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<p>Well, Michigan for example offers a “general studies” alternative to a conventional major, essentially an open curriculum but with a requirement that a certain number of course be “upper division” (advanced) courses so you can’t just skate through taking all intro courses. Students electing this option don’t need to meet the standard distribution, foreign language, and concentration requirements.</p>
<p>As for phys ed, it’s not required at Michigan or a lot of other publics, and it is required at some privates. That’s not a public/private thing, it’s entirely the school’s decision and the legislature has nothing to say about it in any state that I’m familiar with.</p>