Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies
Designed for students whose academic interests or career objectives require an individualized approach, the Interdisciplinary Studies program provides an interdisciplinary degree that facilitates study across academic disciplines and professional fields.
Prospective Interdisciplinary Studies students
The Interdisciplinary Studies program must be carefully constructed and is intended for those students whose academic or career interests fall outside of the scope of existing majors at the Βι¶ΉΣ³». As such, students considering a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies must meet with an academic advisor in the Exploratory and Pre-Professional Advising Center to discuss whether the degree is appropriate for their academic and career aspirations. Only after meeting with an academic advisor will a student be able to declare the Interdisciplinary Studies degree.
Current Interdisciplinary Studies students
Students who are already declared in the Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies degree can find helpful information and resources for the program by going to the General Catalog and reviewing the program requirements for their catalog year.
Entrance requirements:
- Students must have completed a minimum of 60 undergraduate credits from an accredited institution.
- Students may not use the IDS degree as a second bachelor's degree or second major.
- The IDS degree can be completed in-person, online, or through a combination of both.
- To declare the major, students must first meet with an academic advisor in the Exploratory and Pre-Professional Advising Center.
- If you and your advisor deem the Interdisciplinary Studies Studies degree as not your best option, they will go over the process for you to pursue the appropriate degree.
- If you and your advisor deem the Interdisciplinary Studies Studies degree as your best option, they will review the requirements for the degree and help you determine how many courses are remaining to graduate.
Program requirements:
- Students must complete two distinct minors offered by the Βι¶ΉΣ³».
- A student may choose to replace one of the minors with a custom minor, developed in consultation with and approved by their academic advisor. The custom minor must not be in a field that already has an established minor, it must contain 18-24 units with a minimum of 9 units being upper division, and must have a theme.
- Both minors must be declared to allow students to access the necessary coursework and to establish the official curriculum for the Declared minors for the cluster will not be earned at graduation.
- Students in the Interdisciplinary Studies Studies program may declare no more than two minors external to their cluster coursework.
- Students must also complete a breadth requirement which is 15 units outside of their two minors, and a minimum of 9 units must be upper division.
Entrance requirements:
- Students must have completed a minimum of 60 undergraduate credits from an accredited institution.
- Students may not use the IDS degree as a second bachelor's degree or second major.
- The IDS degree can be completed in-person, online, or through a combination.
- To declare the major, students must first meet with an academic advisor in the Exploratory and Pre-Professional Advising Center.
- If you and your advisor deem the Interdisciplinary Studies degree as not your best option, they will go over the process for you to pursue the appropriate degree.
- If you and your advisor deem the Interdisciplinary Studies degree as your best option, they will review the requirements for the degree and help you determine how many courses are remaining to graduate.
- After a plan has been created the student will complete a form that outlines the IDS online requirements and next steps.
- Student will sign their change of major and minor forms (electronically through DocuSign) to ensure major and minor changes occur in a timely manner.
Program requirements:
- Students must complete two distinct minors offered by the Βι¶ΉΣ³».
- A student may choose to replace one of the minors with a custom minor, developed in consultation with and approved by their academic advisor. The custom minor must not be in a field that already has an established minor, it must contain 18-24 units with a minimum of 9 units being upper division, and must have a theme.
- Both minors must be declared to allow students to access the necessary coursework and to establish the official curriculum for the Declared minors for the cluster will not be earned at graduation.
- Students must also complete a breadth requirement which is 15 units outside of their two minors, and a minimum of 9 units must be upper-division.
Online specifics:
- Course availability is more limited and your advisor will work with you to determine which courses will meet your requirements and can be completed online.
- Minor availability is limited to the following minors: Addiction Treatment Services, Communication and Political Science.
- Tuition and fees will be what is listed on the website for on-campus degrees.
Students must submit University immunization requirements.
Entrance requirements:
- Students must have completed a minimum of 45 undergraduate credits from an accredited institution.
- Students may not use the IDS degree as a second bachelor's degree or second major.
- The IDS degree is not an online degree.
- To declare the major, students must first meet with an academic advisor in the Exploratory and Pre-Professional Advising Center.
- If you and your advisor deem the Interdisciplinary Studies degree as not your best option, they will go over the process for you to pursue the appropriate degree.
- If you and your advisor deem the Interdisciplinary Studies degree as your best option, they will review the requirements for the degree and help you determine how many courses are remaining to graduate.
Program requirements:
- Students must complete two distinct minors offered by the Βι¶ΉΣ³».
- Both minors must be declared to allow students to access the necessary coursework and to establish the official curriculum for the cluster. Declared minors for the cluster will not be earned at graduation.
- Up to 12 credits of minor coursework may be used as part of other IDS requirements.
- A student may choose to replace one of the minors with a customized set of courses developed in consultation with and approval by their academic advisor as long as that customized minor is relevant to the thematic cluster.
- Students in the Interdisciplinary Studies program may declare no more than two minors external to their cluster coursework.
- Students must also complete additional coursework related to General Education totaling 30 credits. The curriculum for this coursework can be found by going to the General Catalog and reviewing the program requirements for their catalog year.
Entrance requirements:
- Students must have completed a minimum of 60 undergraduate credits from an accredited institution
- Students may not use the IDS degree as a second bachelor's degree or second major
- The IDS degree is not an online degree
Program requirements:
- Students must complete a 30-credit cluster of thematically-related coursework
- Eighteen of the 30 credits must be 300-400 level
- The thematic cluster must include coursework crossing three departments within one college or two colleges
- To see which departments fall under each college, view the University course catalog at
- The student will design the cluster and may use courses already completed. Students submit a cluster proposal which lists the courses being used in the thematic cluster along with a proposal paper that defends the use of the coursework as a thematic cluster
- Students in the Interdisciplinary Studies program may declare no more than two minors
- A maximum of 9 credits from any minor may be included in the thematic cluster
- Students must also complete additional coursework related to General Education totaling 60 credits. The curriculum for this coursework can be found by going to the General Catalog and reviewing the program requirements for their catalog year.
Contact information
For any questions regarding the Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies program or to schedule an appointment, please contact:
Exploratory and Pre-Professional Advising Center
Pennington Student Achievement Center, Suite 405
(775) 784-4684
advising@unr.edu