Declaring a major is an essential part of a student's academic career at UW-Madison and is very important for graduating in a timely manner.   Students are encouraged to declare a major as soon as they have decided on their particular academic area of interest and have met the requirements for declaration.   Students must go to the individual department(s) in order to declare a major or special degree program (i.e., AMEP, BLA, JBA, JBS, BMUS, BSW). 

The College of Letters & Science requires undergraduates to have declared at least one L&S major or degree program before they have 86 or more combined in-progress and completed credits.  

This policy does not affect first-year students in their first two semesters/terms or transfer students in their first semester/term at UW-Madison.

• An enrollment hold will be placed on students' records if they have 86 credits or more combined in-progress and completed credits and have not declared a major by the 5th week of the fall or spring term.    [In Guide, find this policy under "Majors."] Students will not be able to enroll in future terms until they declare a major or consult their academic advisor about their academic plan.
  • Students who have a Mandatory Major Declaration enrollment hold will still be able to drop classes or withdraw from the current term by the official deadlines.  See Enrollment Deadlines Pages for more information regarding deadlines.
• Mandatory Major Declaration (MMD) enrollment holds are automatically lifted when students declare a major.  If, for any reason, declaring the major does not lift the MMD hold for a student, please contact L&S Undergraduate Academic Deans' Services for assistance.
• Students who cannot declare a major because they do not qualify yet or have another issue preventing them from declaring a major should speak with their current academic advisor as soon as possible about their options.
  • Advisors who have questions about their students' Mandatory Major Declaration enrollment hold should contact L&S Undergraduate Academic Deans' Services.  
• Students can find the name and contact information for advisors at Find My Assigned Advisor

For Advisors: Request an exemption (go.wisc.edu/mmd)

If you advise an affected student who is unable to declare a major this semester, you may send a request to the L&S academic deans to exempt that student from the MMD hold for that current term only. 

Exemptions can be requested by academic advisors, including the student’s assigned advisor or a departmental major advisor. Students cannot make their own request to exempt themselves from the enrollment hold.

Please use this form (go.wisc.edu/mmd) for requesting exemptions to this hold for this term.

Appropriate circumstances include:

• student has a viable plan to complete requirements (requisites, minimum GPA, etc.) for declaring a specific major or specialized degree program and is actively taking steps to declare next term; OR

• student may not meet requirements to declare first choice of major with current coursework but has created a viable alternate plan.

Timeline of communications

Week 3: 

• "FYI" emails with information about the MMD policy are sent to students who have not declared a major with:
  1. a projected level of JUNIOR next term; and
  2. a projected level of SENIOR next term but are exempted because they are FYR students in their first two semesters and TRF students in their first semester at UW-Madison.
• For students who meet the conditions of the policy:
  1. Students receive an email alerting them to a possible enrollment hold.  The AAS, CCAS, Honors, and CAE advising units will receive a list of these students.   Several hundred L&S undergraduate students each fall and spring terms meet these conditions.
  2. Advisors' requests to exempt a student from the MMD hold - submitted before the Week 5 hold date - will exclude that student from list used to place the hold for the term.

Week 5: Holds are placed for any student who:

• still meets the policy conditions (not declared a major, 86+ credits, etc.)

• does not have an advisor request for an exemption before the effective hold date.

Students receive an email confirming that they have an MMD hold, which will be lifted when they declare a major.

Advisors’ requests submitted after the Week 5 hold date will be reviewed by an L&S academic dean who decides whether to lift the MMD hold or let it stand. 

Week 8: A third email is sent to any student who still has the MMD hold. Week 8 is shortly before the enrollment period starts for the upcoming term. That email reminds the student that they aren’t able to enroll until they have declared a major or met with their advisor.