IDP Requirements & Policies

An IDP major requires a minimum of 40 credit hours, including 21 hours of upper-division credit and 15 hours that must be completed after the proposal is approved by the department chair. A minor from the MSCD Catalog is required.

An IDP minor requires a minimum of 20 credit hours, including 6 hours of upper-division credit and 6 hours that must be completed after the proposal is approved by the department chair. A major from the MSCD Catalog is required.

An IDP extended major requires a minimum of 60 credit hours, including 27 hours of upper-division credit and 21 hours that must be completed after the proposal is approved by the department chair. No minor is required.

A senior experience is required for the IDP major and the extended major. The senior experience is the culmination of your undergraduate experience, allowing you to synthesize, integrate, and apply what you've learned throughout your program of study. A senior experience consists of at least 3 credit hours at the 4000 level, and may be satisfied through a variety of ways: a course, a seminar, an independent study, or an internship. The senior experience should be completed within the last 12 hours of your degree program.

The title for an IDP major or minor is Individualized Studies with an emphasis title reflecting your focus. Your IDP may not duplicate in content or emphasis title any MSCD program already offered in the Catalog.

Either the bachelor of arts (BA) or the bachelor of science (BS) degree may be awarded through the IDP.

A GPA of 2.5 at MSCD is required before a proposal receives final approval. A minimum grade of "C" is required in each course included in the IDP major or minor.

IDP major students may not apply courses with the same course prefix as the majority of courses included in the IDP major to General Studies, Level II requirements.

No more than 30 credit hours from the School of Business may be applied to any part of an IDP degree program, including the major, minor, general studies or electives. School of Business departments include Accounting (ACC); Computer Information Systems (CMS): Finance (FIN), Management (MGT) and Marketing (MKT). This is to comply with the School of Business AACSB accreditation standards.

Generally, a maximum of 12 credit hours of omnibus numbered courses (1900, 2888, 2900, 3900, 4888, 2990, 3970, 4980, and 4990) may apply to an IDP major; a maximum of 6 credit hours of omnibus numbered courses may be included in an IDP minor.

College requirements which apply to all bachelor's degrees and second degrees apply to the IDP: General Studies, Multicultural Studies, minimum of 40 hours upper-division credit, minimum 30 hours residency credit and other requirements as listed in the MSCD Catalog.