Tufts part of multiple major trend

Tufts is a leader in the recent trend towards undergraduates pursuing multiple majors, an issue that is becoming increasingly contentious and leading universities to debate where to draw the line.

Universities are concerned that students with multiple majors may not be getting the well-rounded education that liberal arts schools seek to provide. According to the Chairman of the Tufts Educational Policy Committee, Todd Quinto, it is more important for students to have a full and in-depth understanding of one subject area than a cursory understanding of many.

"If people take two majors they may be missing out on fully developing one or the other major," he said. "The big concern is that [students] have depth in the major and breadth in their overall curriculum."

An Oct. 24 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education discussed the issue and noted Tufts' high percentage of multiple majors. With one in four graduates completing more than one major last year, Tufts sits near the top of the list.

Although the Chronicle article claimed that Tufts was considering a ban on triple majors, according Quinto, this is not true.

Quinto, who is a also a Tufts mathematics professor, said that the possibility of such a measure has been discussed at faculty meetings over the course of the last academic year.

"We have at least discussed this, but it's certainly not a policy initiative at this point. The idea was brought up, but it was only preliminary discussions," he said.

Other universities are having similar debates. According to MIT's Office of Undergraduate Education, 15 percent of their students currently double major. However, MIT banned triple majors in 2002, after the faculty decided that students pursuing triple majors were missing out on other important aspects of college life.

"The faculty here have long thought that multiple majors do not justify the heroic efforts students put in to obtain them," Robert Redwine, MIT Dean of Undergraduate Education explained. "We find, in terms of helping students in the long run, that really, multiple majors don't do a whole lot. One degree is very important, but earning more than one is frankly not that important." Regardless, many students at Tufts are pursuing multiple majors. Much of the debate centers on whether or not multiple majors make graduates more competitive in the job market.

Students tend to believe that multiple majors will impress employers, says Jean Papalia, Director of Tufts Career Services, but a double major by no means guarantees employment.

"I'd like to correct an impression that a student's major or number of majors defines success in the job search process and/or ultimately in the workplace," Papalia said. "A liberal arts degree from a rigorous curriculum such as ours at Tufts equips a student for success in a wide variety of industries, organizations, and positions."

Papalia believes that students should choose majors based on what interests them, not what might interest future employers. "Choosing a double major and minor should reflect a student's interest in these areas, rather than a perceived strategy to get an employer's attention," Papalia said.

However, students often seem to find that two majors compliment each other. "I know that some people say that with certain combinations of majors it can be a plus. Of course sometimes multiple majors compliment each other, such as math and economics," Quinto said.