Academic Degree Programs

Degree Programs and Majors

The Florida Board of Governors Regulation 8.011(2) defines “degree program” and “program major” as follows:

“(a) Degree Program – An organized curriculum leading to a degree in an area of study recognized as an academic discipline by the higher education community, as demonstrated by assignment of a Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code by the National Center for Educational Statistics or as demonstrated by the existence of similar degree programs at other colleges and universities.

(b) Program Major – An organized curriculum offered as part or all of an existing or proposed degree program. A program major shall be reasonably associated with the degree program under which it is offered and shall share common core courses with any other majors within the same degree program. Although in some cases the major and the degree program names are synonymous, only the degree program shall be assigned a CIP Code and shall be included in the State University System Academic Degree Program Inventory as a stand-alone program.”

Florida Board of Governors Regulation 8.011

Note the following properties:

  • All degree programs and program majors must have associated Academic Learning Compacts and Student Learning Outcomes.
  • Degree programs are assigned a CIP code and included in the State University System Academic Degree Program Inventory. 
  • Each degree program shall include at least one program major but may have multiple majors. Individual majors are not listed in the State University System Academic Degree Program Inventory.
  • A single degree program may contain many majors leading to different “degrees”. For example if a degree program has been approved by the BOT for a BS in Tree Surgery, a BS degree in Tree Surgery Art could be offered under the same program by creating a new major. The major would need to be approved via the Academic Approval System (https://approval.ufl.edu/), but not by the BOT.