6,051: Curricula-Definition of Minor Programs of Study

Last Revised: June 2009

Undergraduate Minor Program of Study:

A minor program of study is generally offered by a department or interdisciplinary program. The purpose of these minor programs is to designate a set of courses to provide some degree of content mastery in an area of academic specialization that will complement the student's academic major.

All undergraduate minor programs shall include a minimum of 18 credits, of which no fewer than nine shall be upper division (300 400) level credits. When prerequisites are included an undergraduate minor should require no more than 30 credits of course work.

All undergraduate minors should have both a foundational component (required body of knowledge or core experience) and a breadth component with a minimum of three credits in each component.

Any department offering an approved academic major or any organized interdisciplinary committee or board may propose an academic undergraduate minor program of study for consideration through regular procedures for curriculum approval (see section 6,030). All interdisciplinary minor programs shall be submitted through the Provost's Office. Proposals for changes in or elimination of existing minor programs of study shall also be submitted through the curriculum review process as described in section 6,030.

GPA Requirements for Undergraduate Minor Program of Study:

A student must achieve a grade point average (GPA) of at least a 2.0 in the courses of a minor program of study to successfully complete a minor. A department may require a higher minimum GPA within the courses of the minor program of study and/or a minimum grade requirement for individual courses of the minor. A department offering a minor may not impose additional requirements for successful completion of the minor.

To establish a minimum GPA for a minor or a minimum grade requirement for individual courses in the minor, a department must receive approval through the curriculum review process as described in section 6,030.

Graduate Minor Program of Study:

For those students at the master's level with a major-minor program of study, in a thesis program, at least 12 of the 24 graduate credits must be in a major field and at least six credits in a minor field; the minor may be a different department, or it may be a second division of the major department. The minor department has the responsibility for approving the candidate's minor program. In a non-thesis program, at least 15 of the 32 graduate credits must be in a major field with at least eight credits in a minor field.