Four-year degree: Six types of programmes offered in Kerala

Six types of programmes are available for students in Kerala who take up the four-year degree this academic year. Let’s take a look.

1. Single Major

Those who opt to study one subject in depth as a major will receive a single major degree. A variety of subjects can be taken up as minor subjects in this course. For example, a student may study different subjects like Chemistry, Mathematics, Computer Science, English etc along with Physics as their major. Upon completion, they will receive a Physics (Major) degree.

2. Major with multiple disciplines

This is on the same model as the existing graduation. The programme consists of in-depth study in one subject and two other subjects as subs to get a minor degree. For example, if a student chooses Physics along with Chemistry and Mathematics in a three-year-degree, they can take three additional courses in Computer Science and receive a Degree in Physics (Major) with Chemistry, Mathematics and Computer Science (Minor).

3. Major with Single minor
Students who take up a major in one subject and minor in another will receive a major with a single minor degree. For example, if one takes eight courses (32 credits) in four years of Chemistry along with Physics, they will get a Major in Chemistry and Minor in Physics. Students taking this course will have the opportunity to pursue post graduation the minor subject as well.

4. Major with vocational minor
In this type of course, students get a major in one subject and a vocational subject that offers employability as a minor. If such courses are not available in the college of study, the student can choose to study the same from skill development centres or other recognised institutes. Eg: Major in Computer Science with Data Analytics.

5. Double major
This is an opportunity for in-depth study of two crore subjects. 50 percent of the total credit should be obtained in one subject and 40 percent in the second subject. In that case, students can get a double major degree.

6. Multidisciplinary/ Interdisciplinary
This is a combination of three different major subjects. Eg: Life Sciences, Microbiology, Biotechnology/ Mathematics, Computer science, Statistics. 

Method of study

The four-year-degree programme consists of three categories of courses: Foundation, Major/Minor and Capstone. Foundation courses are meant to acquire basic knowledge in various subjects. These should be studied in the first two years. 

General foundational courses include general knowledge subjects such as language, Constitution, gender justice, skill development and knowledge acquisition specific to Kerala. These courses are offered in four main baskets, namely-

• Ability Enhancement Courses (AEC)
• Skill Enhancement Courses (SEC)
• Value Addition Courses (VAC)
• Multidisciplinary Courses (MDC)