CLA Majors & Minors

What are you driven to discover? Choosing your major can be an exciting process of self-discovery. Whatever your passion turns out to be, with over 60 majors and minors, the College of Liberal Arts is sure to have a program to help you pursue it.

Find your major; find yourself

Choosing your major can be challenging and fun. As you peruse the listings of courses, you are likely to discover interests you didn't know you had. You may even find yourself changing your mind or considering different combinations of major and minor programs.

Consider your first three or four semesters as a time to explore your interests. As you explore, you will be taking courses that fulfill the liberal education requirements, which all U of M students complete no matter what their major.

To ensure that you graduate in a timely manner, you will be required to choose your major by the time you reach 60 credits (typically at the end of your second year).

If you would like some extra help, you can use a variety of resources to discover your interests and options: advisers, workshops, and centers devoted to counseling and career services.

Design your own major

As a CLA student, you have a unique opportunity. You can tailor your degree or major to your own interests and goals.

You can combine three areas of concentration rather than choosing one particular major to create a Bachelor of Individualized Study (B.I.S.) degree. The areas can be unrelated and you can even choose an area from another University of Minnesota Twin Cities college. One student, who completed a B.I.S. degree, combined communications studies, economics, and management courses from the Carlson School of Management. He is now president of his own business.

Or you can combine courses on a unifying theme from three or more CLA departments to create an Individually Designed Interdepartmental Major (IDIM). One 2002 graduate chose concentrations in film studies, African American studies, and communications to create a racial identity and mass media major. She is now assistant editor for an actor's trade paper in Los Angeles.

Professional Programs

K-12 education

If you are interested in a K-12 teaching career, you can apply for the College of Education and Human Development's DirecTrack Program during your freshman or sophomore year. This program allows you to get a head start on a teaching career by taking teacher preparation courses while you work on your undergraduate major.

Health sciences

Many students who are interested in pursuing health science programs at the University such as medicine, nursing, physical therapy and so on begin in the College of Liberal Arts. Our advisers have a lot of experience helping students prepare to apply for these programs.

Law school

The Career and Community Learning Center (CCLC) is the prelaw advising office for all students on the Twin Cities campus. The CCLC staff can help you prepare for the competitive and detailed application process for law school. If you are interested in studying law, we recommend that you take advantage of prelaw advising early in your undergraduate career.