Customized
Fuse more than one major field and forge a distinctive path that will prepare you to navigate your career with a unique perspective and diverse set of skills.
The Individualized Degree Plan allows you to customize your education.
IDP Newsletter - Spring 2024
Info Sessions
Join the IDP program director for an online information session to ask questions and get program information.
Upcoming Sessions
THURSDAY June 13th and 27th from 4-5 PM
Register for Information Session
Flexible
Depending on your interests and course availability, complete the program in person, hybrid, or online. Apply previous community college and other higher education experience towards your degree, and take courses in any of the colleges at Cal Poly Humboldt.
Career Focused
Prepare for a range of educational and professional pathways, including graduate study and careers in which possessing cross-disciplinary knowledge and skills is an asset.
Experiential
You have a variety of opportunities for hands-on learning, including internships, experiential learning projects and independent research and creative projects.
Program Overview
Chart your own course. The Individualized Degree Plan (Interdisciplinary Studies, B.A.) invites you to collaborate in the design of your major and earn a degree that aligns with your unique interests and goals.
An Interdisciplinary Studies degree is a jumping off point for a career in many industries and can serve as a foundation for you to thrive in emerging career fields, where various disciplines converge. Through this program you will develop knowledge and skills across multiple disciplines and learn how to apply integrative interdisciplinary analysis to real-world problems.
This flexible degree path may be completed in-person, hybrid, or based on your interests and course availability, may be completed online.
Earn Credit for Prior Learning
Beginning in Fall 2025, IDP students will be able to earn up to 15 units of credit for college-level skills and knowledge gained outside of a college classroom, through experiences such as: industry or government training, volunteer and civic activities, work-based or independant learning.
Take SP 350: Conceptualizing Prior Learning (2 units), to learn how to frame your non-classroom learning in academic terms and develop a prior learning portfolio. Submit your portfolio for assessment that could lead to up to 15 units of college credit through SP 351:Portfolio on Prior Learning.
If you have any questions or would like to set up a meeting to discuss the program and your plans, please email idp@humboldt.edu.
Career Options
The Individualized Degree Program aligns with current labor market trends and the knowledge, skills, and abilities that employers value. The 2021 Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), How College Contributes to Workforce Success: Employer Survey on What Matters Most, reports a desire from employers for the college experience to balance breadth and depth of learning, producing versatile graduates who can adapt to problems as they arise. Employers emphasized the value of exposure to a wide variety of academic topics and disciplines and acquisition of digital communication, information literacy, and critical thinking skills. As highlighted in the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Resources for Interdisciplinary Careers, many careers are at the intersection of more than one discipline or area of study.
The following list includes some examples of interdisciplinary career fields, it is not meant to be all inclusive; many other interdisciplinary career fields exist. Some require specific and/or further education.
- Law and Advocacy
- Community Planning and Development
- Medicine
- Healthcare Administration
- Applied and Public Health
- Environmental Policy
- Sustainability
- Renewable Energy
- Natural Resources Planning and Administration
- Teaching
- Education Administration
- Public Policy
- Public Administration and Governance
- Government Relations
- Scientific and Technical Communication
- Social Innovation
- Entrepreneurship
- Visual and New Media Communication
- Marketing and Management
- Human Resources
- Organizational Leadership
