A major consists of a set of courses within one department or one area of concentration totaling from twenty-two to forty-eight credit hours. A major may also consist of a set of prescribed courses from two or more departments totaling from twenty-two to forty-eight hours. With few exceptions, a major’s curriculum cannot require more than forty-eight of the 124 hours needed to graduate with one degree.

Some programs on campus may choose to offer concentrations within a major. Each major having two or more concentrations will have sixteen to thirty-six hours in common courses (otherwise known as major “core” courses) and twelve to twenty-four hours in distinct courses that differentiate each concentration within the major. The total hours required for these courses should fit within the forty-eight hours allotted to a major. Supportive courses may be required but must be drawn from disciplines that are distinct from the major discipline. It should be clear how these supportive courses are foundational to the major. 

Students can elect to earn more than forty-eight hours that could count toward a major. Students must take a minimum of twenty hours that are not used to satisfy core requirements and that cannot be used to satisfy requirements for a major (including all concentrations within a major), supportive courses, prerequisite courses or courses listed in the major department. These twenty hours may not include cross-listed courses which could count toward the major.

A student who transfers more than one half of the upper-division courses required in the field of his major must complete additional hours at or above the 300-level in this major as determined by the chairperson of the department concerned. The minimum residency requirement is sixty hours.