Certain general requirements are common to all undergraduate curricula for Bachelor of Science degrees in Engineering. These are as follows:
A minimum total of 128 acceptable units is required to earn the Bachelor of Science in Engineering. Exceptions are: Aerospace Engineering, 130 units; Biomedical Engineering (Biochemical Engineering), 130 units; Biomedical/Electrical Engineering (combined major), 136 units; Biomedical/ Mechanical Engineering (combined major), 133 units; Chemical Engineering, 131 units; Chemical Engineering (Biochemical Engineering), 133 units; Chemical Engineering (Environmental Engineering), 134 units; Chemical Engineering (Petroleum Engineering), 135 units; Civil Engineering, 131 units; Civil Engineering (Building Science), 135 units; Civil Engineering (Environmental Engineering), 130 units; Computer Engineering and Computer Science, 132 units; Electrical Engineering, 135 units; Environmental Engineering, 132 units; Industrial and Systems Engineering, 131 units; Mechanical Engineering, 131 units; and Mechanical Engineering (Petroleum Engineering), 132 units.
Not more than four units may be physical education activity courses, provided the department allows it in the program.
Four units in the Expository Writing Program, Expository Writing 101 (or Expository Writing 111 for non-native speakers of English), are required, except for Electrical Engineering, Electrical Engineering (Computers), Computer Engineering and Computer Science, and Computer Science, which require Expository Writing 101 and 102 (or 111 and 112) (eight units). Expository Writing 101 and 102 (or 111 and 112) may not be taken Pass/No Pass.
Computer science majors must satisfy the composition skill level requirement in addition to taking Expository Writing 101 and 102 (or 111 and 112).
Students (except Computer Science majors) who receive a score of 600 or better on the verbal portion of the Scholastic Aptitude Test will be exempted from taking Expository Writing 101 and 102.
Sixteen units or more, including three semesters of calculus, are required.
Twelve units or more of biology, chemistry or physics are required.
Bachelor of Science degrees in engineering require a minimum of 20 units in the humanities and social sciences with Industrial and Systems Engineering requiring 16 units, exclusive of Freshman Writing courses.
This requirement is met with courses from the Areas of Study listed in the General Education Addendum and designated by a "g" following the course number. Engineering students will be required to complete three courses from the four categories listed below, each course chosen from a different category: a. Ethical Approaches; b. Literature or the Arts; c. Cultural Studies (American Public Life, Western Culture I or Western Culture II, or Non-Western Cultures); d. Empirical Approaches. Courses from the Natural World category may not be used to satisfy this requirement.
In addition to the above requirement in the Areas of Study, every engineering student must complete a Depth of Exposure requirement. This requirement is met by completing a course that (1) is in the same academic department as one "g" course previously completed; (2) is at the 300 or 400 level; and (3) is offered either by the Division of Social Sciences or the Division of Humanities in the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, or is itself a "g" course.
In addition to the Areas of Study and Depth of Exposure requirements, an additional course must be taken which is either (1) another Depth of Exposure course from a different department, or (2) a "g" course in the remaining unselected Area of Study. In no case may a student count more than two courses from any one department to fulfill the general education requirements.
Specific courses in the humanities/social sciences are required by some departments in the School of Engineering. See departmental listings. An engineering major may take one humanities/social sciences course per semester up to a maximum of 12 units on a Pass/No Pass grading standard.
All students must pass one course from the list of courses approved to meet the standard diversity requirement. The courses carry the "m" designation for multiculturalism. Those courses which have both the "g" and "m" designations may fulfill both the diversity requirement and a general education area of study requirement.
After the completion of 64 college-level units applicable to the undergraduate degree, no more than 16 additional units may be allowed for transfer credit. The university will not deviate from this policy. The School of Engineering requires that all students complete in residence at USC at least one-half of the upper division units used to establish the major.
For graduation with a bachelor's degree, a grade point average of C (2.0) or higher is required in all upper division courses taken in the major department including any approved substitutes for these courses taken at USC. Additional scholarship requirements for the various majors are listed under the departmental headings.
A grade point average of at least 2.0 is required on all course work attempted at USC.
Transfer students must meet these averages, both on residence work attempted and on combined transferred and residence courses attempted.
A student whose cumulative scholarship average is 2.0 or higher but whose major GPA falls below 2.0 is on academic warning.
A student whose cumulative scholarship average falls below 2.0 is on academic probation. Continued enrollment requires clearance from an academic review counselor and the student's department.
Students on academic probation who do not raise their overall GPA to 2.0 after two semesters of enrollment will be academically disqualified. However, if a student earns a minimum semester GPA of 2.3 in the second and any subsequent probation semester but has not yet reached the overall 2.0 GPA, the student will not be disqualified and will be allowed to enroll for an additional semester.
Consult the Engineering Student Affairs office for information concerning the rules and procedures for readmission and retention in the engineering major.
Engineering students are able to significantly enhance their on-campus academic experience through participation in the Engineering Cooperative Education Program. Students alternate periods of on-campus study with periods of learning off-campus within industry, having at graduation a one-year cumulative work experience. Though the sequence may vary, students typically have two summer work experiences in addition to at least one semester immediately preceding or following one of the summer work assignments.
The students' work assignments are closely related to their specific degree program and appropriate to their current academic level. Coordination of the required curriculum within each student's specific major will be completed prior to the start of the program to insure the proper integration of the on-campus curriculum and the off-campus industry experience, and to insure the fulfillment of all degree requirements without unnecessary delay. While on a co-op assignment, students enroll in a 1-2 unit course, ENGR 395 Cooperative Education Work Experience, to aid in the integration of both on-campus and off-campus learning and to maintain their student status on campus. With departmental approval, credit toward the degree may be earned upon completion of this course.
Through participation in this program, the student is able to:
* improve the understanding of theoretical approaches through hands-on experience in industry
* clearly define professional objectives
* facilitate the transition from academic to professional life.
Participation is open to all full-time undergraduate engineering majors, and students are usually eligible to apply for this program during the second semester of their sophomore year. In addition to the valuable educational experience obtained, for some families the income earned during the student's work period can aid in the financing of the student's engineering education.
Some of our co-op industry partners include: The Aerospace Corporation, NASA, Disney Imagineering, IBM, INTEL, Puget Power, The Reynolds Group, Textronix.
For more information about this program, contact the Engineering Student Affairs Office at (213) 740-4530.
A cooperative plan has been worked out with several liberal arts colleges nation-wide in which the student attends the liberal arts college for three years, pursuing certain pre-engineering courses in addition to a solid program in liberal arts. At the end of the three years, upon recommendation of the liberal arts college, a student enters the School of Engineering as a junior and in two additional years completes all requirements for the B.S. degree. Both the B.A. (from the original college) and B.S. in Engineering (from USC) are awarded at the end of the fifth year. Participants in the program benefit through greater depth and breadth within the liberal arts being added to the technical education gained through their engineering degree program. For more information or a listing of the schools involved in this program, contact the Engineering Student Affairs Office, (213) 740-4530.
Students are given the opportunity to participate in a six week summer academic program in Europe or Asia. The benefits of this program include a unique academic and cultural experience, as well as the opportunity to participate in a directed studies project and work with an engineering mentor from an international engineering firm. For additional information, contact the Engineering Student Affairs Office, (213) 740-4530.
Produced by the USC Division of Student Affairs, Office of University Publications, May 1, 1995