The Major & Minor

The Major

A student must complete five courses (15 credits) in his or her major. These courses usually define the broad area in which the student writes a dissertation and eventually works as a teacher and scholar. The courses taken to satisfy this requirement must be approved by the faculty, who may require additional courses to correct academic deficiencies.



Requirements for a major are formulated by the department responsible for the major, with the approval of the Program Director and the Coordinating Committee. Information on these requirements and on the faculty for each major are provided on the major's web page.

The Minor

Three courses (9 credits) must be completed in a minor designed to support the work in the major. The minor must be approved by the faculty in the major area, but it normally consists of courses outside the department housing the major. Exceptions are Finance and Information Technology. Finance majors often minor in Applied Economics, which is also housed in the Department of Finance and Economics. Majors in Information Technology normally pursue their minor in the department responsible for their major; majors in Accounting Information Systems minor in Accounting, majors in Information Technology minor in Computer Science or Management Science.