Electives allow students to reach beyond both the core competencies expected of every graduate and the narrow specialization of their field. A business major, for example, may find that an introductory course in medieval Japanese art opens up a whole new world of possibilities for international trade, leading to a lifelong association with Japan and its culture.
Electives allow students to see how the various branches of knowledge interact. Interdisciplinary connections between psychology, sociology and computer science, for example, lead to phenomena like social media websites.
Electives can also be structured in sequence to convey additional qualifications to potential employers. A minor in English, for example, gives an employer the sense that the job candidate for a position in the marketing department will have superior writing skills.
Electives are simply fun. Students need to pursue their individual intellectual interests, and electives are an excellent way to make progress toward graduation while satisfying this basic human drive to learn more about the world around us.