Minors allow students greater opportunity to add cross-disciplinary knowledge and competencies to their major program of study. There are currently over 25 minors at Pratt Institute.

A minor is a cluster of courses constituting a coherent program of study requiring depth in the subject, but not as extensive a program as the major. Minors enable students to supplement their work in their departmental concentrations with focused study in another field. Most minors include required courses and elective courses within concentrated menus. Because of the rigorous requirements, students should identify their interest in a minor early in their academic careers.

For some students, minor programs provide an opportunity to pursue a special area of interest that closely complements their departmental concentration. Two examples: a student concentrating in architecture pursues a minor in interior design; a student majoring in writing pursues a minor in philosophy. For other students, minor programs provide an opportunity to pursue intellectual passions unrelated to the departmental concentration. Two more examples: a student majoring in industrial design pursues a minor in photography; a student majoring in fine arts pursues a minor in sustainability.

Students do not need to take additional courses or pay more to pursue minors. They do, however, need to plan their studies judiciously so that they can take the courses required for their minors during their Pratt experience. Students should discuss their interests in minors with a) their undergraduate advisor, and b) the particular minor’s coordinator. They should also declare their minor as soon as they are sure they want to pursue the minor. (If a student has declared a minor and no longer wishes to pursue it, they MUST notify the Registrar’s Office.)

The Customized minor provides opportunities for students to pursue a field of interest in the form of a minor that is not provided by the established curriculum. A Customized Minor is a minimum 15-credit suite of courses. The content of the Individualized Minor must be sufficiently different from existing minors at Pratt and coherently propose a field of study that is adequately covered with the proposed courses. 

Students interested in a customized minor should:

1. Communicate with their Academic Advisor;
2. Communicate with Director of Interdisciplinary Study (Amir Parsa) or Program Assistant (Renae Govinda) in the Office of the Provost;
3. Attend a Fuse Salon Information Session (these cover all aspects of Customized Minor);
4. Submit proposal form and all requisite documents. 

Note: Approval of a Customized Minor is contingent upon a selective review process. Proposing a Customized Minor does not guarantee approval.

Most minors do not have a sequential course of study. Students need only take the required and elective courses within the minor’s curriculum table to meet the overall requirement of the minor during their undergraduate years. In some cases, however, because of the foundational competencies needed to pursue a minor, students must take certain courses before others and/or apply to the minor. All students should contact a particular minor’s coordinator to discuss their interests in pursuing the minor.