Parents and Family Members

In addition to the University Studies Summer Advising and Course Registration Timeline and VT’s New Student Checklist, you and your student should also be aware of the University Academic Calendar for important dates and deadlines throughout the year.

University Studies is historically the largest undecided/exploratory major at Virginia Tech. With a rich history of helping students find their major, we are the only office on campus that can advise ANY major at the institution. We help students create a plan to succeed and graduate on time. Additional features of University Studies include:

• Smaller advising caseloads, which means more time for your student to meet with their advisor.
• We host our own First Year Experience course, UNIV 1824 (3-credit hours) to help students find their major.
• We manage our own Living Learning Community called VIA!

• If a parent or family member calls University Studies to find out more information specifically about advising from our office, then we must ask for a FERPA passcode. FERPA is the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act which gives students the right to say who can or cannot access their academic information in college.
  
• The FERPA passcode is an 8-character passcode created by the student through Hokie Spa [Hokie Spa Tab>FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act Disclosure.)]
• Your student will be responsible for creating a FERPA code and sharing it. To comply with FERPA, family members must provide a FERPA passcode with each information request (phone, email, in-person).
• University Studies advisors can share general policies and university information without a FERPA passcode, but the passcode will be required for specific student information. Please note that academic advisors do NOT have access to student grades.

• This answer depends on what major your student wants to pursue. Is it a restricted or non-restricted major (see the next question for more information about different types of majors). Typically, students can apply to change into a non-restricted major as early as December after their first semester, but students are allowed to stay in University Studies longer. Students pursuing a restricted major typically stay with University Studies for around 1 year and then attempt to change their major.
• All students must change their major out of University Studies by the time they reach 60 earned credit hours or 72 attempted credit hours. We suggest students change out of University Studies by the time they reach 30-45 earned credit hours to be on-pace for graduating on time. Students usually earn around 15 credit hours each semester, so around 30 credit hours each year in college. If your student starts at VT without any transfer credit, they would reach 60 credit hours at the end of their sophomore year.

• Restricted majors are popular majors at Virginia Tech that have a requirement for admission. There is no guarantee of admission to a restricted major and each major has slightly different requirements. See the restricted major chart for more information and/or have your student speak with an advisor during their Advising and Registration meeting for more information. It is important for students pursuing a restricted major to be familiar with the entry requirements for that major as soon as possible. Some courses for restricted majors may not be available until spring or summer.
• Any major not included on the restricted major chart is a non-restricted major, which includes the majority of majors at VT. There are no specific requirements that must be completed before students can change into these majors and students can switch into these majors after they have finished their first semester of classes.

Pathways to General Education is the general education curriculum at Virginia Tech. Each student, regardless of their major, must complete a certain number of credit hours toward each of the 7 Concept areas in Pathways to General Education. Some majors suggest specific courses a student should take in general education and others give students the freedom to choose any approved courses. Find more information about Pathways to General Education in this video.

Pathways to Success (UNIV 1824) is a 3-credit hour, first-year experience course for University Studies majors. This course formalizes and helps students structure their major exploration process. The course is HIGHLY recommended for incoming undecided students during their first semester. It is designed to establish fundamental knowledge and skills that facilitate success not only during college, but also for the rest of students' lives.