Minors

Current Policies

Effective Winter 2020 | Previous Policies

Students in the College may elect one or more minors offered by departments and programs within the College or by other academic units on campus. Electing to earn a minor is optional, and there is no limit to the number of minors a student may elect. 

A minor must require no fewer than 15 credits of course work, show structure and coherence, and contain some upper-level courses. At least nine out of the 15 credits must be taken in residence. Students who declare and complete an approved minor will receive a notation on their student transcript but not on their diploma.

Each A.B. or B.S. student who wishes to complete an approved minor must develop a plan for the minor in consultation with a department or program advisor, who must also approve it. Students from other Schools/Colleges must abide by LSA minor policies when enrolled in an LSA administered minor. 

1. After developing a plan with the student, the program or department advisor has the minor entered on the student's record.
2. A minor is not an option available to students earning the B.G.S. degree.
3. An individually designed minor is not allowed.
4. Students may not elect the pass/fail grading option for courses included in a minor.
5. A department or program may include courses that are graded on a credit/no credit basis in a minor, but all other courses in the minor must be taken for a grade.
6. No course may be shared between the requirements of more than one minor.
7. No course may be shared between the requirements of a minor and a supplemental studies program.
8. A maximum of one course may be shared between the requirements of a minor and a major.
   • If a student has more than one major, the shared minor course can be different for each major (course "A" with the first major, course "B" with the second major, etc.). It's also acceptable for students to share the same course in their minor with multiple majors (course "A" with the first and the second major).
     
9. If the minor has prerequisites, courses used as prerequisites to a major may also count as prerequisites to the minor.
10. Test credits may not be used to meet the requirements of a minor, but they may be used to meet prerequisites.
11. Courses elected to meet the requirements of a minor may also be part of the student's area distribution plan.
12. A student must earn an overall GPA of at least 2.0 in the minor, including any departmental prerequisites necessary for the completion of the minor.
13. Courses that are part of a student's minor may also meet the Language Requirement, the Upper-Level Writing Requirement, the Race and Ethnicity Requirement, or the Quantitative Reasoning Requirement.
14. Students may not add, complete, or declare a minor after graduation. Students are, however, permitted to use the credits earned towards a minor in the completion of an additional major after graduation. Upon completion of this additional major, the minor will be removed from the student’s transcript and be replaced by the major.