Why Choose a Student Initiated Major at Bethel University?
Some students arrive with a vision that doesn't fit neatly into a single major. The Student Initiated Major (SIM) is Bethel University's answer for them: a rare opportunity to design your own interdisciplinary degree, combining two or more fields into a coherent program built around your goals. Rather than choosing from the shelf, you propose and build the major yourself, with faculty guiding you every step of the way.
This is a serious academic undertaking, and that's the point. The SIM rewards students who have earned strong grades and know where they want to go, letting them integrate coursework across disciplines into something genuinely their own. The integration of learning and the research it requires are among the most prized assets of a liberal arts education, and graduates leave with a degree, and a body of work, that reflects exactly the path they set out to build.
What You’ll Learn
Because you design the major, what you learn is shaped by the disciplines you choose. Every Student Initiated Major, however, develops:
- The ability to integrate knowledge across two or more distinct disciplines
- A strong liberal arts foundation in writing, history, science, mathematics, and religion or philosophy
- Research and critical thinking skills applied to a self-directed course of study
- The ability to develop, defend, and carry out a formal academic proposal
- Independent learning skills, culminating in an integrated capstone project
- The specific knowledge and competencies of the fields you bring together
How the Major Works
The Student Initiated Major is not a fixed set of courses but a framework you build within. Here is how the catalog structures it:
Eligibility
A Faculty Advisory Committee
A Written Proposal
Two Or More Disciplines
An Integrated Capstone
45 to 60 Hours
Career Possibilities
Because the Student Initiated Major is built around your own goals, it can lead wherever your chosen disciplines point. Graduates are well prepared for:
Graduate or Professional Study
A rigorous, research-based foundation for advanced study in a specialized or interdisciplinary field.
Careers Spanning Multiple Fields
Roles that sit at the intersection of two disciplines, where combined expertise is an advantage.
Research and Analysis
Work that draws on the independent research and integration skills the SIM develops.
Entrepreneurial or Self-Directed Paths
Ventures and roles that reward initiative, planning, and the ability to connect ideas across fields.
The strength of a Student Initiated Major is its fit: the career it prepares you for is the one you designed it around.
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