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Bulletin Archive

This archived information is dated to the 2011-12 academic year only and may no longer be current.

For currently applicable policies and information, see the current Stanford Bulletin.

Undergraduate Minor

Students completing a bachelor's degree may elect to complete one or more minors in addition to the major. Minors must be officially declared by students no later than the deadline for their application(s) to graduate, according to declaration procedures developed and monitored by the Registrar. Earlier deadlines for declaration of the minor may be set by the offering school or department. Satisfactory completion of declared minors is noted on the student's transcript after degree conferral.

A minor is a coherent program of study defined by the department or degree program. It may be a limited version of a major concentration or a specialized subset of a field. A minor consists of no fewer than six courses of 3 or more units to a maximum of 36 units of letter-graded work, except where letter grades are not offered. Departments and degree programs establish the structure and requirements of each minor in accordance with the policy above and within specific guidelines developed by the deans of schools. Programs which do not offer undergraduate degrees may also make proposals to their cognizant deans to establish a minor. Requirements for each minor are described in the individual department or program listings in this bulletin.

Students may not overlap (double-count) courses for completing major and 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.

Undergraduates use Axess to declare or drop a minor. The Major-Minor and Multiple Major Course Approval Form is required for graduation for students with a minor. The form should be submitted to the Student Services Center by the final study list deadline of the quarter of intended graduation.

Students with questions about declaring minors or double-counting courses towards combinations of majors and/or minors should consult with the departments or programs involved or the Student Services Center. For academic advising regarding minors, students should consult the Undergraduate Advising and Research Office (UAR).

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