Courses in universities are divided into compulsory courses and elective courses. As the name implies, compulsory courses are compulsory courses, and elective courses are courses that you can choose freely whether to study or not. Elective courses can be divided into professional elective courses and general education courses. This university implements the credit system. In order to achieve the credits needed for graduation and get the diploma, it is not enough to study only the compulsory courses, so the university will offer certain courses for students to choose to complete the credits.

Compulsory courses are required by the school, which are generally the basic courses of mathematics and physics, and are set up for students to better understand the contents of specialized courses. Compulsory courses are like the foundation of a house. Only by studying hard and laying a good foundation can we not be ignorant in subsequent courses.

Elective courses are courses that you can choose freely, including both professional elective courses and public elective courses, also known as general education courses. Elective courses are generally to complete the credits required for graduation, or to make up for the lack of required knowledge. Specialized elective courses are generally required courses, because they supplement professional knowledge. In order to make students learn the knowledge of their chosen major well, schools generally require students to choose a certain number of elective courses in the corresponding categories.

General education courses are more free and broader, covering different categories of various disciplines. There are both literature-related and science-related courses, and some schools even offer some interesting courses, such as the elective course of climbing trees in Xiamen University. Students can choose interesting courses according to their hobbies and broaden their knowledge.

If compulsory courses are the foundation of architecture, then elective courses are colorful decorations in architecture. College students learn the corresponding subject knowledge through compulsory courses, get a better understanding of their own professional fields, and broaden their knowledge through elective courses, so that they can shine in their professional fields of interest and enrich campus life. The combination of the two makes college life colorful and desirable.