If studying one field is not enough for you during your college experience, you could consider diving into a minor or enduring a double major.
Dixie State University currently allows students to double major or declare a minor. DSU currently has 35 options for minors. Although both are accessible, they both have their advantages and disadvantages.
Katie Armstrong, assistant director of advisement, said students graduating with a bachelor’s and a minor are more common than students who double major.
Minor
The way Armstrong explains minors to students is that a minor is more of an interest area compared to a major, and a student won’t have as much mastery in a certain field with a minor but will have a more specific skill set.
“They’re certainly not as extensive as majors; most minors are between 18 to 21 credits,” Armstrong said.
Minors are a nice way to explore a topic you’re interested in, Armstrong said, and having a minor also lets your employer know you have knowledge in a certain area. She said it’s important for students to know why they want to minor.
According to an article titled “3 questions to ask before choosing a minor” in Time Magazine, students should ask: will a minor truly be useful? What will you sacrifice in order to complete a minor? And when should you decide for or against a minor? Armstrong said timing is everything and deciding to choose a minor your senior year of college is not a great idea.
Cassidy Blue, a senior criminal justice major from Ensenada, Mexico, is also minoring in Spanish to “spice up” her degree.
“Nowadays the job market is highly competitive, so it’s not enough to say I know another language; I actually have tangible proof sealed in my academic transcript,” Blue said.
Although a minor is a more common route for students to take than a double major, minoring can also be stressful. Blue said the key is to plan thoroughly and stay organized.
Double major
Armstrong said the idea of a double major is when a student is studying two separate areas of interest at the same time. She said it’s crucial students are aware of DSU’s policy regarding double majoring, which can be found by visiting the graduation section of the university’s policy library.
According to the section IV “Double majors: one degree with two majors,” a student “may pursue a single degree comprised of two different baccalaureate majors by declaring a major in each academic department once they have earned at least 60 university-level credits.”
Also, students can’t declare double majors if 50 percent of the curricular requirements for the degrees are the same.
“If they’re too closely related, essentially it’s not going to work per policy,” Armstrong said. “But that doesn’t mean students don’t major in something pretty close.”
One con to double majoring, Armstrong said, is it’s time consuming and can cause a student to take longer to graduate. She said it usually takes students who double major a semester or two longer to graduate.
Another downside can be the cost, she said.
“You have to think about the financial aspect of it,” Armstrong said. “Are you willing to spend more money in college to double major for another semester?”
One plus side to double majors, according to an article from PBS titled “Does it pay to get a double major in college?,” is students who double majored often made more money than students who didn’t.
If students are interested in minoring or double majoring, Armstrong advises students to visit the Academic Advisement Center located on the first floor of the Jeffrey R. Holland Centennial Commons Building.