Follow the money. The cost per credit hour is the same regardless of what classes you take. That 500 person freshman CS (or engineering, or bio, or whatever)

Follow the money. The cost per credit hour is the same regardless of what classes you take. That 500 person freshman CS (or engineering, or bio, or whatever) class is a big money maker for the school compared to that 40 person capstone class. Schools want to make money so they pull out all the stops to freshman enrollment. The school doesn't care if students drop out because they already got their $$. The school doesn't care if students who can't hack CS switch majors because then they take more money making 100 level classes in their new major.