Changing Your Major

Students changing from a major outside of COAS into any COAS major must have at least a 2.0 FSU Cumulative GPA. 

Students must be on track for mapping with the major they are changing to at the point of the major change. Students who are not on track for mapping will not have their major changed.

Students must:

• Be certified into their upper-division graduating academic college before a second major can be added.
  • See Certification Guidance below.
• Be on track for mapping in their primary major and within one term of mapping requirements for their second major at the point of completing the major addition.
• Successfully add the additional major or degree program before earning 90 cumulative semester hours.
  • Students who have earned 90 or more cumulative semester hours wishing to add an additional major or dual degree should follow the steps listed below to petition for an exception to add or change an additional major or degree program.

For students with a primary major in COAS: To be certified upper division, all majors in COAS require:

• A minimum 52 earned credit hours
• A minimum 2.00 FSU Cumulative GPA
• Successful completion of most of the General Education requirements including English Composition, and Quantitative and Logical Thinking, or an A.A. degree from a State of Florida public post-secondary institution.

For students with a primary major in another college: refer to that Academic Dean’s office for certification information.

Note:

• Diplomas reflect only the student’s degree program name which may differ from the name of the student’s major.
• Minors, majors, additional majors, tracks, or specializations are not printed on the diploma.
• The transcript reflects all majors and certificate programs but does not include minors, tracks, or specializations.

University policy requires that students successfully add any additional majors or degree program before earning 90 cumulative semester hours.

Students who have earned 90 or more cumulative semester hours wishing to add an additional major or dual degree should follow the process below to petition for an exception to add or change an additional major or degree program. 

Students must meet with an advisor to begin this process. If the academic advisor is in support of adding an additional major/dual degree, they will initiate the COAS Additional Major/Dual Degree Academic Plan of Study form using DocuSign.

• The primary academic advisor will be prompted to:
  • Provide the academic plan
  • Upload a current academic progress check for the primary major
• The secondary academic advisor will be prompted to:
  • Review/edit the academic plan
  • Upload a current academic progress check for the additional major
  • Complete a Major Change Form on the same Docusign
• The student will be prompted to:
  • Write a justification for adding the new major beyond 90 hours
  • Sign to complete the document, automatically sending the completed petition to the College of Arts and Sciences for review

If one of the majors/degrees is located outside of COAS, both the academic dean’s office for each major must grant approval for the change.

Note: The student’s primary academic dean’s office has final authority regarding the exception to add an additional major or dual degree after earning 90 or more semester credit hours.

The COAS Dean’s Office considers the following factors during the holistic review of an exception petition requesting to add an additional major or dual degree with 90 or more earned hours:

• Legitimate academic justification for adding the additional major or degree program
• Will the addition:
  • Extend a student’s graduation beyond four years of enrollment?
  • Require more than 150 earned semester credit hours to complete all degree requirements?
  • Cause the student to exceed their Excess Credit Threshold?
    • Refer to the Registrar’s website for more information about the Excess Credit-Hour Surcharge.
• What percentage of the requirements for the additional major/degree program are already completed?
• Student’s academic standing at FSU.

Students may be required by the University and/or the Dean’s office to complete a graduation plan with the Graduation & Planning Strategies Office.

Students should note that there is a difference between a second major and a second baccalaureate (bachelor’s) degree. In all cases, a student must have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better on all FSU courses to earn the bachelor’s degree or degrees.

Single bachelor’s degree with more than one major: To obtain a second major, one must meet all requirements of the college of the primary major, but only the major requirements of the secondary major.

Dual bachelor's degrees: In rare cases, students may pursue multiple bachelor's degrees simultaneously. The requirements for earning concurrent, or dual bachelor's degrees, are:

• Satisfy the requirements for each major/minor as well as individual college requirements for both the first and the second degrees
• Complete 30 credit hours in residence, in addition to the hours required for the first degree, for a minimum total of 150 earned hours
• Complete all University degree requirements
• Both degrees must be awarded in the same term.

Consecutive bachelor's degree beyond the first bachelor's degree (Second bachelor’s degree): Students may receive additional baccalaureate degrees beyond the first degree in cases where a bachelor's degree has already been awarded. University policy prohibits the awarding of more than one degree from a specific degree program due to the overlap of core requirements of that degree program.

• Students should seek guidance from their advisors or their college when choosing to pursue a double major or dual degree.
• This policy applies to both current and readmitted students.

The requirements for an additional bachelor's degree are:

• The requirements for each major/minor, as well as individual college requirements for the second degree
• A student completing a consecutive bachelor’s degree beyond the first bachelor’s degree must complete:
• A new major (including digital literacy)
  • With regards to the major, students will be permitted to use courses completed in a prior bachelor’s degree to satisfy the major’s prerequisites and core graduation requirements, but any elective courses cannot be applied to the consecutive bachelor’s degree.
• A new minor for the second degree
  • This is in addition to the minor from the student’s initial degree.
• Satisfy the COAS Foreign Language Proficiency graduation requirement
  • Foreign language proficiency, once established, may be used towards satisfying the COAS Foreign Language Proficiency graduation requirement for the consecutive bachelor’s degree.
• A minimum of 30 credit hours in residence is completed, in addition to the hours required for the first degree
  • The additional 30 credit hours must be completed in residence after the completion of the first degree.
  • Hours earned by the student during the completion of the first baccalaureate degree, over and above those extra credit hours required for the first degree, may not be included in the 30 credit hours.
• The State of Florida Civic Literacy Requirement
  • There are no CoreFSU requirements for the second degree except for Civic Literacy.