Do You Have My Major?
Following, you can find an alphabetical listing of all the majors available to you at NC State.
A
Accounting: educates and trains students pursuing careers as professional accountants in business, government and industry. Consists of a foundation in humanities, social science, science and mathematics.
Aerospace Engineering: instructs students in aerodynamics, aerospace materials, structures, propulsion and flight mechanics; helps students define, formulate and solve aerospace engineering problems.
Africana Studies: offers an integrated and critical understanding of the experiences, contributions, and achievements of peoples of African descent. Graduates are prepared for further professional or graduate education.
Agricultural and Environmental Technology: exposes students to hands-on technologies, which apply to developing, integrating, implementing and problem-solving agricultural and environmental situations.
Agricultural Business Management: applies the concepts, principles and terminology of business (economics, management, finance and marketing) to real-world situations in the agricultural and life sciences industries.
Agricultural Education: prepares students to teach agriculture (leads to a teacher license). Students must select a concentration: Agribusiness Management, Agricultural Engineering Technology, Agronomy, Animal Science, Horticultural Science, Natural Resources, or Poultry Science.
Animal Science: covers the traditional production and management areas of livestock, horses and companion animals, as well as the basic sciences such as reproduction, physiology, genetics and nutrition.
Applied Mathematics: includes a strong interdisciplinary concentration involving applied mathematics. It is possible to design an applied mathematics concentration around business-related applications. In the area of computational mathematics, students can study computational methods and analysis with an emphasis on their applications in a chosen concentration.
Architecture: studies the art and science of building design; architects are licensed to protect public health, safety and welfare to transform these needs into concepts and then develop the concepts into building solutions that can be constructed by others.
Art & Design: combines art and design in the areas of media arts (animation, computer imaging, interactive design illustration, photography); textile design (weaving, fiber arts, surface design); and traditional art and design (painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture).
Art Applications: allows students to develop a foundation in one of the arts and learn the social or technological applications of the arts in a modern world. Concentrations include film studies, music and visual arts.
B
Biochemistry: the science in which the principles of chemistry, biology, genetics, mathematics and physics focus on investigations of biomolecules, organelles, cells, tissues and organisms.
Biological Engineering: emphasizes basic science and engineering courses such as math, physics, chemistry, mechanics, biology, materials and thermodynamics. Provides a foundation for application of engineering principles to biological systems.
Biological Sciences: prepares students for a career that meets the daily challenges of preserving the environment, developing defenses against disease, increasing agricultural productivity and expanding our understanding of the basic processes of life.
Biomedical Engineering: finds solutions by researching, testing and applying medical, biological, mechanical, chemical, electrical and structural information. Conceptualizing, designing and developing solutions provide opportunities for students interested in improving healthcare for animals and humans.
Bioprocessing Science: encompasses the research, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of products prepared from or used by biological systems—including food, feed, fuels, biopharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
Business Management: focuses on core business functions and offers five different concentrations: finance, marketing, strategy, law, operations, human resources and information systems.
C
Chemical Engineering: applies the principles of chemistry and engineering to solve problems involving the production or use of chemicals, building a bridge between science and manufacturing.
Chemistry: studies the nature and characteristics of substances and the changes they undergo; concerned with the building blocks of all materials: atoms and molecules.
Civil Engineering: concerns the improvement and care of built and natural environments; deals with the planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of buildings, dams, bridges, harbors, power facilities and more.
Communication: provides insight in human communication for professionals entering business, industry, nonprofit organizations or government service. Specializations include Communication Media, Public and Interpersonal Communication and Public Relations Communication.
Computer Engineering: combines expertise in both electronic hardware and software design. Computer engineers can evaluate the trade-offs between hardware and software and provide the best system at lowest cost.
Computer Science: teaches students theory and application of computers to wide areas of problem solving. Courses provide foundations in programming and computer languages, data structures, computer architectures, numerical analysis and theory of computation and programming languages.
Construction Engineering & Management: provides the technical and management skills to help turn designs into reality. Career opportunities include design, planning, financial management positions or direct field operations.
Criminology: offers a general background in the causes of crime and the agencies of criminal justice. Specific areas covered include dealing with deviance, juvenile delinquency, the court system and correctional facilities.
D
Design Studies: provides an introductory view of the history and the theory of design, followed by more focused investigation and a capstone project in architecture, graphic design, industrial design, landscape architecture, crafts, textiles or material culture.
E
Economics: studies the way people make a living; produce, distribute, and consume goods and services; and reach decisions about the use of scarce resources. Topics include financial markets, labor relations, the organization of business, and wealth, poverty and income distribution.
Electrical Engineering: provides instruction on designing, developing, testing and supervising the manufacture of electrical, electronic and computer equipment, systems, or components. Focus is on hardware, but as more systems become computer-based, they are increasingly involved with software techniques.
Elementary Education: provides instruction on teaching academic, social and motor skills to students in public and private schools. Students learn to develop teaching outlines and lesson plans, give lectures, facilitate discussions and activities, keep class attendance records, assign homework and evaluate student progress.
