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Bulletins

Majors and Minors Overview

A major is the field of study in which you specialize while earning your university degree. Often degree requirements include an appropriate minor study area to complement the major. Through its departments, CMU provides majors and minors in a wide variety of academic and professional disciplines. Interdepartmental and interdisciplinary majors and minors are also offered.

Requirements for majors and minors are listed in the individual departmental, interdepartmental, and interdisciplinary sections of this Bulletin. A major consists of at least thirty semester hours; a minor, at least twenty semester hours. The courses must be chosen subject to the approval of your advisor for that major or minor. Degree requirements detail which majors and minors are permitted on each degree. Central Michigan University credits included in majors and minors used to meet graduation requirements must average 2.0 or better. You should note, however, that some majors and minors have higher grade point requirements. Be sure to check the Admissions, Retention and Termination Standards for your major and/or minor.

Students need to officially declare their major by the time they earn 56 hours. When deciding on a major, you should contact the departmental office of that major to be assigned an advisor. (Example: history majors should contact the Department of History.) If you are majoring in an interdisciplinary or interdepartmental area or special program, contact any of the departments represented in the major. Your advisor will be authorized to officially declare your major electronically and add it to your student record. To be assigned a minor advisor and to officially declare a minor, you will follow the same procedures.

*A concentration is a distinct and specialized program of study within a student’s major. A minimum of twelve hours is required for an undergraduate concentration. All university-approved concentrations will be listed on the student’s transcript.

Policies Concerning Majors and Minors

The following policies concerning majors and minors may apply to your degree work at CMU.

B.S. in Ed. If you are following either the Elementary or Secondary Certificate under the Bachelor of Science in Education degree, the major and minor presented for certification must be in different subjects.

Non-Teaching. Under a non-teaching degree the minor may not have the same name as the major.

Courses fulfilling more than one requirement. Hours that are counted toward departmental majors and minors may also be counted as partial fulfillment of other departmental, interdisciplinary and/or interdepartmental major or minor requirements, provided that: a.) the student offers the required number of semester hours for graduation, and b.) no course is counted toward both a major and a minor with the same name.

Undergraduate Certificates. Students may not receive an Undergraduate Certificate with the same name as their major, minor, concentration or option OR due to the fact that the subset of courses is already on a student’s major, minor, concentration, or option.

Degree, major or minor from another Bulletin. Most students will complete requirements for graduation following the Bulletin in effect at the time of their initial registration. A Bulletin published after initial registration may be chosen by the student when it is to his or her advantage. However, no student may graduate under the requirements of a Bulletin published more than seven calendar years prior to the date of the student’s graduation. Students following a program that leads to teacher certification have different limitations and should consult the section in this Bulletin titled Standards Leading to Teacher Certification. An undergraduate student completing graduation and degree requirements on a degree program appearing in any CMU Bulletin may elect either majors or minors on that same degree in a subsequent CMU Bulletin. This option is available when declared with an appropriate departmental advisor at the time a major or minor is declared.

Additional major or minor. In addition to satisfying major and minor requirements, you may declare an additional major or minor listed in the Bulletin even if it is not listed as acceptable for your chosen degree. Upon completion of your degree and graduation requirements the additional major or minor, if successfully completed, will be recorded.

Undergraduate Subtitled Courses. Credit earned in undergraduate courses titled Studies, Topics, Issues, or Workshops (including Special, Advanced, or Selected) may not constitute more than 50 percent of an undergraduate major or minor. Graduate and undergraduate courses that are subject to limitation under the policy on unspecified content or variable credit are listed in each department.

Majors and Minors Chart

The following chart identifies available majors and minors at CMU and lists the degree program(s) to which the majors may be applied. The chart indicates teaching and non-teaching majors and minors based on the degree earned; e.g., if you want to teach, teaching certification is usually pursued on the B.S. in Ed. degree. There are, however, several degrees (B.A., B.S., or B.A.A.) that allow you to earn teaching certification for those majors and minors that indicate certification is available. Consult your departmental advisor.

