Major

A major or a degree is an area of academic study in The Sims 2: University, The Sims 3: University Life and The Sims 4: Discover University.

The Sims 2: University
The Sims 2: University requires young adults to declare a major at college before their Junior year (3rd year). Majors can be declared by using the phone or computer (under the college menu), but Sims will not do this autonomously. Sims who have not declared a major before the end of their Sophomore year will automatically be enrolled in the Philosophy major when they become Juniors. Sims cannot have more than one major, but can change their major at any time before the end of their Junior year.

All majors have one class per semester. While classes normally last two hours, each major has one or two classes that last for three. All majors have a mixture of morning, afternoon, and evening/night classes.

Each major requires different skills that complement specific career tracks. Each major is associated with certain specific career tracks. If a Sim who graduated with honors enters a career track related to his or her major, he or she will get a bonus of 1, 2, or 3 levels. (+1 for Cum Laude, +2 for Magna Cum Laude, +3 for Summa Cum Laude).

Sims who have not declared a major may roll a want to declare one. This is a 2500-point want, so while players can ignore it, it is a good way to give a Sim's aspiration bar a quick boost. These Sims may also roll fears of declaring certain majors. Which majors, if any, a Sim wants or fears will usually depend on his or her aspiration, personality, and skills. For example, Fortune Sims are likely to want to declare Economics. A Sim who has a secondary aspiration may also roll a want to declare a major related to it.

The Sims 3: University Life
Majors returned in The Sims 3: University Life. The number of majors available is lower than in The Sims 2: University, with a grand total of six. The six majors are Business, Communications, Fine Arts, Physical Education, Science and Medicine, and Technology.

Each major will help a Sim start jobs at a higher level, earn more pay, get career bonuses more frequently, and earn career experience faster. Each career is associated with a major. For example, the Journalism career will benefit from Communications major. The list of associated career is shown on the table below. It's important to know that a Sim's final grade is what determines his or her success in the career:
 * Earning an A allows Sims to enter a career at level 4 with +150% pay raise and +100% performance boost.
 * Earning a B allows Sims to enter a career at level 3 with +75% pay raise and performance boost.
 * Earning a C allows Sims to enter a career at level 2 with +50% pay raise and performance boost.
 * Earning a D grants Sims with +25% pay raise and performance boost.

Sims can enroll in university through a phone, a computer, or school. Sims can take the Sims University aptitude test from the university welcome kit, dropped off by a university mascot or bought from the Buy mode. Taking an aptitude test may grant scholarships and free credits for Sims based on their skills and career experience. Upon enrolling, an enrollment screen will pop up. In this screen, the players can choose which Sims will attend university. The players can also see the scholarships earned through the aptitude test and select the degree for Sims to work for. After picking a degree, the players can set the number of credits Sims will take. More credits means more classes to take and enables Sims to earn degree faster, but Sims will get less free time. The players can choose to take one or two terms; each term being a week long.

A Sim may take up to 3 classes per term. All classes last 2 hours, start at either 8 AM, noon, or 4 PM, and meet Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each major will have a 2-hour class activity and a 2-hour lecture; one of these will be scheduled for Tuesday, and the other for Thursday. Final exams are scheduled each Friday. Not attending the final exam will severely damage the academic performance.

The Sims 4: Discover University
Degrees are a main feature of The Sims 4: Discover University. There are thirteen degrees in total, and all of them are available at both the University of Britechester and Foxbury Institute. However, each campus specializes in a certain subset of majors, known as "distinguished degrees". Any Sim can enroll in a normal degree, but distinguished degrees are reserved for Sims who already have some of the degree's required skills. Sims can take up to four classes a semester for each degree. If they take three classes or fewer, they can also sign up for an elective class, which teaches them a skill not covered by their degree.

The University of Britechester's distinguished degrees are Art History, Culinary Arts, Drama, Fine Art, History, Language and Literature, and Communications; and Foxbury Institute's distinguished degrees are Biology, Computer Science, Economics, Physics, Psychology and Villainy.

Every full-time, paid career has at least one associated degree; however, some careers have only one branch that benefits from a degree. For example, there are no degrees associated with the mixologist branch of the culinary career, but the chef branch benefits from a culinary arts degree.

Classes
Lectures (and final exams) take place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, seminars (requiring term paper/presentation) on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Elective classes
A feature new to the series in The Sims 4: Discover University are elective classes. They are side classes that Sims can choose to study alongside their degree that helps them to build up one associated skill. They are assessed the same way as the degree classes, and count towards the 12 credits sims need to graduate. A sim can only have one elective class per term, and cannot choose an elective class if they have already chosen four traditional degree classes that term. There is one elective class for every non-hidden skill in the game. An elective class for a particular skill will only be available if the player has that skill's associated content pack installed. For example, players without The Sims 4: Seasons will not have elective classes in flower arranging available, because that skill is part of the pack.

Elective classes are useful if a sim wishes to build a skill that is not included in the base game or Discover University, but would make sense for the degree they are studying. For example, a sim studying Drama without any elective classes can only build the charisma and comedy skills, because the acting skill is exclusive to The Sims 4: Get Famous. With elective classes, a sim studying Drama can choose an acting elective class alongside their degree to build the acting skill.

Trivia

 * The Sims 3: University Life has the least number of majors/degrees in the series, with 6, whereas The Sims 4: Discover University has the most, with 13.