Student-Designed Majors/Minors

Allegheny offers qualifying students the opportunity to design a major or minor that differs from the standard offerings. These programs must be comparable in academic rigor and integrity to a conventional major or minor and must offer sufficient depth in a subject area.

Student-designed majors are typically interdisciplinary and must be cohesive and integrated. Students must have a semester GPA of 3.0 or above for the two semesters preceding the submission of the Student-Designed Major Application, which must be submitted by the end of the 7th week of their 5th semester at Allegheny. The major must include at least 50 credits of coursework that includes a Junior Seminar, a Senior Project, and at least as much upper-level coursework as in a conventional major. Completed applications should be submitted to the Registrar’s Office. The faculty advisors for the student-designed major must also provide an evaluation letter for the proposed program. All student-designed majors must be approved by the Curriculum Committee. The Committee’s review process is rigorous, and approval is not guaranteed; careful attention to the requirements for student-designed majors when preparing a proposal will improve the odds of success.

Student-designed minors must include at least 24 credits of coursework, including at least one course at the 300-level or above. Students should submit the Student-Designed Minor Application Form to the Registrar’s Office no later than the end of their sixth semester at Allegheny. All student-designed minors must be approved by the Curriculum Committee; careful attention to the requirements for student-designed minors when preparing a proposal will improve the odds of success.