Declaring a Second Major Outside of L&S for L&S Undergraduates

This section explains what an L&S undergraduate student will need to do in order to pursue an additional major outside of L&S.

The following information explains the policy for L&S undergraduates interested in declaring an additional major outside the College of Letters & Science in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) and the School of Education.

Major Declaration Policy/Procedure for Additional Major Outside the College of Letters & Science (L&S):

Effective Fall 2020, L&S undergraduate students may declare one additional major in either the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) or the School of Education (SoE). The five (5) options for L&S undergraduates are:

Education Studies (SoE)
Global Health (CALS)
Health Promotion and Health Equity (SoE)
Theatre and Drama (SoE)
Biochemistry (CALS) - Effective Fall 2026
- Students who declare the Biochemistry major in the College of Letters & Science by Summer 2026 will remain eligible to earn an L&S degree with the Biochemistry major as long as all major/degree requirements are completed by Summer 2031.

These are currently the only non-L&S majors that L&S students may declare. These additional majors are available to all L&S undergraduates (i.e. BA/BS, AMEP, BA/BS-Journalism, Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (effective summer 2026), BA/BS-Social Work, and Bachelor of Music student) who meet admission requirements for the additional majors. For more information about declaring one of the approved three majors can be found at the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and School of Education.

**Students with second majors in L&S only need to fulfill L&S major requirements.

An L&S undergraduate student cannot pursue two degree programs at the same time.
An L&S undergraduate student who is interested in pursuing a second degree program/major outside of L&S must first complete his/her degree in L&S and then apply to the other school/college on the UW-Madison campus for a second undergraduate degree.

The following policies apply to L&S students with an additional non-L&S major:

At this time, only the four majors listed above are available for L&S undergraduates to pursue outside the College of Letters & Science.
Prior to declaring one of the four approved non-L&S majors, L&S students must already have at least one L&S major declared.
In order to graduate, an L&S undergraduate must complete at least one L&S major in addition to all other L&S degree requirements.
L&S will not delay graduating students who have not completed the requirements for majors outside of L&S. Thus, students with these additional CALS and Education majors will be graduated at the end of the term in which they complete their L&S requirements, even if the CALS or School of Education major requirements have not been completed.
An L&S student who will be graduated without completing their declared CALS or School of Education major should work with their advisor in CALS or the School of Education to determine whether options are available to them to finish up their additional major in CALS or Education.

To declare an additional major outside L&S:

An L&S student must meet with the major advisor for the Education Studies major, the Global Health major, the Health Promotion and Health Equity major, or the Theatre and Drama major so that the advisor can fill out the Qualtrics Form. Once the form has been successfully completed and submitted, it will be forwarded to L&S Undergraduate Academic Deans' Services for approval. Once the request to add the additional major has been approved, a Student Information System (SIS) action will be submitted allowing the student to carry an additional non-L&S major in the College of Letters & Science. The additional major will then appear on the student's record.

Students are expected to meet regularly with their CALS or School of Education academic advisor and their L&S major advisor regarding major and/or degree requirements.

To cancel a second L&S major:

L&S students who have been admitted to an additional major in CALS or Education and later wish to cancel the major must speak with their CALS or Education advisor to cancel the Biochemistry major (effective Fall 2026), Education Studies major, Global Health major, Health Promotion and Health Equity major, or Theatre and Drama major. The advisor will fill out the Qualtrics Form that will be forwarded to L&S Undergraduate Academic Deans' Services for approval.

NOTES:

UW-Madison students not earning their undergraduate degree in the College of Letters & Science only need to fulfill L&S major requirements.
An L&S undergraduate student cannot pursue two degree programs at the same time.
An L&S undergraduate student who is interested in pursuing a second degree program/major outside of L&S must first complete their degree in L&S and then apply to the other program outside L&S.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact L&S Undergraduate Academic Deans' Services at:

Tel.: 608-262-0617