What is the difference between a double major and a dual degree? If I wanted to pursue a BS in CLA and a BS in CSE, would that be a dual degree rather than a double major since the degrees are from different colleges?
Good question! It’s pretty confusing but I think UMN defines dual degree to include a degree from another college of the university. And there might be a restriction on earning two of the same degree (i.e. a BS from one college and a BS from another). Here is something I found - have no idea whether it’s current: http://advisingtools.class.umn.edu/Multimedia/Completing_Dual_Degrees_at_the_UMTC.pdf
The short answer would be to talk to your advisor and if you are restricted you can probably still minor in that other subject.
Okay that’s what I am thinking it is as well. I will drop in with my advisor and double-check though. Thank you for the link by the way! I can also check with her to see if it is current.
That’s interesting, I have never heard anything about restrictions, but that’s definitely a good thing for me to keep in mind. Would you happen to know why restrictions like that are in place?
@stormypanda I don’t actually know and there is precious little info. online about dual degree programs at UMN. I have a whole host of questions about it myself. My best guess would be that, aside from the huge workload to complete TWO Bachelors of Science, it’s a convention of academia.
My questions are a lot more esoteric than your very practical one. I’d like to understand whether, say, a BS is sufficiently distinct from a BSB (from Carlson) so as to allow a dual degree designation. Or whether a bachelors in ME is distinct from a bachelor’s in another engineering discipline? Guessing the majority of students undertaking a rigorous BS or equivalent program tend to compliment their specialty with a degree from CLA, or they complete a minor in another technical (or other) specialty so as a practical matter it’s not something most people think about. But I agree that it’s worth understanding better, and you brought up a good example with the dual BS degrees. A friend of mine told me recently that her son (in CSE) was planning to double major in CS and business. How he’s planning to do that, I have no clue. Both culminate in the Bachelor of Science - one is a BSB the other BS-Comp Sci. Each has different college-specific requirements, so maybe they are distinct enough to warrant two degrees? Or would he be consigned to pursuing a minor in business? I’ll have to check with her on that once he’s figured it all out!
(To me, CLA itself is particularly confusing because there are a hodgepodge of degree programs: BA, BS, BFA, etc. If you are admitted to CLA, can you earn more than one degree within the college itself? That PDF would suggest “no” but maybe I’m reading it incorrectly).
Probably there is no one definite rule, other than you can’t get two degrees in the same major (like a BA and a BS in Econ, for instance) - that one seems to be in the university policies. Other than that you are probably best off going over all this with your advisor to make sure how best to meet your education goals without spending too much extra time and tuition $$'s. The lesson I’m taking from all my confusion in the area is that it’s important to think through what you want to do carefully and get good advice early on. Another friend recently found out that her daughter’s planned double major at UMich is actually a “dual degree” program due to the different colleges and degrees offered by her two areas of interest, and that it would take probably another two years to complete everything. Ouch! They are paying OOS tuition.
@stormypanda another thought I just had as to why there might be restrictions preventing two of the same degree (i.e. two BA’s or two BS’s) is that in order to earn another degree you need to fulfill that college’s requirements. For CLA, I can understand that you can’t really earn two BA’s: instead you “double-major” (or triple major or whatever). Perhaps it’s the same in CSE (for instance, a B-ME with a double major in physics). But if you want to do something in CSE that culminates in a BS (say, BS-Chem), and then something from CLA that also culminates in a BS (say, Economics), that might be OK, because you would be required to fulfill the college-specific requirements of both CLA and CSE.
You would be spending a LOT of time in school, however. Best to pick up a minor, IMHO.
Check out #'s 3 and 4: operative word is “degree structure”, whatever that means: