Many students ask themselves “double major?” after developing an interest in two different college subjects. Like many questions you will encounter throughout your college career, there is no right or wrong answer to this question. However, there are factors that could make double majoring a more or less helpful course of action in your particular situation.

In this article, we will answer some common issues that go hand-in-hand with the question “should I double major?” for college students today.

What are the advantages of a double major program?
Double majoring has a variety of advantages for highly motivated students.

University instructional designer Naomi Rockler-Gladen has emphasized several advantages of having a double major, which we will summarize here:

• Satisfying your interest in more than one field
• Avoiding having to change your major when your interests change
• Limiting the amount of time spent as “undeclared” by allowing a tie between two favorite fields
• Opening up the opportunity to pursue different fields after college
• Potentially setting up a career path in a field with high demand while using a second major for personal fulfillment

In short, completing a double major program can enrich your college experience. One of this author’s best friends successfully double majored in both psychology and English. Although doing so delayed her graduation date by one semester, she said studying both subjects made her happier and more well-rounded. She is now pursuing an advanced degree in psychology while writing as a hobby.

What are the disadvantages of a double major?
Of course, double majoring isn’t unequivocally better than going through college with one major, or the answer to the question “should I double major” would be “duh.”

Again, instructional designer Rockler-Gladen has pointed out several disadvantages of double-majoring, which we will sum up here:

• Signing yourself up for more work, including more upper-level courses
• Limiting time available to take electives
• Limiting time available for study abroad experiences
• Potentially delaying your graduation date
• Possibly adding more stress to your senior year

This author would add one additional point:

• Potentially being more expensive than a single major

In this economy, the latter point might stand out to many students. Double majoring requires additional courses to be taken, which often means paying to take more credits. Additionally, because double majoring can delay your graduation date, you might have to pay for additional semesters, and thus, extra tuition, fees, and maybe housing costs.

If I complete a double major, will I graduate with two Bachelor’s degrees?
No. That’s called working toward a double degree, which is different from completing a double major.

First, if you wanted to earn a double major, you would do so by studying two subjects that would, individually, earn you the same degree. Returning to the example of this author’s best friend, she was able to double major in psychology and English because both were subjects that would culminate in a Bachelor of Arts degree.

If she had wanted to major in both psychology and biochemistry, the university would have required a double degree instead of a double major, because each subject was associated with a different type of degree at that particular institution. In that case, she would have graduated with both a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Bachelor of Science of Biochemistry. Do note, however, that a Bachelor of Science in psychology is offered at some colleges, so which majors can be rolled into one degree varies.

You can expect completing a double degree to take more than four years. At the University of Buffalo, for example, one of the requirements for earning a double degree is that students earn a “minimum of 30 credits accrued beyond the full requirements of the degree with the larger number of required undergraduate credits or 150 credits total, whichever is greater.” Assuming you take a typical course load, with an average of five classes worth three credits every semester, it would take five years at the minimum to finish on time.

But what’s the difference between double majoring and having an interdisciplinary major?
An interdisciplinary major tends to cover a wider range of classes than one would take to complete the requirements of a double major.

Many colleges offer pre-made interdisciplinary majors, often in fields that are very broad, such as Africana studies, where students are given a combination of required and recommended courses to take from many different academic departments. It’s also common to offer fully customizable interdisciplinary majors, where students can work with one or more advisers to craft a focused, but often unique, course of study in which they choose their own classes. Core college requirements must still be met, of course.

One of the main advantages to having an interdisciplinary major is that you can custom fit your studies to your personal and career interests. One of the main disadvantages is that more old-fashioned graduate schools or employers may not view an interdisciplinary major as positively as they would a traditional major.

What are some alternatives to double-majoring?
When considering the advantages and disadvantages of double-majoring, it’s helpful to also consider alternative options.

If you want to pursue studies in multiple fields, here are some alternatives to double-majoring:

• Working toward two Bachelor’s degrees concurrently (discussed above)
• Working toward an interdisciplinary major (discussed above)
• Taking an academic minor, which usually requires fewer additional credits
• Taking two academic minors, as this author did, which may or may not require fewer credits
• Changing your academic concentration within your major to better match your interests or goals (if this option is offered by your college)
• Completing a Bachelor’s degree in one field of study, then getting a Master’s degree in the second
• Completing a Bachelor’s degree in one field and an associate degree in the second, as this author’s mother did
• Completing two Associate’s degrees, as is sometimes seen in vocational fields
• Changing majors to the academic field that interests you more or is more profitable and using your electives to study the second field, which will allow you to graduate within four years

And yes, some colleges and universities allow students to triple major, too!

Does double-majoring offer an advantage in the job market?
There is no clear answer to this question – a lot of it depends on individual employers.

“Completing more than one major confers no demonstrated advantage in the job market, or in acceptance to graduate or professional schools,” according to Cornell University.

While many studies have been done on how much money a Bachelor’s degree is worth in various fields, it’s hard to find studies like this for workers who double majored in college.

In this author’s opinion, if money is your top priority, your best bet is to take on a single major in a field that is highly profitable, such as petroleum engineering or pharmacy, so you can save on school costs by getting out sooner.

Thus, if you choose to double major, you should do it for yourself, not for the job market.

So, should I double major?
This is a personal decision that you should make after receiving guidance from your academic adviser. There are plenty of advantages, disadvantages, and alternatives to double-majoring that make sense for different people. Just be sure to inform yourself so you don’t make a decision based on common misconceptions, like the idea that a double major will earn you two Bachelor’s degrees.

Keep your college plans and life goals in mind when deciding whether to double major. If decide that enriching your college experience is worth a potentially delayed graduation date, double majoring could be right for you.