined as any graded course offered by any academic unit of the university (including research institutes such as the Robotics Institute and the Software Engineering Institute. A total of at least 51 units of Free Electives must be taken.
Substitutions of courses from other high-quality universities may be accepted through petition to the Associate Department Head or Undergraduate Advisor in consultation with the Undergraduate Education Committee. ROTC and Physical Education courses are not be counted toward meeting the total units requirement.
The large number of units without categorical constraints provides the student, in consultation with the Undergraduate Advisor, with the flexibility to design a rich educational program.