FAQ: Change of Major or Minor

What is a Major & Minor

Majors and Minors are focused areas of study that require students to take a specific set of courses that lead to a comprehensive understanding of a particular subject matter.

Completion of a major is a graduation requirement; where as a minor does not require as many units, and is not a graduation requirment (however,  at SF State, only the Journalism major requires a minor to earn a bachelor's degree).

At SF State there are over 100 undergraduate majors and minors.  Choosing a major involves declaring this choice at the time of admission or consulting with faculty advisors and then submitting a request through your Student center.  Choosing a minor is not necessary for admissions, and is optional (paper requests are available for plans that are not online).

Impacted Majors

Impacted majors have more students than can be accommodated declare these areas of study as their majors.  Both lower and upper division students requesting a change of major to an impacted program must meet the supplemental requirements required for that major.  For more details visit SF State's Bulletin.

Lower-Division Students | Non-Impacted Majors

Department must accept changes of major for continuing lower-division students who have a minimum 2.0 GPA, and a minimum grade of C in specified pre-requisite courses.

Upper-Division Students | Non-Impacted Majors

Department may determine the number of units that must be completed with a minimum grade of C for the upper-division student to declare their major or a department may specify (normally lower division) courses that must be completed with minimum grades of C for the upper-division student to declared. The department may not limit enrollment in such courses to majors only.

Undeclared Majors

Typically, students declare their major during their sophomore year after completing most of their lower-division General Education requirements.  Lower-division students who are undecided about their major may identify themselves as undeclared.

Students who are uncertain of their major choice should identify themselves as undeclared.  Advising and tools are offered specifically to target undeclared students to help them explore and decide on a major.  Students should declare as early as possible to stay on track for graduation.  Students who enter as a freshman must declare a major by the time they complete 70 units.

Second Majors

Students can add a second major or minor, but only one request can be reviewed at a time.

General Policy

For more details on the below Change of Major & Minor policy please visit the SF State's Bulletin. 

• Double Major
• Duplicate Use of Credit Between Majors
• Duplicate Use of Credit Between the Major and GE
• Change of Major (cont.)
• Residence Units
• Grade Point Average (as related to major requirements)
• Time Limit to Complete Requirements for Undergraduate Degree
• Duplicate Use of Credit Between Major and MinorDuplicate Use of Credit Between Minor and GE
• Upper-Division/Residence Units
• Minimum Units
• No Minor in Major
• Grade Point Average (as related to minor requirements)

Students who are eligible to use the Online Change of Major or Minor:

• Must not have applied for Graduation.
  • If a student has applied to graduate, they won’t be able to make any changes online. Students who have already applied to graduate should be instructed to use our PDF form to make changes to their major or minor.
• Must not have an existing request in processing.
  • If a request to change, add, or delete a major or minor is open, students will not be able to make further requests until the first has been approved or denied by the program or canceled by the student. Students can also cancel an open request to change their program if plans have since changed.
• Must make sure their desired Major or Minor is participating in the service.
  • All non-impacted majors and minors are now available online, but some plans may not be immediately available if it is new or if it has been updated. Contact the college that it belongs to; if instructed to complete a paper form, please select one from the options below.

1. Log into your Student Center
2. Select the dropdown menu labeled 'other academic. . .'
3. Select the Change Major option
   • Click the >> button

4. Click Next
   • Note: Restricted records will not progress past this point and an alert with an explanation will appear.

5. Select the major or minor plan to change
   • Note: Due to limitations within the online change of major/minor, some buttons will be greyed out.

Selecting a minor is the same process

NOTE: Some departments require you make an appointment with an advisor prior to approval. Check with the prospective department prior to submitting your request or check your request for any comments sent by the department after your submission.

1. Open the 'Requested College' field

2. Open the 'Major/Minor' field
   • Note: Only one Change of Major or Minor request is allowed at a time. Additional requests can only be submitted if a pending request is approved or denied by the Department. Or, canceled by the student.

3. If satisfied with your selection, click Next
   • Note: To change your selection, click Cancel.  Selecting Cancel will lead you back to the Restrictions page
4. Review your selection again, select 'Submit' to proceed

1. Log into your Student Center
2. Select the dropdown menu labeled 'other academic. . .'
3. Select Change Major Status

4. The Change of Major/Minor Status page displays the status of the request.
   • Approved: Your request has been approved by the dept.
   • Denied: Your request is denied, contact the dept. for information on how to proceed.
   • Pending dept. Review: The option to cancel the major/minor request is still allowed when status is pending.
     • Note: Check your email, all updates are sent to your SF State Email.

5. The Change of Major/Minor Status page displays your request(s) record and details including:
   • Transaction details (date and time, action, type, major/minor code, description, degree)
   • Status of request (applied, approved, denied, pending)
   • Comments, if any, made by the college advisor or administrator
   • Option to cancel your request
     • Note: The cancel button will display until an advisor or administrator replies to your request.

3. The Change of Major Status page displays the record your request(s) including:
   • Transaction details (date and time, action, type, major/minor code, description, degree)
   • Status of request (applied, approved, denied, pending)
   • Option to Cancel your request
4. You can also ‘Check Major Status’ in the SF State Student Center
   • You can still cancel your request by click the Cancel button in the message window.
   • Comments, if any, made by the College advisor or administrator
   • If you change your mind, return to this page to cancel your Change of Major/Minor. The Cancel button will display until an advisor or administrator replies to your request.