Interdisciplinary Studies

Types of Degrees Interdisciplinary Studies Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many interdisciplinary studies graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	7,757
Associate Degree	644
Basic Certificate	361
Master’s Degree	351
Undergraduate Certificate	107
Doctor’s Degree	71
Graduate Certificate	50

What Interdisciplinary Studies Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to interdisciplinary studies were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Interdisciplinary Studies Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in interdisciplinary studies should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Skills for Interdisciplinary Studies Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to interdisciplinary studies:

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 7,810 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies in 2021, making it rank #63 in popularity. This major is dominated by women with about 63% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of interdisciplinary studies majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	186
Black or African American	1,310
Hispanic or Latino	1,563
White	3,976
International Students	152
Other Races/Ethnicities	570

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Interdisciplinary Studies. About 2.0% of those with this major are international students.

Online Interdisciplinary Studies Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	8	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	4	0
Associate’s Degree	76	20
Bachelor’s Degree	18	4
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	48	15
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	12	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Interdisciplinary Studies

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to interdisciplinary studies.

Major	Number of Grads
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies	29,596
Biological & Physical Science	28,469
Data Analytics	7,294
International Studies	6,458
Nutrition Science	5,514
Behavioral Science	4,777
Data Science	4,416
Sustainability Science	4,382
Cognitive Science	2,959
Human Computer Interaction	2,324
Natural Sciences	2,275
Computational Science	2,167
Human Biology	2,016
Mathematics & Computer Science	1,489
Systems Theory	1,080
Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution	1,074
Gerontology	951
Museum Studies	892
Geography and Environmental Studies	809
Science, Technology & Society	805
Dispute Resolution	652
Multicultural & Diversity Studies	584
Marine Science	436
Historic Preservation	423
Cultural Studies & Analysis	375
Classical & Ancient Studies	290
Biopsychology	208
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics	153
Mathematical Economics	139
Climate Science	110
Medieval Studies	105
Environmental Geosciences	102
Economics and Computer Science	89
History and Political Science	68
Maritime Studies	68
Holocaust Studies	67
Accounting & Computer Science	55
Digital Humanities and Textual Studies	54
Anthrozoology	47
Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature	40
Earth Systems Science	25
Economics and Foreign Language/Literature	12
Thanatology	8
Linguistics and Computer Science	4
History and Language/Literature	1
Linguistics and Anthropology	1
Geoarcheaology	1
Geobiology	0

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By UTDallas under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.