Bob Jones University will be expanding academic options in the fall of 2017 by enabling students to double major or minor and by offering a new major called interdisciplinary studies.
Dr. Doug Garland, who works in the Office of Planning, Research and Assessment, said these plans will be extremely beneficial to many students and their futures.
“Essentially what we are trying to do is make our curriculum more accessible to students and give them a lot more options as to how they can shape their degree programs and what they want to study,” Garland said.
Students will be able to combine two majors of the same degree type into one major.
For example, a bachelor of arts in English and a bachelor of arts in history will be able to be put together.
When students with a double major graduate, they will have one diploma but their transcript will list both majors.
Those who wish to graduate with two majors in different degree types will be able to do so through the dual degree program.
For example, a student could graduate with a degree in Communication, BA and Accounting, BS.
Graduates who are part of the dual degree program will graduate with two separate diplomas.
For both the double major and the dual major, students must choose majors with 30 unique credits that do not overlap.
Double minors will also be an option starting next fall with each minor requiring 18 unique credits.
The third major program is called interdisciplinary studies—which will be a completely new major.
Garland said this is a very popular major in other colleges, and it involves combining two or three disciplines to reach a very specific goal.
“There are almost limitless possibilities as to what students can do with this,” Garland said.
As an example, Garland said students who wish to work with terminally-ill children may apply to combine health sciences, counseling and education into a single major. Or students who want to write music software can apply to combine music and computer science or information technologies into one degree.
Students who wish to become an interdisciplinary studies major must apply. To apply, students must be at least a second-semester freshman, have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and have specific goals in mind of a job or ministry that they want to pursue.
When students graduate from this program, they will receive one diploma that states they majored in interdisciplinary studies.
BJU will also offer a biblical studies minor. This minor requires all the BJU required core Bible classes and one additional two- or three-credit Bible class.
“Most people have enough electives where they can [add one more two- or three-credit Bible class] without a lot of difficulty,” Garland said. “So essentially you can add a minor to your transcript by taking one course. That seems to be kind of a no-brainer.”
Students who wish to change their major or minor will need to complete a major/minor change through StudentCentral.
