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Academics

McDaniel College offers top-ranked academic programs emphasizing a liberal arts education. Our approach helps you cultivate critical thinking and the adaptability needed to thrive in any career field. With our supportive community, you'll develop the skills for success wherever life takes you.

The McDaniel Commitment The McDaniel Plan

Academic Resources & Support Special Academic Opportunities

Degrees & Programs Find the Right Program

At McDaniel, your major doesn’t dictate what you learn — it starts the conversation. Combine subjects, follow interests, and customize a degree on your own terms.

Search Programs

Browse programs by:

Major Minor Specialization Master's Post-Bachelor’s Certificates 5-Year B.A./M.S. Option B.A./M.S. Pathway Non-Degree Options

It starts with a commitment. The McDaniel Commitment
Your journey begins with the McDaniel Commitment. It's our guarantee that you'll be on a path to success from the moment you set foot on campus. Through the Commitment, you'll have access to a team of mentors who will help you develop a completely tailored and personalized experience. From the very beginning, and at other key points throughout your journey here, the McDaniel Commitment will help keep you on track toward your goals.

Your Place

Your life on the Hill starts with a crash course in everything McDaniel, where you'll learn about all the ways you can get involved around campus and in downtown Westminster.

Your Design

At McDaniel, you can make your education your own. With so many majors to choose from and countless ways to enhance them, many students double or triple up in their areas of study.

Your Experience

On and off the Hill, you'll find opportunities to make your education more dynamic and engaging by applying what you've learned to the real world through research, an internship, or study abroad.

Your Career

With the one-on-one guidance of your faculty mentors and advisors, you'll focus on the practical knowledge and career skills that will prepare you to succeed in a professional environment.

A student holds a paintbrush and leans over a painting on a table.

It comes together with a plan. The McDaniel Plan

After you commit, you begin building your McDaniel Plan: the foundation of your education, which gives you the power to learn what you want and how you want, with countless ways to customize your experience. Build your education around your interests, talents, and passions in a way that’s truly all your own.

McDaniel College has adopted a block transfer policy. If you enter McDaniel with an Associate of Arts (A.A.), an Associate of Science (A.S.), or an Associate of Arts in Teaching (A.A.T.), you will have met all McDaniel general education requirements (our McDaniel Plan). You'll be able to jump right into your major program requirements!

The McDaniel Plan

Academic Success & Support

College is a significant investment. We take seriously our responsibility to our students to support their academic goals and promote their success. As you adapt to the rigors of college coursework and faculty expectations, you will be supported by resources and individuals across campus. Ultimately, our barometer for judging the success of our efforts is watching you walk across the stage at Commencement and enter into our alumni family.

Prof Stephen Feeley with History student Josh Irvin

Academic Advising

Student Accessibility & Support

First Year Transition & Support

Hoover Library

School Librarian pulling book off of shelf.

Writing Center

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STEM Center

Academic Departments

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Academic Calendar

Course Catalog

Your Opportunities, Your Education Special Academic Opportunities

Global Fellows The World Is Waiting for You

McDaniel's prestigious Global Fellows Program is an academic and co-curricular opportunity that enhances your academic study. Through this opportunity, you'll deepen and broaden your understanding of global issues, develop heightened intercultural competency, and cultivate the skills and attitudes necessary to lead successful personal and professional lives in a global context.

Global Fellows Program McDaniel Europe in Budapest

students pose at Model United Nations in China

National Security Fellows Gain Experience Right Here at Home

As threats to national security increasingly invade American lives, the need for professionals in every field with the knowledge and analytical skills to respond to these risks has never been greater. Paired with your major, McDaniel’s new National Security Fellows Program prepares you to meet this need head on, giving you an edge in a surging market of high-paying jobs in private corporations, non-profit organizations, and government agencies alike.

National Security Fellows

The Honors Program at McDaniel College Challenge Yourself

Instituted by the faculty in 1986, the McDaniel Honors Program deepens your liberal arts experience by offering academic enrichment to exceptionally motivated and enthusiastic students. You'll join a community of scholars dedicated to academic rigor while living in an environment conducive to the exchange of ideas.

Explore the Honors Program Honor Societies Fellowships & Scholarships

Student Angalyn Strouse looks at her laptop outside, where it is connected to a UV sensor.

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Apply your Knowledge

At McDaniel College, undergraduate research is driven by student learning, a focus that means you'll get meaningful opportunities to contribute to your field early in your academic career. Undergraduate research occurs in all majors and with the oversight of full-time faculty. You'll emerge from your research experience empowered and with professional and academic skills designed to help you stand out in applications for jobs or graduate school.

Undergraduate Research

McDaniel Environmental Center Greener | More sustainable | A better place for all

Known as the MEC, the property, formerly the Singleton-Mathews Farm, is located in New Windsor, Maryland, about 15 minutes from McDaniel's Westminster campus.

The MEC consists of 30 acres of forested land, 20 acres of fields, and eight acres of student farming land, and serves as an outdoor learning lab developed by students to engage in hands-on educational opportunities in agriculture, conservation, environmental sciences, and community building.

The MEC provides McDaniel students with opportunities to engage in research and course-based experiences, lab-based experiential learning, community service projects and independent study work.

Learn about the McDaniel Environmental Center

Group photo of a class at Walt Disney World.

Jan Term Experiential Learning Opportunities

January Term (affectionately referred to as "Jan Term") is a three-week term between the fall and spring semesters in which students and faculty explore new areas and expand their intellectual horizons. You'll choose from specially designed courses offered on and off campus, including study abroad tours with faculty that deepen your learning and international understanding. It's just one option you have for adding meaningful experiential learning opportunities to your college resume through the McDaniel Commitment.

Learn more about Jan Term

Students participate in a job shadowing opportunity.

Career Services, Internships & Volunteer Opportunities The Center for Experience & Opportunity

Discover the world, ignite your passion, expand your resume, and watch with pride as your goals come to life. Throughout your time on the Hill, the Center for Experience and Opportunity will work closely with you to help you identify the experiential opportunities you're interested in and prepare yourself for life after college.

From connecting with community partners, networking with our friendly alumni, to applying for post-graduate fellowships, students put their academics into practice. And for our students longing for a global spin on their McDaniel experience, the CEO has you covered through many education abroad options – starting with our very own campus in Budapest, Hungary.

Learn more about the Center Career Services Internships

Enhance your experience. From the top of the Hill to the top of the world. EXPLORE SOMETHING YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO DO.

You can’t beat life on the Hill, but we know that there’s life beyond it too. That’s why we offer our students a wide variety of study- abroad opportunities in over 50 countries. Whether you’re attending our Budapest campus, interning in Brussels, or studying in Zimbabwe, you’ll have every chance to cultivate your international understanding and become a true global citizen.

Take a January Term Abroad. These three weeks of study can take many different forms, but they all offer unique opportunities to learn more about yourself and the world around you. Whether you choose to study abroad in the Bahamas, complete an internship in Hollywood, or explore a new subject in a different kind of classroom, Jan Terms give you a chance to explore something you’ve always wanted to do. The cost of one Jan Term is already included in your tuition, but many students take advantage of this program multiple times while they’re on the Hill.

Study Abroad Opportunities McDaniel Europe in Budapest