Majors and Minors

All candidates for the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degrees must complete at least one major. Students may choose to complete two majors, a major and a minor, a major and two minors, or simply one major. Only these combinations will be listed on a student’s transcript.

A major is an approved course of study, usually consisting of 24 to 40 semester hours of work. There are two types of majors: 1. Departmental majors consist of courses in their major department and allied courses and 2. Interdisciplinary majors consist of specified courses from various departments as listed in the Catalog. An allied course is one taught outside the major department and either required for the major or recognized by the major department(s) as particularly supportive of the major. At least half of the hours in a major must be done as coursework at Heidelberg College, not including credit by exam or CLEP.

A minor is an approved course of study consisting of 15 to 21 semester hours of course work. Most minors are designed by departments that offer majors, but some disciplines in which no major is offered may offer a minor. At least half of the hours in a minor must be done as coursework here at Heidelberg College. In the event that the required number of hours is an odd number, then the number of hours required at Heidelberg will be rounded up. For example, a student needs to complete at least 8 hours at Heidelberg for a 15-hour minor. Candidates for the Bachelor of Music degree are also eligible to complete one or two minors.

No grade below C- will be accepted in a major or minor unless waived by the department (s). Under no circumstance may more than one grade below C- be waived. (For Bachelor of Music degree candidates, the major field is delineated in the Music Student Handbook. For education majors see the department.)

No more than 40 hours from any one subject prefix may be applied toward a major. No more than 48 hours from any single subject prefix may be applied toward graduation. Internship credit cannot be applied to any part of a major unless it is required of all students completing the major.