Exploring Academic Pathways: A Guide to Majors at Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University distinguishes itself by blending a top-tier research environment with a teaching-focused liberal arts curriculum. Learning at Vanderbilt happens in classrooms and labs, at internships and during study abroad, and even in your campus residence. At Vanderbilt, we encourage students to study across disciplines to feed their passions and inspire new ways to address issues and impact the world. The academic environment is intense, collaborative, and supportive. This article provides an overview of the diverse majors available to undergraduate students across its four schools.
The Vanderbilt Undergraduate Experience
Vanderbilt offers an academic path for students who wish to pursue professional degrees in medicine/health, business, law, nursing, or architecture. Most Vanderbilt students take a variety of classes across our undergraduate schools. Vanderbilt students have the chance not only to absorb and apply invaluable lessons from their professors, but also to take part in their innovations and create new avenues of knowledge for future generations. Students join a community of collaborative scholars often engaged in research that spans traditional disciplinary lines.
Immersion Vanderbilt
Immersion Vanderbilt calls for each undergraduate student to participate in an intensive learning experience that takes place in and beyond the classroom. Students will have the opportunity to pursue these experiences along four different pathways: civic and professional, creative expression, international, or research.
Global Engagement
Vanderbilt’s commitment to academic excellence, global engagement, and community service extends far beyond Nashville. With more than 120 Vanderbilt-approved programs offering study abroad for a semester, a summer, a Maymester, or an entire academic year, undergraduates enhance their studies with academic experiences and cultural, research, internship, and volunteer opportunities on seven continents. Studying abroad is an integral part of the undergraduate experience at Vanderbilt.
Residential Education
Residential education is the heart of the Vanderbilt experience. Learning at Vanderbilt takes place 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, whether you’re in the classroom or a common room, a laboratory or the dining hall. Your experience at Vanderbilt begins on The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons, where all first-year students live in 10 houses along with faculty heads of house and the dean of The Commons. After spending your first year on The Commons, you can apply to live in one of our distinctive residential colleges. With a faculty head of college as its intellectual leader, each college offers a robust array of programs, spaces, and relationships intentionally designed to meet students’ needs during their second, third, and fourth years of college. Overall, Vanderbilt’s residential experience invites students, faculty, and staff to go beyond the boundaries of the lab and the lecture hall to encourage discovery across disciplines among a vibrant community of talented scholars.
Read also: Accessing Vanderbilt's Student Resources
Academic Divisions and Sample Majors
Vanderbilt University offers a wide variety of majors across its four undergraduate schools: the College of Arts and Science, the School of Engineering, Peabody College of Education and Human Development, and the Blair School of Music. Here are some examples of majors offered at each school:
College of Arts and Science
The College of Arts and Science is the largest school at Vanderbilt, offering more than 100 majors and minors across 70+ fields of study.
- Biological Sciences
- Chemistry
- Computer Science
- Economics
- English
- History
- Mathematics
- Neuroscience
- Philosophy
- Physics
- Political Science
- Psychology
- Sociology
School of Engineering
- Biomedical Engineering
- Chemical Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Computer Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Environmental Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
Peabody College of Education and Human Development
- Child Development
- Cognitive Studies
- Human and Organizational Development
- Special Education
Blair School of Music
- Music
- Musical Arts
- Music Composition
- Music Performance
- Music Education
Additional Information
The student-faculty ratio at Vanderbilt University is 8:1, and the school has 59.4% of its classes with fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors at Vanderbilt University include: Social Sciences; Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies; Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services; Biological and Biomedical Sciences; Engineering; Mathematics and Statistics; Psychology; Education; and Visual and Performing Arts. The average freshman retention rate, an indicator of student satisfaction, is 96%.
Read also: Vanderbilt University Alumni
Read also: Your Nashville Stay: Marriott Vanderbilt
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