The Program

University Without Walls (UWW) Department of Interdisciplinary Studies is a degree completion program designed to help non-traditional students finish their first bachelor's degrees. UWW Interdisciplinary Studies students design their own individualized, interdisciplinary degree concentrations, tend to take all their classes online, and earn credit for the learning they have gained through their life and work experience. Students earn a BA or BS in Interdisciplinary Studies.

The curriculum emphasizes the enhancement of communication, and critical reading and thinking skills. Student-centered and interactive, courses use small group discussion, research and writing to give students the opportunity to make powerful connections between their academic learning and their real world experience. As part of UWW Interdicsiplinary Studies' commitment to the role that work and other experiences can play in education, most students develop a credit-bearing portfolio describing and analyzing the learning they have gained through experience. Students also have the opportunity to convert relevant certifications and trainings to transfer credit through the unit's Special Transcript evaluation process.

Most students in the UWW Interdisciplinary Studies major are working adults with family and community responsibilities that make obtaining a bachelor’s degree through a conventional route difficult or impossible. For this reason, the department offers comprehensive and supportive advising from the first day of class through graduation.