Sometimes majors or minors are not listed under the titles for which you are searching. For example, there is a Physical Education major for students who want teaching certification and a Sport Management major for those who want physical education studies without teaching certification. Students of speech-language pathology need to look under communication sciences and disorders. Students pursuing studies in hotel and restaurant management want the Hospitality Services Administration major. The music department offers a variety of specialties, but each is studied under the Music major. If you can’t find a particular major or minor on this chart by name, see the Colleges and Departments link in this bulletin to see if there is a department that offers a program in which you are interested.

To find the degree and graduation requirements for any specific major or minor listed below, consult the department sections. Direct your questions concerning any major or minor to the appropriate department

Note: Some minors are offered via Global Campus/CMU Online.

Major or Minor Major Minor
(*offers concentrations) (and applicable degrees) May not be available on all degrees or locations Please check degree pages to find where minor is applicable and discuss your choice with your major advisor.
Accounting Yes (BSBA) Yes
Actuarial Science Yes (BA; BS) No
Administration* Yes (BAA; BS) (Global Campus/CMU Online only) No
Advertising Yes (BA; BS) Yes
American Sign Language No Yes
Anthropology Yes (BA; BS) Yes
Applied Business Communication No Yes
Art * See also Visual Arts Education Yes (BAA; BFA) Yes
Art History Yes (BA) Yes
Athletic Coaching No Yes
Athletic Training Yes (BSAT) No
Biochemistry Yes (BA; BS) No
Biology (Teaching) Yes (BSEd: Secondary) Yes
Biology* Yes (BA, BS) Yes
Broadcast & Cinematic Arts Yes (BA; BAA; BS) Yes
Business Administration (See General Business or International Business) Yes
Chemistry Yes (BA; BS; BSEd: Secondary) Yes
Child Development Yes (BA; BAA; BS) Yes
Cinema Studies No Yes
Communication Yes (BA; BAA; BS) Yes
Communication Sciences and Disorders Yes (BAA; BS) Yes
Community Development* Yes (B.S. w/ Opt. in Comm. Dev.) (Also via Global Campus/CMU Online) No
Community Health No Yes
Computer Engineering Yes (BSCmpE) No
Computer Science Yes (BA; BS) Yes
Cultural and Global Studies Yes (BA; BS) Yes
Dance No Yes
Dietetics Yes (BA; BS) No
Early Childhood Development and Learning Yes (BSED: Elementary; BA; BAA; BS) (Also offered via CMU Online) Yes
Earth Science Yes (BSEd: Secondary) Yes
Economics Yes (BA; BS; BSBA) Yes
Electrical Engineering Yes (BSEE) No
Electronic Media Sales No Yes
English Yes (BSEd: Secondary) Yes
English Literatures, Language, and Writing Yes (BA, BS) No
English as a Second Language No Yes
Entrepreneurship Yes (BAA) Yes
Environmental Health and Safety Yes (BA, BS) No
Environmental Science Yes (BS) Yes
Environmental Studies Yes (BA; BS) No
Ethics, Values, and Society No Yes
Event Management No Yes
Exercise Science Yes (BA, BAA, BS) No
Family Studies Yes (BA; BAA; BS) Yes
Fashion Merchandising and Design* Yes (BA; BAA; BS) (Some concentrations available via CMU Online) No
Fashion Design No Yes
Finance Yes (BSBA) Yes
French Yes (BA; BS) Yes
General Business Administration * Yes (BSBA) No
General Management Yes (BSBA) Yes
Geographic Information Sciences No Yes
Geography * Yes (BA; BS) Yes
Geology Yes (BA; BS) Yes
