Transferring Credits to Fulfill General Electives

General electives provide the opportunity for students to develop an interest, to build or expand their expertise in a specific area, or to explore new avenues. All credit-bearing courses, with the exception of those required for the student’s degree or diploma program, that meet transfer credit requirements, can be general electives. Popular options include courses in business, computing, engineering, graphic design, liberal arts, certain dance, music history, and theater courses, and studio arts.

Students may complete their general electives on campus or through Berklee Online. Students may also complete their general elective credits through AP or CLEP exams, or by transferring courses from another institution, including through the ProArts Consortium. These credits may be completed before or after a student has started at Berklee and do not count towards the maximum number of liberal arts transfer credits allowed, as outlined in the previous section of this guide.

The number of general electives required for each major varies. Requirements for each major at the College can be found at berklee.edu/registrar/major-grids-search. Requirements for each degree program at the Conservatory can be found at berklee.edu/registrar/BCB/program-grids.