Dual Majors

(2 Penn Engineering Programs)

A student who is interested in two of the Engineering and Applied Science curricula may be permitted to expand their program in order to earn a degree in both majors. In such cases, the student must satisfy three requirements:

  1. They must satisfy the requirements for each major.  Only one senior design project is required for dual majors in engineering: if the course units required for senior design are the same for both majors then students may sign up for senior design in either major; if the course units required for senior design are different for the two majors then students must sign up for the senior design with the larger course unit requirement.
    1. CIS students (only) have the option of taking CIS Sr. Thesis in substitution of Sr. Design.  Please note engineering students that have more than one engineering major may not substitute two semesters of Sr. Thesis for two semesters of Sr. Design within their non-CIS major.
  2. They must take a minimum of 22 Engineering courses.
  3. No more than one 1000-level class from outside the two majors can be included in the list of 22 Engineering courses.

BAS students are not permitted to dual major within engineering.

To achieve dual engineering major status, a student must prepare Course Planning Guides (CPGs) at Penn InTouch for the two curricula showing how the requirements for each will be satisfied. The CPGs must be submitted for approval first to the student’s academic advisor and the undergraduate curriculum chair for each program and then to the Office of Research and Academic Services (RAS), with a Request to Change/Add Curriculum form requesting a second major. This process should be completed no later than the beginning of the junior year or the accumulation of 20 course units of relevant work.

The program should show evidence of intellectual purpose and not be merely a manipulation of overlapping requirements for the sole purpose of satisfying two separate engineering majors. No course may be triple counted, i.e., counted for more than two degrees/majors. Only students of demonstrated ability, generally a 3.0 cumulative GPA or higher, will be permitted to register for dual major status.

Some SEAS students may wish to consider a second major in the College of Arts and Sciences. All College majors are open to engineering students as a second major. Please stop by the College Advising Office in Claudia Cohen Hall for further information.