HYDERABAD: GITAM University in Hyderabad has announced that it will introduce four-year undergraduate degree programmes with interdisciplinary specialisations starting from this academic year. As part of the new liberal education initiative, students enrolled in BA, BBA, or BSc programmes will have the option to choose a major and a minor subject.
Dr Udaya Kumar, director of admissions at GITAM, said the major subjects will carry 60 credits, while the minor subjects will carry 24 credits. The first semester will be the same for all students opting for the interdisciplinary program, and students will have the opportunity to choose their majors and minors in the second semester.
The introduction of these new interdisciplinary courses aligns with the university’s implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP-2020) from the academic year 2023-24. Dr Udaya Kumar stated, “The four-year Bachelor’s programme aims to create a holistic, flexible, and multidisciplinary education system by allowing students to choose majors and minors according to their preferences.”
The programme seeks to equip students with skills such as complex problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication, along with rigorous specialization in their chosen disciplinary or interdisciplinary majors and minors, spanning arts, humanities, management, and sciences.
Additionally, the university provides fee concessions to students who secure top ranks in the GITAM Admission Test during the time of admission. In the academic year 2022-23, approximately 3,000 students received fee concessions through merit scholarships worth around `23.53 crore, said Dr Udaya Kumar.