Explore College Programs
Students can choose from many different majors and minors to create an individualized academic experience.
Choosing a major doesn’t mean limiting your options.
In the College of Liberal Arts, we encourage students to tailor their education to their own goals and interests. We present your options below in the discipline groupings as well as interdisciplinary programs.
Our diverse College of Liberal Arts
Our programs provide a supportive community for success both inside and outside of the classroom, lab, and studio.
Students join faculty research projects where they can learn skills vital to success in graduate school or in the workforce.
STEM students can access many science-related resources on and off campus including the large UM Field Station.
The College teaches all students the core intellectual skills of written and oral communication.
CLA faculty provide close student mentorship in all of our programs, something that separates our research-intensive university from much larger universities.
As an R1 (highest research level) university, our students take courses from faculty who are at the top of their field.
Our students apply concepts from the classroom to unique situations and learn how to work in teams, both valuable skills desired by employers.
Many liberal arts majors are a successful pathway to law school and health professional schools because of the core intellectual skills, the well-rounded education, and knowledge of the world around us.
Fine & performing arts students have many opportunities to gain performance and exhibition experience. They also take master classes with working professionals.
The College offers 16 interdisciplinary programs, including African American Studies, whereby students can choose from a wide variety of courses around a central topic.
Students have access to many resources on campus for success including the UM Library Archives.
CLA Majors and Minors
The College of Liberal Arts offers four degree programs - Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BS), Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), and Bachelor of Music (BM). There are 36 majors and 55 minor fields of study that can be combined to earn one of the CLA degrees.
Expand the categories to see the full listing of majors and minors. To learn more about each program, see the links below.
- Art (BA, minor)
- Art (BFA) with emphases in
- Ceramics
- Graphic Design
- Painting
- Printmaking & Imaging Arts
- Sculpture
- Art History (BA, minor)
- Film Production (BFA)
- Music (BA, minor)
- Music (BM) with emphases in
- Music Education
- Music Performance
- Theatre Arts (BA, minor)
- Theatre Arts (BFA) with emphases in
- Acting for Stage & Screen
- Design & Theatre Production
- Arabic (BA, minor)
- Chinese (BA, minor)
- Classics (BA, minor) with emphases in
- Classical Civilization
- Greek
- Latin
- Creative Writing (BFA)
- English (BA, minor) with emphases in
- Creative Writing
- Editing, Writing & Publishing
- Literature, Justice & Society
- Ethics & Values (minor)
- French (BA, minor)
- German (BA, minor)
- History (BA, minor)
- Italian (minor)
- Japanese (minor)
- Korean (minor)
- Linguistics (BA, minor)
- Philosophy (BA, minor) with emphasis in
- Religious Studies
- Religious Studies (minor)
- Rhetoric, Writing, and Speech Communication (BA)
- Russian (minor)
- Spanish (BA, minor)
- Swahili (minor)
- Teaching English as a Second Language (minor)
- Astronomy (minor)
- Biological Science (BA, BS minor) with emphases in
- Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
- Molecular, Cellular, and Microbiology
- Organismal Biology
- Pre-Health Biological Sciences
- Biochemistry (BA)
- Chemistry (BA, minor)
- Chemistry (BS) with emphases in
- Biochemistry
- Environmental Chemistry
- Physical Chemistry
- Computer Science (BA)
- Forensic Chemistry (BS)
- Mathematics (BA, minor)
- Mathematics (BS) with emphasis in
- Statistics
- Physics (BA, minor)
- Physics (BS) with emphases in
- Astrophysics
- Biophysics
- Anthropology (BA, minor)
- Economics (BA, BS, minor) with emphases in
- Financial Economics
- Law and Economics
- Geography (minor)
- Political Science (BA, BS, minor) with emphases in
- Campaigns & Elections
- International Conflict & Cooperation
- Law & Courts
- Politics of Developing Countries
- Psychology (BA, BS, minor)
- Public Policy Leadership (BA, minor)
- Sociology (BA, minor)
- African American Studies (BA, minor)
- Allied Health Studies (BA) with emphases in
- Dental Hygiene
- Health Care Administration
- Health Informatics and Information Management
- Histotechnology
- Medical Lab Science
- Medical Technology
- Nursing
- Radiological Sciences
- Cinema Studies (minor)
- Digital Media Studies (minor)
- Disaster Sciences (minor)
- East Asian Studies (minor)
- Environmental Studies (minor)
- Freedom Studies (minor)
- Gender Studies (minor)
- Interdisciplinary Studies (BA)
- International Studies (BA, minor)
- Latin American & Caribbean Studies (minor)
- Medieval Studies (minor)
- Museum Studies (minor)
- Neuroscience (minor)
- Society & Health (minor)
- Southern Studies (BA, minor)
- Accountancy
- American sign language interpreting
- Applied gerontology
- Communication sciences & disorders
- Community engaged leadership
- Computer science
- Criminal justice
- Data science
- Education
- Engineering
- Entrepreneurship
- General business
- Geology
- Global security studies
- Higher education
- Hospitality management
- Intelligence & security studies
- Journalism
- Law studies
- Management information systems
- Manufacturing
- Marketing
- Nutrition
- Public health
- Recreation administration
- Recreational therapy
- Social work
- Sports administration