» Changing Your Academic Pathway

Selecting your academic pathway is a big decision, but it doesn’t need to be final. At Chapman, we’re here to help you develop your interests and pursue your career goals, even if those change over time.

Your academic pathway at Chapman includes:

• One or more majors.
• One or more minors, or a themed inquiry.

As your academic and career interests develop, you may find that you want to change your academic pathway.

To get started, choose one of the options below. You'll find more info and step-by-step instructions on changing or adding majors, minors and themed inquiries.

Tips and details on changing your academic pathway

• Most requests to change or add majors, minors or themed inquiries are handled through your Student Center. The links above will walk you through the process.
• Some majors/minors/themed inquiries are easy to add or switch into. Others have additional requirements, and your request may be denied if you do not meet them. For info on specific requirements, check out out Change/Add Major tool using the link above. It will show you the requirements for each major.
• Meeting with your advisor before making any changes is a good way to get more details the program you're thinking of switching to or adding. Your advisor can help you understand the program and see if it is a good fit for you.
• Please be aware that it is easier to change or add programs toward the beginning of your academic career. Changing to or adding a high-credit program later on may require you to take extra semesters or years.

Self-designed majors

At Chapman, students can create their own major in consolation with an advisor. We call these majors "self-designed majors."

For the self-designed major to be approved, the subject matter of a must be substantially different from that offered in existing majors. The student designs a program from existing course offerings, which opens up a new direction of study or allows for significantly more intensive study in a subject than is otherwise possible.

If you would like to declare a self-designed major, you must follow these guidelines:

• Self-designed majors require the approval of the Faculty Academic Council.
• A student must submit a proposal prior to completing 75 credits.
• The self-designed major must not contain more than 40 percent of the requirements of an existing major, and it may not include more than two courses (up to 8 credits) not offered at Chapman.
• The program of study must include a minimum of 33 credits, at least 21 of which must be upper-division credits. A maximum of 6 credits of individual study may be included in the self-designed major.
• Approval of an academic advisor and sponsoring department is required.
• Additional information regarding self-designed majors is included with the Self-Declared Major Petition Form.

Self-designed minors

We also allow students to declare self-designed minors. The guidelines for self-designed minors are the following:

• A student must submit a proposal prior to completing 75 credits.
• The program of study must include a minimum of 21 credits, at least 12 of which must be upper-division credits. A maximum of 6 credits of individual study may be included in the self-designed minor.
• Self-designed minors require the approval of the GE Committee.
• Additional information regarding self-designed minors is included with the Self-Declared Minor Petition Form.