Open Major

A Variety of Opportunities

Many students who apply to The College of St. Scholastica have a serious interest in St. Scholastica as a quality institution but have not yet committed themselves to a field of study.

Being undecided or open can be a big advantage when you enter college. It allows you to expose yourself to numerous programs and possibilities before you choose a specific path.

Being an Open Major at The College of St. Scholastica enables you to benefit from the knowledge of our current students, professors, and qualified advisors. At St. Scholastica you'll find nurses, social workers, managers, journalists, medical technologists, teachers, physical therapists, and others who are happy to tell you what they do and why they like it.

The Advantages of Choosing the Open Major

• An Open Major provides you the opportunity to explore several possible majors or careers.
• Pressure to decide on a major or career is reduced so you can more fully enjoy your college experience.
• An Open Major reinforces the liberal arts and exploration of a variety of courses.
• An Open Major is especially appropriate for students who want to strengthen a liberal arts emphasis.

The St. Scholastica Advantage

The important strength of St. Scholastica's Open Major program is our faculty. Experienced professionals in each of our programs offer a realistic and practical view of their fields. They are full-time teachers, here to support and advise students.

Special Features

Open Majors can meet with the academic and career counselors in St. Scholastica's Career Services Office. Open Majors will also be introduced to a complete career library featuring career descriptions and explanations of working conditions, necessary training and salary ranges.

Open Majors have the opportunities to meet and observe working professionals in action and to ask them about what they do, what they like about their jobs and what kind of training they've had.

Several instruments are available to help Open Majors better understand their own personality and goals. Some of these instruments include:

• Campbell Skills and Interest Inventory - This inventory aids students in the identification of skills and how those skills relate to their interests.
• Minnesota Careers Information System (MCIS) - This automated system gives students the opportunity to self explore careers within non-traditional careers.

What Courses Do Open Majors Take?

The College encourages students with open majors to enroll in courses from as many different curriculum areas as possible. We feel by taking courses from many different curriculum areas the students will have many opportunities to explore academic areas and be better able to make a decision as to what major they feel most comfortable studying and what they excel in.

With proper advisement, the courses taken from the many different curriculum areas will meet the general education area distribution requirements so students pursuing their degree plan will meet the four-year pledge.

Several specially trained academic advisors are available for students with open majors.