Undergraduate Degrees

Common Requirements
Certain general requirements are common to all undergraduate curricula for Bachelor of Science degrees in Engineering. These are as follows:

Total Units
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), 135 units; Chemical Engineering, 132 units; Chemical Engineering (Biochemical Engineering), 134 units; Chemical Engineering (Environmental Engineering), 135 units; Chemical Engineering (Petroleum Engineering), 136 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, 131 units; Environmental Engineering, 132 units; Industrial and Systems Engineering, 130 units; Mechanical Engineering, 133 units; and Mechanical Engineering (Petroleum Engineering), 133 units.
Not more than four units may be physical education activity courses, provided the department allows it in the program.

Composition (four units minimum)
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 670 or better on the verbal portion of the Scholastic Aptitude Test or an ACT English score of 30 will be exempted from taking Expository Writing 101 and 102.

Mathematics (16 units minimum)
Sixteen units or more, including three semesters of calculus, are required.

Basic Sciences (12 units minimum)
Twelve units or more of biology, chemistry or physics are required.

General Education Requirements
Engineering majors should follow the general education requirements for a Bachelor of Science from the School of Engineering. (See the General Education Requirements, or General Education Addendum.)
Computer Science majors must follow the general education requirements for a Bachelor of Science from the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. (See General Education Requirements, or the General Education Addendum.)

Units
Most engineering majors are required to complete a minimum of 20 units (5 courses) in addition to Expository Writing with the exception of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) 16 units, Civil Engineering (Building Science) and Civil Engineering (Environmental Engineering) 16 units, and Computer Science majors (see above).

Areas of Study
This requirement is met with courses from the Areas of Study and designated by a "g" following the course number. Engineering students are required to complete three courses from the four groups listed, each course chosen from a different group: (a) Ethical Approaches; (b) Empirical Approaches; (c) Literature or the Arts; (d) American Public Life, Western Culture I, Western Culture II, Non-Western Cultures.

Depth of Exposure
In addition to the Areas of Study, every engineering student must complete a Depth of Exposure requirement. This requirement is met by completing a course that is (1) in the same academic department as an earlier "g" course selected for general education; and (2) is itself a 300 or 400 level course. This upper division "depth" course must be offered in a department in the humanities or social sciences in the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences or must carry the "g" suffix.

Fifth 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 group.

Diversity
All students must pass one course from the list of courses approved to meet the diversity requirement. These courses carry an "m" designation for multiculturalism. Courses which have both the "g" and "m" designations may fulfill both the diversity and a general education area of study requirement.

General Education Restrictions for Engineering Majors
(1) Courses from the Natural World category may not be used to satisfy General Education requirements.
(2) In no case may a student count more than two courses from any one department to meet general education requirements.
(3) Only one general education course may be taken per semester on a Pass/No Pass grading standard. A maximum of 12 Pass/No Pass units may be counted toward general education requirements.
Specific general education courses are required by some departments in the School of Engineering. For further information please consult the academic department and Engineering Student Affairs, located in Olin Hall of Engineering 106, (213) 740-4530.

Residence Work
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.

Scholarship Requirement in Major Subject
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.

Grade Point Requirement
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.

Probation/Disqualification from Engineering as a Major

Probation and Warning
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.

Disqualification
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.

Readmission and Retention
Consult the dean's office for information concerning the rules and procedures for readmission and retention in the engineering major.

Special Educational Opportunities

Cooperative Education Program
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, Hughes Aircraft, NASA, Disney Imagineering, IBM, INTEL, Microsoft, CYRIX, Allied Signal.
For more information about this program, contact the Engineering Student Affairs Office at (213) 740-4530.

Three-Two Plan with Liberal Arts Colleges
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. Some liberal arts colleges grant the B.A. upon completion of the first four years of the program. 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.

Engineering Overseas Programs
Students are given the opportunity to participate in a six to eight 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.