Declaring Undergraduate Majors / Honors

The primary purpose of the undergraduate major is to encourage you to explore a subject area in considerable depth. This in-depth study complements the breadth of study promoted by the General Education Requirements and, in many cases, by your choice of elective courses.

Choosing a Major

Each entering student at Stanford has full access to all undergraduate offerings in the Schools of Earth Sciences, Engineering, and Humanities & Sciences. The curriculum is not strictly divided into upper and lower divisions, so you may enroll in courses for which you are appropriately prepared. Course prerequisites are intended to serve as a guide, rather than as a deterrent.

Because some of the technical majors, such as engineering, have a more structured curriculum, students considering those majors should take some introductory courses in math and/or science during their first year.

You are asked to choose a major by the time you achieve junior status, usually completion of 90 units, including units granted for transfer work or Advanced Placement. Even after this point you may change your major if your interests shift.

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Declaring a Major

If you are undeclared and want to declare your major, log on to Axess (http://axess.stanford.edu). You will submit a request to the department in which you want to pursue a major. The department will inform you of their decision whether to accept you into the major. You should contact the department directly to determine if any other requirements must be fulfilled to process your major declaration request.

You may change your major at any time by declaring a new major in Axess.

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Individually Designed Major (IDM)

The Individually Designed Major (IDM) is intended for students who want to pursue an area of scholarly inquiry outside of established departments or programs at the University. Bachelor's degree requirements are the same. In designing the major, however, students must receive approval from three faculty members from at least two academic University departments.

Contact the Dean's Offices in the Schools of Engineering and Earth Sciences for information about their respective IDMs. All other IDMs are administered through Undergraduate Advising Programs, located in Sweet Hall.

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Multiple Majors

Although most students declare only one major, a student may formally declare more than one major within a single bachelor's degree (B.A., B.S., or B.A.S.) program. The student may do that either at the time of initial major declaration or, as may be more advisable given the planning required to complete more than one major, by declaring the additional major at a later date via Axess.

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Special Requirements for Students Pursuing Multiple Majors

Students may not overlap ("double-count") courses for completing multiple major and/or minor requirements, unless:

1. Overlapping courses constitute introductory skill requirements (for example, introductory math or a foreign language); or
2. Overlapping courses enable the student to meet school requirements (for example, for a major within the School of Engineering and a minor). Currently, only the School of Engineering has school requirements for its undergraduate majors.

If you are pursuing more than one major you must complete a "Major-Minor and Multiple Major Course Approval Form" indicating which courses you plan to apply toward each major and any minor(s). Departments must certify that the plan of study meets all requirements for the majors and any minor(s) without unallowable overlaps in course work.

To facilitate advance planning, Major-Minor and Multiple Major Course Approval Forms are available any time from http://www.stanford.edu/dept/registrar/publications/index.html.

This form must be submitted to the Office of the University Registrar by the application to graduate deadline for the term in which the student intends to graduate.

If you cannot meet the requirements of major(s) and minor(s) without overlaps, you may be required to change your major(s) and or minor(s) to facilitate graduation. You should consult the Office of the University Registrar for additional information. In addition, the secondary major, outlined below, may be relevant.

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Secondary Major

The secondary major is an option used when a student completes course requirements for more than one major, but may not meet the requirements outlined for the multiple major option. For example, you may develop a course plan in which courses required for one major overlap with requirements for another. In these cases, you may declare a secondary major which will result in the transcript bearing an annotation that the course requirements for that major have also been met. Secondary majors do not appear on the diploma.

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Major Field

The major field is an area of concentration or a track within a particular major. The field is annotated on the transcript as specified by the department. In certain instances, the major field is noted on the diploma

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Undergraduate Honors

Stanford recognizes exceptional undergraduate academic achievement with the following honors designations upon recommendation of a major department or program:

Distinction

In recognition of high scholastic attainment, the University awards the Bachelor’s Degree with Distinction. Distinction is awarded to 15% of the graduating class based on cumulative grade point averages calculated at the end of Winter Quarter. Distinction is noted on both the transcript and diploma.

Departmental Honors Programs

In recognition of successful completion of special advanced work, departments may recommend their students for honors in the major. Departmental honors programs demand independent creative work at an advanced level in addition to major requirements. Departmental honors programs are not available in every academic department. Departmental honors is noted on both the transcript and diploma.

If you want to declare departmental honors, log on to Axess. You will submit a request to the department in which you want to pursue departmental honors. The department will inform you of their decision whether to accept you into the honors program.

You should contact the department directly to determine if any other requirements must be fulfilled to process your departmental honors declaration request.

Departmental honors must be declared and approved no later than the application to graduate deadline for the term in which the student intends to graduate.

Interdisciplinary Honors Programs

In recognition of successful completion of honors program requirements by undergraduates, the following interdisciplinary programs can recommend students majoring in any department for honors in their program:

• Education
• Environmental Science, Technology, and Policy
• Ethics in Society
• Feminist Studies
• International Security Studies
• Humanities
• Latin American Studies
• Science, Tehnology, and Society.

The interdisciplinary programs are designed to complement study in any departmental major.

If you want to declare interdisciplinary honors, log on to Axess. You will submit a request to the department in which you want to pursue interdisciplinary honors. The department will inform you of their decision whether to accept you into the honors program.

You should contact the department directly to determine if any other requirements must be fulfilled to process your interdisciplinary honors declaration request.

Interdisciplinary honors must be declared and approved no later than the application to graduate deadline for the term in which the student intends to graduate

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