German Yes (BA; BS) Yes
 Gerontology No On Hiatus
Health Administration Yes (BAA; BS) No
Health Communication No Yes
Health Fitness No Yes
History Yes (BA; BS; BSEd: Secondary) Yes
Hospitality Services Administration* Yes (BSBA) Yes
Human Resource Management Yes (BSBA) No
Hydrogeology/Environmental Geology No Yes
Individualized Studies Yes (BIS) No
Industrial Engineering Technology Yes No
Industrial Technology No Yes
Information Systems Yes (BSBA) Yes
Information Technology Yes (BA; BS) Yes
Integrated Leadership Studies Yes (B.S.) (only via Global Campus/CMU Online) No
Integrated Science Yes (BSEd: Elementary or Secondary) (Also via Global Campus) Yes
Integrative Public Relations Yes (BA; BAA; BS) No
Interior Design Yes (BA; BAA; BS) Yes
International Business Yes (BSBA) No
Internat’l Business & Sustainable Development No On Hiatus
International Relations Yes (BA, BS) (Also offered via Global Campus/CMU Online) No
Journalism* (see also Photojournalism) Yes (BA; BS) Yes
Language Arts Yes (BSEd: Elementary) Yes
Law and Economics Yes (BA; BS; BSBA) No
Leadership No Yes
Legal Studies No Yes
Logistics Management Yes (BSBA) No
Management (See General Mgt. or Human Resource Mgt.) Yes
Marketing * Yes (BSBA) Yes
Mathematics* Yes (BA; BS; BSEd: Elementary, Secondary) Yes
Mechanical Engineering Yes (BSME) No
Mechanical Engineering Technology Yes (BSET) No
Meteorology Yes (BS) No
Military Science No Yes
Multimedia Design No Yes
Museum Studies No Yes
Music * Yes (BA; BS; BMus; BMusEd) Yes
Music Theatre Yes (BFA) No
Neuroscience Yes (BS) No
Nutrition No Yes
Outdoor and Environmental Education No Yes
Personal Financial Planning Yes (BSBA) No
Philosophy Yes (BA; BS) Yes
Photojournalism Yes (BA; BS) No
Physical Activity Specialist Yes (BA; BS; BAA) No
Physical Education Yes (BSEd: Secondary) Yes
Physics * Yes (BA; BS; BSEd: Secondary) Yes
Political Science Yes (BA; BS) (Also offered via Global Campus/CMU Online) Yes
Product Design Engineering Technology Yes (BSET) (Also offered via Global Campus) No
Professional Sales No Yes
Psychology Yes (BA; BS) (Also offered via Global Campus/CMU Online) Yes
Public Administration No Yes
Public Affairs No Yes
Public and Nonprofit Administration Yes (Also offered via Global Campus/CMU Online) No
Public Health Education Yes (BA, BAA, BS) No
Public History Yes (BA, BS) No
Purchasing & Supply Management Yes (BSBA) No
Reading in Elementary Grades No Yes
Real Estate: Development and Finance Yes (BSBA) Yes
Recreation * Yes (BA; BAA; BS) Yes
Religion Yes (BA; BS) Yes
School Health Education Yes (BSEd: Secondary) Yes
Science (see also Integrated Science) No Yes
Social Science Yes (BA; BS) No
Social Studies* Yes (BSEd: Elementary, Secondary) No
Social Work Yes (BSW) No
Sociology * Yes (BA; BS) Yes
Spanish Yes (BA; BS) Yes
Special Education: Teachers of Students w/ Emotional Impairment Yes (BSEd: Elementary or Secondary) No
Special Education: Teachers of Students w/ Cognitive Impairment Yes (BSEd: Elementary or Secondary) No
Sport Management Yes (BA; BAA; BS) Yes
Statistics Yes (BA; BS) Yes
Substance Abuse Education: Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment No Yes
Sustainability and Environmental Policy No Yes
Theatre & Interpretation* Yes (BA; BS, BFA) Yes
Visual Arts Education Yes (BSEd: Secondary) No
Visual Merchandising No Yes (also available via CMU Online)
Women and Gender Studies Yes (BA; BAA; BS) Yes
Youth Studies No Yes