The Best Major For Graduating FAST: The Chipotle Major
You want to graduate fast. You might even have a ton of transfer credits. But every major you check out requires tons of classes, wastes your transfer credits, and you’d still have to be in school for another four years!
Luckily, I know of a major that will fix that: I call it the Chipotle major.
Once upon a time, college used to be very different. When Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia in 1819, students came from around the country to take classes and learn. Then, they would leave.
They didn’t leave because they graduated. They left because they were done and ready to move on.
Imagine living in a world where you finish college when you’re done learning what you came for.
Well, the dream of learning what you want can live on. Back in the 1930’s, Americans loved America so much that some of them wanted to major in it. They wanted to study American literature, American history, and American government.
Well, colleges obliged them and made flexible American Studies majors where students could pull courses from all fields.
Then in the 1960’s, colleges improved on the idea, and made degrees called Interdisciplinary Studies. These are degrees where you could build your major around any interest in order to study what you wanted to study: America, not-America, turtles, tortilla chips, you name it!
These days, this type of degree has split into a bunch of different degrees like Multidisciplinary Studies, Transdisciplinary Studies, General Studies, Liberal Studies, and even degrees like Women’s Studies and Cultural Studies—basically, any degree with the word Studies on the end.
They all differ in ways, but their common ground is that they let you build your own major and have large free elective sections. Their built-it-yourself style is the reason I call them Chipotle majors. And while Chipotle’s guacamole is perfect for snacking, these degrees are perfect for hacking.
How do I know all of this? Well, I used to be the Chair of Interdisciplinary Studies at Liberty University.
Let’s look at Liberty University’s INDS degree. And I don’t want you to think I’m advertising for them--there are quicker, faster degrees out there. But as far as Chipotle degrees go, this one is really solid and, like I said, the most popular in the entire world:
https://www.liberty.edu/registrar/wp-content/uploads/sites/119/2020/03/INDS-BS-D.pdf
https://www.liberty.edu/arts-sciences/interdisciplinary-studies/areas-of-study/
Their general education is hackable, their major area is customizable, and their free elective sections are large. However, it is a bit complicated.
Now, let’s look at another degree. This is UMPI’s Liberal Studies with Management Minor. Funnily enough, I also used to teach classes on the side for them because I love them so much and because of this degree in particular. But I’m not trying to sell you on this either—I just want to show you what’s possible.
Liberal Studies is basically a Chipotle degree that focuses on more traditional subjects—less applied or technical, and less career-focused. But you can still apply technical courses here:
https://online.umpi.edu/degrees/undergraduate/bachelor-of-liberal-studies/management-minor/
Chipotle majors let you build the major area, which means you can pick more hackable courses, which means you can get closer to maxing out the usual 75% of degree hackability. It can also give you the ability to pick a major focus that lets you use some of your transfer credit. Plus, Chipotle majors usually have a large free elective section, so if you need to put more transfer credits there, you can.
So if you’re coming back to college after a decade and have 30-90 credits you need to find a home for, this degree should be one of your first choices. You’ll graduate faster, cheaper and easier by getting credit for the work you’ve done.
Now, there are a lot of career advisors out there who may be reading this and wondering what I’m smoking.
After all, if you Google it, this degree usually pops up on those lists of “10 Lowest Paying Majors.” Or “10 Least Used Majors.”
Other career advisors look at one big number like that and scream, “Stay away! You’ll never use this major!”
I say, “Don’t be stupid.”
First off, those surveys are focused on people in their 20’s doing college the traditional way; they’re not looking specifically at people who just need a degree to get a promotion at work or to prep for a masters degree. And second, only 27% of people actually work in the field they majored in anyway.
So why would you waste your time getting a degree with a fancy name? Remember, your goal isn’t to get a bachelor’s degree. Your goal is what comes after the degree. And besides a few limited cases, this major will get you there--for a lot less money and time.
I’ll give two caveats:
If you’re going for a career that requires a very specific bachelor’s degree like engineering or nursing, you just gotta bite the bullet, forget maximizing the transfer credit, and get the degree.
These degrees tend to be a little more complicated to plan out because you have to follow a lot of rules and organize your classes.
If you want help with that or any other college planning need, just use this link to sign up for a consultation with me. I usually save folks about $40,000 and 2-3 years in just a 45-minute session.
