SEAS and SAS Double Majors allowed

A new measure that will allow College of Arts and Sciences and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences students to pursue second majors outside of their schools has been passed by undergraduate education committees and awaits a final faculty vote in the fall.

If passed, the initiative will permit undergraduates in the College who have already selected a major to choose an additional major in the Engineering school — without pursuing a dual degree, which a number of students already do — and vice versa, according to College dean Dennis DeTurck, who worked to sculpt the program with faculty in both the College and SEAS.

This new option will serve as a viable choice for students with interdisciplinary academic interests, DeTurck explained.

Because students will not be forced to contend with two sets of requirements, as dual degree students do, they will also likely have the freedom to “do some intellectual exploring…for their own enrichment.”

Moreover, this more flexible path might “allow students to achieve academic goals within time and financial constraints,” according to SEAS Associate Dean for Education John Keenan.

The undergraduate education committee is comprised of the College Committee on Education which includes faculty and student representatives as well as the SEAS Undergraduate Committee, which is made of undergraduate faculty chairs and undergraduate student representatives.

Though DeTurck said he expects particular major pairings — such as computer science and math or biological basis of behavior and bioengineering — he also expects to see students’ creativity in charting their academic paths, as the program becomes more popular.

“Penn students are intrepid and imaginative,” he said, “I think we’re going to see a lot of unexpected combinations.”

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