» Academic Program Changes

The official university catalog is the primary resource for students who are considering changing their major or minor and should be reviewed for critical information on degree requirements.

To change a major or minor, students must submit a Change of Program eForm in their Student Center. You may also use this eForm to declare a themed inquiry. All change of major requests require approval from the new major's department chair, and some require an additional application process. Some changes of minor requests require department approval as well. Please see the Changing Your Academic Pathway page for details.

The Change of Program eForm is only available for students in the 2017-18 and later catalog years. Students in catalog years prior to 2017-18 should email aps@chapman.edu for assistance with program changes.

Students may request to move their catalog year forward by emailing aps@chapman.edu with the desired catalog year. Please note that changing catalog years updates all requirements, including major, minor, and GE. 

The student's catalog year can be found on the program evaluation. To access the program evaluation, log in to the Student Center and select "Program Evaluation" from the drop-down menu.

Change of Program eForms are accepted and processed by the Office of the University Registrar throughout the year except during registration periods in November and April.  Any forms submitted later than one week prior to the first day of scheduled registration appointments in November or April will not be processed until the conclusion of the two-week registration period. Operationally, this means that none of the following changes to student academic records will be made during registration appointments:

  • Addition of a major, minor, or themed inquiry
  • Change of an existing major, minor, or themed inquiry
  • Change of a declared Area of Study, Emphasis, or Concentration

Self-Designed Programs

Self-Designed Majors

A student may design their own major in consultation with an academic advisor. The subject matter must be substantially different from that offered in existing majors. The student designs a program from existing course offerings, which opens up a new direction of study or allows for significantly more intensive study in a subject matter than is otherwise possible. Self-designed majors require the approval of the Faculty Academic Council.

  • A student must submit a proposal prior to completing 75 credits.
  • The self-designed major must not contain more than 40 percent of the requirements of an existing major, and it may not include more than two courses (up to 8 credits) not offered at Chapman.
  • The program of study must include a minimum of 33 credits, at least 21 of which must be upper-division credits. A maximum of 6 credits of individual study may be included in the self-designed major.
  • Approval of an academic advisor and sponsoring department is required.
  • Additional information regarding self-designed majors is included with the Self-Designed Major Petition Form.

Self-Designed Minors

A student who wishes to declare a self-designed minor must adhere to the following guidelines:

  • A student must submit a proposal prior to completing 75 credits.
  • The program of study must include a minimum of 21 credits, at least 12 of which must be upper-division credits. A maximum of 6 credits of individual study may be included in the self-designed minor.
  • Self-designed minors require the approval of the GE Committee.
  • Additional information regarding self-designed minors is included with the Self-Designed Minor Petition form.