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Requirements for Entrance to a Major

  1. Any enrollment ceilings of the college or major must not have been reached (described in the Academic Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual, P-4).
  2. The student must meet entrance requirements of the college.
  3. The student must have earned a minimum of a C (2.00) cumulative grade-point average for all courses taken at the University.
  4. The student must satisfy any additional academic requirements that have been proposed by the college or major and approved by the dean of the college and the University Faculty Senate Committee on Curricular Affairs.

    When deemed academically appropriate, the dean of the college, with approval of the program faculty, may approve exceptions for individual students, provided that these exceptions do not result in a student who meets criteria 2, 3, and 4 (listed above) being denied entrance because of enrollment ceilings.
Entrance to major requirements for every Penn State major are listed on the Web. For additional information, contact the appropriate advising center at University Park or another Penn State location.

Deadline

The time for declaration of major varies among the colleges. However, before attaining fifth-semester classification, students enrolled in a college generally must gain entrance to a major in order to continue registration as degree candidates unless an exception has been granted.