Independent Major A.B. or B.S

Major Check Sheet

A Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree with an Independent Major requires the following:

1. Application for Independent Major, available from the coordinator, must be completed before the student has earned 66 semester hours. This application also outlines the procedure to be followed for designing and declaring the independent major.
2. An interdisciplinary committee of three professors, including one designated as the principal advisor, must be assembled.
3. A curriculum must be designed with help from the committee. That curriculum must include the completion of the Elon Core Curriculum requirements.

An Independent major includes

• a minimum of 48 semester hours
• a minimum of 28 semester hours at the 300-400 level
• a capstone seminar
• a capstone interdisciplinary project
• a plan for assessing the completed major.

The independent major courses must come from at least three departments and no more than half may be from any one department. Upper-level courses taken to satisfy the requirements of an independent major will also satisfy the eight-hour Advanced Studies requirement when the independent major includes at least 12 hours of upper-level courses in three departments and at least two of the four areas listed under Studies in Arts and Sciences. Students completing an independent major, which designates an advanced COR seminar as the capstone seminar, must take another COR seminar to fulfill the Elon Core Curriculum requirements.

No more than four semester hours of independent study may be included. This will usually be used for completion of the capstone interdisciplinary project.