For freshmen, the only course requirement mandated by the course registrar is one of the first-year seminar courses called Introduction to Liberal Arts which are usually limited to 16 students (and never more than 18) and shares a common focus on critical analysis and development of written and oral argument. Besides a first-year seminar course, the other 31 courses (usually four are taken per semester) required for graduation can be elected by the students themselves. Nevertheless, to complete their major, students must still adhere to departmental course requirements.