The Special Major Program was developed to provide capable students with an opportunity to create their own academic majors. Students initiate and develop their own programs under the guidance of two faculty members and an advisor and then obtain approval from the Special Major Committee.

Although the special major is individualized and often completely original, there are several concentrations or themes that have emerged over the years. Whereas these themes do not yet correspond to existing academic majors, there are nonetheless impressive curricular and faculty resources to support them. Such concentrations include religious studies, biophysics, animal science, comparative literature, language and linguistics, and arts management, among others.