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Office of the University Registrar

2005-06 Undergraduate Catalog

Declaring a Major

It is the university’s goal to help students find majors that match their talents and interests. Students are encouraged to declare a major upon entering UF as freshmen. Entering students who are considering several majors should declare the major they feel they are most likely to pursue. Even if students feel confident about their initial choice of major, they are encouraged to explore other majors by taking courses in other areas of interest.

First-year students with no major preference can declare one of three exploratory categories: Humanities and Letters, Social and Behavioral Sciences, or Science and Engineering for the first three fall/spring terms.

Students are affiliated with the college that offers their desired major, allowing UF to provide the most appropriate advising toward the chosen degree. Exploratory students are affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Exploratory students must declare a major before they can register for their fourth fall/spring semester. In the first three terms, these students should explore potential majors by taking one or more of the critical-tracking courses for those majors.

Students may change majors provided they have college approval. Most of the courses taken early in students’ academic careers meet general requirements that all students must complete. Therefore, students who change majors in the first year usually progress toward graduation in a timely fashion.

The degree shopping feature in ISIS allows UF students to match their academic records to the degree requirements of any other major so that they can consider other degree options and determine what courses they would have to take if they were to change majors.