Double-Counting or Sharing Courses Between Programs

Students oftentimes will want or need to count a course toward degree requirements across multiple majors or minors. In general, lower-division courses can automatically share across major and minor programs. Double-counting upper-division courses, in contrast, must adhere to the Policy on “Double Counting” of Program Requirements outlined by the Committee on Educational Policy, and summarized in the Campus Navigator below:

[Students] may count courses for more than one major or minor, as long as each major includes 40 upper-division credits not used to satisfy the minimum upper-division credits of any other major or minor, and each minor includes at least 25 upper-division credits not used to satisfy the minimum upper-division credits of any other major or minor.

Course Double-Counting Eligibility

In order to double-count any credits, at least one of the academic plans the student is pursuing must require more than the minimum number of upper-division credits (40 credits for majors, 25 credits for minors). The program that requires credits in excess of the minimum may share the excess credits to meet the requirements, including the minimum credit requirement, of another program. For instance: If one major requires 50 upper-division credits, 10 of those credits may be double counted toward the requirements of other majors or minors.

Entering Double-Counted Courses in the DPR

The DPR does not automatically allow upper-division courses to be shared across academic plans. Students and advisors of the concerned programs should, therefore, discuss double-counting eligibility and coordinate the entry of double-counting exceptions in the DPR. Follow these general steps:

1. Discuss the plan with the major/minor advisor of the other academic plans(s). All programs must be in agreement on the double-counting allowance.
2. Each program must enter a course directive exception on the requirement that the double-counted course will fulfill, even if the course is already satisfying one of the requirements. Advisors from each program must enter a course directive in order to keep the course in place. If only one program enters the course directive, it will take the course away from the other program.
3. Communicate with the other program(s) once you have entered your exception and confirm the DPR is accurate after all exceptions have been made.
4. Check the Double Counting section located towards the end of the DPR to see a summary of the shared and unique upper-division courses used in each program.