English: uses analytical approaches to examine language, literature, cultural studies and writing. Concentrations include Creative Writing, Film, Teacher Education, World Literature and Language Writing and Rhetoric.
Environmental Engineering: seeks engineered solutions to environmental problems. Translates physical, chemical and biological processes into systems to destroy toxic substances, remove pollutants from water, reduce non-hazardous solid waste volumes, eliminate contaminants from the air and develop groundwater supplies.
Environmental Science: gathers knowledge of the physical environment and determines efficient ways to maintain or improve it to benefit society. Concentrations include ecology, economic policy, or environmental soil science, air quality, geology, statistics, and watershed hydrology.
Environmental Technology: combines science with environmental policy, law regulations, hazardous materials management and environmental management systems.
Extension Education: focuses on teaching others how to apply agricultural research. Prepares students for multiple professional environments, including agricultural education, Cooperative Extension and agricultural communication.
F
First Year College: Provides guidance and support to students who prefer a year of general study accompanied with major and career guidance to make informed decisions determining their college future. Students cannot earn a degree through this track.
Fisheries & Wildlife Science: addresses basic and applied questions about fish and wildlife ecology, habitat use, conservation, production, harvest and interactions with people.
Food Science: combines the study of science and engineering to process, evaluate, package and distribute food. Students study the chemical, biological, microbiological, nutritional, engineering and economic aspects of food.
Foreign Languages: enables students to keep pace with the continuous expansion of international relations. Majors include French and Spanish, with either a Language and Literature Concentration or Teacher Education option; German Studies is also offered as a major.
Forest Management: explores the science of balancing human needs with the natural cycles of forests. Combines state-of-the-art technology with hands-on fieldwork.
French, Secondary Teacher Education: prepares students to teach French in schools, grades K-12. Teachers must demonstrate target language competency by functioning effectively in interpersonal, interpretive and presentational modes.
G
Geology: studies the composition, structure and other physical aspects of the earth. By using sophisticated instruments and analyses of the earth and water, geoscientists study the Earth's geologic past and present to make predictions about its future.
Graphic Design: studies the visual, theoretical, historical and technical aspects of the discipline. Provides experiences in the analysis of communication problems, the development of creative solutions to those problems and the implementation and evaluation of those solutions.
H
History: creates connections between nations, cultures and economic realities; encourages students to examine events using careful analysis.
Horticulture Science: investigates the complex growth and developmental responses of horticultural crops and to develop solutions for problems confronting the horticulture industry. Concentrations include general technology or landscape technology.
I
Industrial Design: determines the form of a manufactured product, shaping it to fit the people who use it and the industrial processes that produce it.
Industrial Engineering: involves making decisions concerning the best use of people, material, equipment and energy in achieving an organization’s aims. To accomplish this, the industrial engineer collects, analyzes and arranges information to fulfill management’s needs.
Interdisciplinary Studies: allows undergraduate students to design a major in an area of academic interest that crosses disciplinary boundaries. With assistance from the adviser, students complete an application for the self-designed program which then must be approved by the Self-Designed Major Committee. The courses selected must make one coherent academic course of study.
International Studies: teaches students to speak the language of others, to appreciate the cultural diversity of societies, to understand the economic dynamics of global trade and to follow shifting geo-political lines. Concentrations include Africa, Europe, International Relations, Latin America, Economy and Environment, East and Southeast Asia, International Cultural Studies and South Asia and Middle East.
L
Landscape Architecture: concerns the physical environment within which we live, work and play. Focuses on the welfare of the environment and living communities of the earth; emphasizes interdisciplinary design work, national and international experience, and ecologically sound community-based design and planning.
M
Marine Sciences: studies aspects of oceans as well as coastal or inland waters. Concentrations include Biological Oceanography, Chemistry, Geology, Meteorology and Physics.
Materials Science & Engineering: relates the behavior of materials to their atomic structure or microstructure; how individual atoms and molecules join together to form crystals or arrays and how they’re organized into arrangements with unique properties.
Mathematics: uses mathematical theory, computational techniques, algorithms and the latest computer technology to solve economic, scientific, engineering, physics and business problems.
Mathematics Education: provides instruction on planning courses, instructing students, interacting with parents and administration and keeping up with developments in the field. Concentrations include High School Mathematics Education, Middle Grades Education degree with a Mathematics concentration, Middle Grades Education degree with a Mathematics and Science concentration.
Mechanical Engineering: masters the principles of mathematics and physics and then applies these principles using basic science, experimental data and design guidelines to develop working mechanical components or systems.
Meteorology: studies the atmosphere's physical characteristics, motions and processes, and the way it affects our environment. The most popular application of this knowledge is in forecasting the weather.
Microbiology: studies the growth and development, physiology, classification, ecology, genetics and other aspects of the life processes of microscopic, generally single-celled, organisms and viruses.
Middle Grades Language Arts & Social Studies: prepares teachers to educate adolescents while being responsive to their needs, interests and abilities. Graduates earn licensure for teaching grades 6-9 in language arts and social studies.
