The Outside Minor Requirement

The outside minor is a Graduate School requirement.

A minor field is any graduate field that offers a minor

  • The outside minor often relates to the student's doctoral research, but it is also quite common for students to choose outside minors that reflect an outside interest such as music, business, law, or history.
  • Minor fields set their own rules, and they generally vary by field
  • Not all fields will have their requirements on their website
  • If a field doesn't have a website listing requirements, it generally means that the student's outside minor advisor will specify requirements in consultation with the student.
  • Typically they require three courses, but sometimes more or fewer
  • We suggest talking to potential outside minor advisors about their requirements before making a decision

Students studying on the Cornell Tech are strongly encouraged to choose minors that are available on the Cornell Tech campus such as Information Science, ORIE, ECE or Business.

If you have any questions about this requirement, please either see or email Becky.