This list is intended for use by students who have already accumulated a significant number of credit hours and are re-deciding on a major.
Students ask us University Exploration advisors this question frequently. Of course, the answer depends on a great deal of factors: what type of coursework the student has taken before?, what is their GPA?, what are their interests?, etc.
But speaking generally, the major listed below are the majors at Ohio State that require the fewest credit hours to complete.
As you note the number of credit hours next to each major below, please keep in mind that these numbers are not official. Students should always consult the advisor for the major they are interested in. The number of credits listed below may not include certain Gen Ed, prerequisite or College requirements.
We've listed majors with 60 or fewer required hours. For a sense of what a "longer" major looks like in terms of credit hours, here are a few examples:
We've attempted to give you a sense of the amount of math, chemistry, physics and world languages that are required for a given major, as redeciding students who have not already completed these requirements may not consider these majors to be relatively short.
Students who are on the Legacy GE may find slightly different curricular requirements from those listed below.
For each major, in addition to credit hours required, we've included the course required by the major to fulfill the MQRDA Foundation category. (i.e. What level of math/stats is required for this major?)
The majors below are offered by the College of Arts and Sciences, which requires a World Language through the 1103 level. You can see the World Languages offered at Ohio State on this webpage from the Center for Languages, Literatures and Cultures.
* The majors below marked with an asterisk require World Language study beyond the 1103 level. Such majors will not be short for students who have not progressed in these languages given the sequential nature of the languages.
For each major, in addition to credit hours required, we've included the course required by the major to fulfill the MQRDA Foundation category. (i.e. What level of math/stats is required for this major?)
For each major below, we've included the number of credit hours required plus the level of math, chemistry and physics required for the major.