Major refers to the student’s primary program of study. Students in a graduate major leading to the award of a master’s degree are required to complete at least 32 hours, and those in graduate majors leading to the award of a doctoral degree must complete at least 96 hours. See above for more information on these requirements. The successful completion of a major is noted on the student’s transcript. Only students in joint or dual degree programs may complete more than one major.
Concentration refers either to a specialized program of study within a major, or an interdisciplinary program. A graduate concentration consists of at least 12 graduate hours of relevant course work. A formal concentration may be defined as an elaboration or an extension of a graduate major: either content specialization within a particular discipline (for example, a taxation concentration in accountancy), or an interdisciplinary program (for example, an interdisciplinary concentration in cultural studies and interpretive research). A concentration is a coherent set of courses some or all of which count toward the major. For more information, see Chapter 4 Graduate Degree and Graduation Requirements.
A minor is a coherent set of at least 12 graduate hours of courses defined by one or more units outside the student’s enrolling program. A minor encourages and recognizes expertise gained in a particular area. This expertise could be completely outside the usual degree requirements or it could significantly extend knowledge in an area closely related to a particular degree program. For more information, see Chapter 5 Requirements for Master’s Degrees, Certificates of Advanced Study, Artist’s Diplomas, and Graduate Certificates.