How to choose electives (ME Electives, Technical Electives, and Gen Eds)

PLEASE NOTE: this applies to students who entered the School of Mechanical Engineering FALL 2025 OR AFTER. If you entered BEFORE Fall 2025, please see your respective lists of ME Electives, Tech Electives, and Gen Eds.

As part of the ME Plan of Study, you have the options to choose elective courses that you are interested in. There are three categories, and your Plan of Study requires a certain number of each one. Here's how to choose the electives that are right for you.

Mechanical Engineering Electives

Your plan of study requires nine credit hours of Mechanical Engineering electives, usually taken in your later semesters. ME electives are any non-required 300-, 400-, or 500-level course offered by the Purdue University School of Mechanical Engineering. Check the course catalog to see what ME electives are being offered in your chosen semester.

Technical Electives

Your plan of study requires nine credit hours of Technical Electives, usually taken in your later semesters. Technical Electives (TEs) are any course, 200-level or above, offered by Purdue University in the College of Engineering, the College of Science, and the Purdue Polytechnic Institute. ME courses qualify as Tech Electives, but if you use one to apply to your core degree, you cannot use it as a Tech Elective.

  • Technical Electives cannot be duplicates of other courses taken as part of the BSME degree.

General Education Electives

General Education Electives (Gen Eds) are any course offered by Purdue University outside of the College of Engineering, the College of Science, and the Purdue Polytechnic Institute. Students are required to take 18 credit hours of Gen Eds.

  • The 18 credit hours of Gen Eds must include an Economics Elective (ECON 251 Microeconomics or ECON 252 Macroeconomics) and a World Affairs and Cultures (WAC) Elective (see approved list).
  • No more than 12 credit hours of Gen Eds can be taken in one department.
  • At least 6 credit hours must be upper-level Gen Eds, meaning they are at the 300-level or above, or at the 100- or 200-level with a required prerequisite in the same department.