Once upon a time, midshipmen took a so-called “core curriculum” that led to every graduating midshipman earning a Bachelor of Science of degree. The school was founded in 1845, and the majors program started in 1969, when it required the Class of 1972 to complete a major in order to graduate. Qualifying midshipmen in the 1969 graduating class that year received the first designated engineering degrees, which were aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, naval engineering and systems engineering.
