Individualized Major: Overview

It has long been a tradition at Burlington College for students to design majors that meet their own particular needs and interests. Today, a significant number of our students work with their advisors to individualize a major. The individualized major can be a variation on one of the College’s existing majors or it can be a course of study unique to the student’s interests.

Students who choose individualized majors are ready to undertake independent learning modes and work closely with their academic advisor in designing a plan of study and seeking out qualified faculty. The plan may be composed of a variety of different modes of learning, including classes, tutorials, guided independent studies, mini-courses, or learning modules.

Many self-designed majors differ only slightly from the established majors at the College; others may diverge significantly. Generally, we can help students design individualized majors in most disciplines within the arts, humanities, and social sciences, because we have a variety of community faculty with strong backgrounds in those areas.

All individualized majors must include 6 credits of foundational coursework; 6 credits of theoretical coursework; 6 credits of application coursework; 3 credits of research methods (in either the social sciences or the humanities, depending on the major); 3 credits in an internship; 6 credits of focused courses in the student’s interest; and 6 credits in a degree project.

Degree Requirements
Every Bachelor of Arts degree candidate must complete Burlington College’s General Education requirements and must earn a minimum of 120 credits to achieve a degree. The following course requirements are specific to the Individualized Major.

Major Requirements
36 credits past the entry level are required. 12 credits may be at the 200 level, 24 must be at the 300 level, including Degree Project I and II and the Internship.