Middle Grades Mathematics & Science: prepares teachers to educate young adolescents while being responsive to their needs, interests and abilities. Graduates earn licensure for teaching grades 6-9 in math and science.
N
Natural Resources: studies soil, water, air, minerals, flora, fauna and people with the goal of improving natural resources for the benefit of society. Concentrations include Economics and Management, Soil Resources, and Soil and Water Systems.
Nuclear Engineering: tackles issues in consumer and industrial power, space exploration, water supply, food supply safety, health and transportation. Involves developing designs for nuclear power plants, applying radiation in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, and more.
Nutrition Science: examines the ways in which what we eat affects our physical and psychological well-being. Determines optimal intake of individual nutrients, specific foods and food groups.
P
Paper Science & Engineering: combines elements of chemical engineering, chemistry, environmental science and business management. Exposes students to science, engineering and technology in a way that emphasizes finding solutions to real-world problems.
Parks, Recreation & Tourism: specializes in the planning and management of parks, recreation and sport areas and facilities, tourism attractions and leisure activities in a range of environments. This major has a Professional Golf Program and four concentrations: Program Management, Park and Natural Resource Recreation, Sport Management, and Tourism and Commercial Recreation.
Philosophy: examines the way people think, their ideas and how they seek to understand their values and beliefs. Concentrations include Philosophy of Law and Logic, Representation and Reasoning.
Physics: is a passport into a range of science, engineering and education careers. The physicist is trained to see to the heart of a problem, to strip through layers of complexity to arrive at basic principles with insight and rigor.
Plant and Soil Science: the development and practical application of plant and soil sciences to produce quality food, feed and fiber crops, with a focus on field-crop production and soil management. Concentrations include: agronomic business, agronomic sciences, crop production, soil science or turf grass management.
Plant Biology: provides students with classroom, laboratory and field experience in the major sub-disciplines of plant biology; studies preservation of the quality of our environment and how plants can make life more enjoyable.
Political Science: focuses on politics, governments and the political process. Concentrations include American Politics, International Politics, Law and Justice, Public Policy.
Polymer & Color Chemistry: teaches core physical science subjects yet focuses on one of a number of important applied chemistry related fields. Addresses the science and technology of the fields of polymers and color chemistry.
Poultry Science: provides instruction on how to raise and manage healthy chickens, turkeys and ducks for eggs or meat. Students apply principles of biology and chemistry to improve productivity.
Psychology: studies human behaviors and interactions. There are two options under this major: General Option for students who wish to study psychology to learn principles of human behavior; Human Resource Development to provide skills for those who wish to enter human service careers.
R
Religious Studies: trains students to understand and interpret the religions of the world as part of a broader human experience. Effectively prepares students for advanced study in the discipline or related fields on the graduate level, and for professional seminary and divinity school study.
S
Science Education: prepares teachers to plan courses, instruct students, interact with parents and administration, and stay current with developments in the field. Students in the Science Education (grades 9-12) program specialize in one of four areas: physics, chemistry, earth science, or biology.
Science Education-High School & Middle School: prepares teachers to plan courses, instruct students, interact with parents and administration, and stay current with developments in the field. Coursework in Science Education includes courses and experiences in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities and physical education.
Science, Technology & Society: explores the ways modern science and technology shape modern culture, values and institutions, and how modern values shape science and technology.
Social Work: focuses on the liberal arts and incorporates a professional foundation that includes social work practice, human behavior and diversity, community social services, social policy and research methods.
Sociology: examines the social interactions of people in groups and the causes and consequences of the human behavior within the groups. Students will study race relations, gender, social class, religion and ethnic background.
Spanish, Secondary Teacher Education: prepares graduates to teach Spanish in schools, grades K-12. Trains teachers who know the content they teach, know how to teach students and are successful in teaching a diverse population of students.
Statistics: deals with the logic of experiment and survey design, the efficient collection and presentation of quantitative information and the formulations of valid and reliable inferences from sample data.
T
Technology, Design and Education: develops technical skills and equips students to understand technical processes and to apply knowledge, skill and creativity to solve technical problems.
Textile & Apparel Management: focuses on branding of diverse textile products, including the retail and fashion industries. Concentrations include Brand Management and Marketing, Fashion Development and Product Management, and Supply Chain Management.Textile Engineering: deals with the application of scientific and engineering principles to the design and control of all aspects of fiber, textile and apparel processes, products and machinery.
Textile Technology: concentrates on the manufacturing of textile products, which is the key to the fiber, textile and apparel industries. Since many different processes and products are involved in textile manufacturing, this program is flexible and diverse.
W
Women’s & Gender Studies: examines and reinterprets common assumptions about gender and gender identity, in understanding the contributions made by women in various fields of endeavor, and in gaining insight into feminist theories and methodologies.
Wood Products: provides instruction on the renewable natural resource, wood. This curriculum is the only one of its kind in North Carolina and is one of only nine programs in the country accredited by the Society of Wood Science and Technology.
Z
Zoology: studies animals; students gain a strong foundation of the animal kingdom. Curriculum prepares students for graduate school, medical, dental or optometry school, and for veterinary schools.
