262:. "The ascendancy of the disciplines in the late nineteenth century and their continuing dominance throughout the twentieth century have left an indelible imprint on the shape and direction of the academic major" and research affirms that the academic major is the strongest and clearest curricular link to gains in student learning. While general education is considered to be the breadth component of an undergraduate education, the major is commonly deemed the depth aspect. Choice of major has a significant impact on employment prospects and lifetime earnings.
36:
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studies level, an academic major or major field refers to a student's primary focus within their degree program while a minor or minor field refers to their secondary focus. For example, a doctoral student studying history might pursue their degree in history with a major field in war and society and
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is a focus within a specific academic major, that is a field of study within a specific academic major. For example, interdisciplinary programs in humanities or social sciences will require a student to pick a specific academic concentration as a focus within their academic major, such as an academic
200:
initiated an educational approach that would allow students to choose from an area of focus. Offering eight options (which included ancient languages, anatomy, medicine), other higher educational systems in Europe began to develop into a stricter specialization approach to studies after the
American
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of 3.0. If a person applies to an impacted major, the school can raise the minimum requirements as much as needed to weed out the students that it is unable to accommodate. Because of this, some students may opt to apply to a school as "Undeclared". If in the above example the school implements
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An academic major typically involves completion of a combination of required and elective courses in the chosen discipline. The latitude a student has in choosing courses varies from program to program. An academic major is administered by select faculty in an
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An impacted major is a major for which more students apply for than the school can accommodate, a classic example of demand exceeding supply. When that occurs, the major becomes "impacted" and so is susceptible to higher standards of admission.
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In the United States, students are usually not required to choose their major discipline when first enrolling as an undergraduate. In addition, most colleges and universities require that all students take a general
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requirements of SATs of 1300 and a GPA of 3.4 for the impacted major, a student may find it better to apply as "Undeclared" if they meet only the minimum requirements. However, many universities, such as the
222:. Culture was the grounding concept and orchestrating principle for its courses. 1960s to 1970s experienced a new tide of interdisciplinary majors and a relaxation of curriculum and graduation requirements. (
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In the United States, in the second half of the 19th century, concentrated foci at the undergraduate level began to prosper and popularize, but the familiar term "major" did not appear until 1877 in a
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major in
Interdisciplinary Humanities with an academic concentration in Film or an academic major in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences with an academic concentration in Geography. At several
274:"argue that they enable an academic community to foster the development, conservation and diffusion of knowledge." In contrast, critics "claim that they promote intellectual tribalism, where
348:, may in turn present more difficult requirements (such as a GPA requirement in certain prerequisite classes) to enter an impacted major even once accepted to the university overall.
282:, where broader values of liberal learning and of campus unity are lost, and where innovation is inhibited due to parochial opposition to new sub-specialties and research methods."
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The roots of the academic major as we now know it first surfaced in the 19th century as "alternative components of the undergraduate degree". Before that, all students receiving an
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Through its development, scholars, academics, and educators have disagreed on the purpose and nature of the undergraduate major. Generally, proponents of the major and
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granting
American institutions vastly embraced a free-elective system, where students were endowed with a greater freedom to explore intellectual curiosities.
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at latest, and some schools even disallow students from declaring a major until this time. A student who declares two academic majors is said to have a
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field, a secondary discipline in which they also take a substantial number of classes, but not so many as would be necessary to complete a major.
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at other universities, that is an academic discipline outside of the student's academic major in which they take a number of classes. At
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451:"The Academic Major." Encyclopedia of Education. Ed. Guthrie, James W. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006. 19-23.
117:, particularly at private colleges) is also sometimes used administratively to refer to the academic discipline pursued by a
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Cano, J. (1999). "The
Relationship Between Learning Style, Academic Major, and Academic Performance of College Students".
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Conrad, Clifton F. The
Undergraduate Curriculum: A guide to Innovation and Reform. Boulder, CO: Westview Press (1978)
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Galotti, K. M. (1999). "Making a "major" real-life decision: College students choosing an academic major".
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formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an
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is an ancillary major designed to complement the primary one. A coordinate major requires fewer
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Simpson, J. C. (2003). "Mom matters: Maternal influence on the choice of academic major".
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catalogue. The major generally required 2 years of study, while the minor required one.
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program began to assail the
Baccalaureate degree dominated by the academic major."
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would be required to study the same slate of courses geared at a comprehensive "
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The academic major is considered a defining and dominant characteristic of the
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141:. A major administered by more than one academic department is called an
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157:. Normally students are required to commit by the end of their second
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The 1930s witnessed the appearance of first interdisciplinary major:
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For example, suppose that a school has minimum requirements are
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deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a
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to complete. Many colleges also allow students to declare a
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953:Master of Arts (Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin)
503:"Computer Science B.A. Transfer Prerequisites"
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43:The examples and perspective in this article
278:receives favor over the mastery of multiple
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234:, for example.) In the 1980s and 1990s, "
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488:- interactive chart from
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143:interdisciplinary major
27:Focus of academic study
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292:academic concentration
198:University of Virginia
791:Candidate of Sciences
607:College major profile
490:Georgetown University
301:liberal arts colleges
224:Civil Rights Movement
103:undergraduate student
861:Academic certificate
753:Postgraduate diploma
602:The Princeton Review
474:The Hamilton Project
389:Joint honours degree
260:undergraduate degree
254:Major's significance
187:undergraduate degree
123:postgraduate student
107:undergraduate degree
63:create a new article
55:improve this article
896:Professional degree
272:departmental system
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201:Civil War.
109:. The word
71:August 2023
972:Categories
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786:Doctorate
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564:Sex Roles
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359:Academia
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131:doctoral
127:master's
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