Interdisciplinary Studies, B.A.

Bring Your Credits. Build Your Path. Earn Your Degree.

Enrolling in the interdisciplinary studies degree online through UNCW’s flexible program means studying courses designed for adults who are ready to complete their degree and move forward with purpose. With up to 90 transfer credits and fully online, 7-week terms, the program lets you build on what you’ve already earned while staying on a pace that fits your life. You’ll choose from two focused tracks aligned to your goals and receive support from faculty and success coaches as you work toward graduation and new career opportunities.

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Program of Interest*
$375
In-State Cost-Per-Credit
100%
Online, Asynchronous
2 Years
Average Time to Completion
2 Tracks
Track Options Available
Overview

Earn Your Interdisciplinary Studies Degree Online

UNCW’s online Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies is designed for adults who are ready to finish their degree and move forward with purpose. If you’ve earned college credit but haven’t completed your bachelor’s, this program gives you a clear, flexible path to graduation that builds on what you’ve already started and aligns with where you want to go. It’s a strong fit for those looking to connect their past experience with new opportunities, shape a degree around their goals and gain the skills and confidence to grow in their current role or move into something new.

Our Interdisciplinary Studies Students

Create Their Own Future

Designed with maximum flexibility as a degree completion program, the online Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies program allows you to apply up to 90 eligible transfer credits and shape your studies across multiple subject areas. You’ll choose a focused track that aligns with your interests and goals while building career-ready skills in critical thinking, communication, problem-solving and interdisciplinary analysis — skills with broad application that translate across sectors and roles.

Courses are delivered in a 100% online, flexible format with 7-week terms, so you can keep progressing while balancing work and life. You’ll learn from faculty who bring practical insight into each course and are invested in your success, while dedicated success coaches help you map a clear, efficient path to completion and stay on track.

This program is built to help you connect what you’ve already learned and apply it in meaningful ways. In your final capstone course, you’ll complete a senior project focused on a real-world issue, integrating knowledge from your track into a finished product that demonstrates your ability to think critically, solve problems, and communicate effectively. In an average of 2 years, you can complete your degree with a stronger sense of direction, a set of practical, transferable skills, and the confidence to move forward, whether that means advancing in your current field or stepping into something new.

Skills You'll Gain

  • Critical-thinking & problem-solving
  • Written and professional communication
  • Entrepreneurial & business insight
  • Ethical reasoning & decision-making
  • AI literacy & digital fluency
  • Global & cultural awareness
  • Interdisciplinary analysis and applied impact

Designed to Finish

Transfer up to 90 acceptable credits and shape your degree around the credits you already have.

Choose Your Track

Select a track that aligns with your goals and builds on your background for broader application.

AI Literacy Built In

Gain in-demand, practical AI and digital literacy skills. Graduate with a degree and an AI certificate.

Build Transferable Skills

Develop skills with broad application you can flex to apply across roles, sectors and career paths.

Career Outlook

Careers with an Online Interdisciplinary Studies Degree

An online interdisciplinary studies degree prepares you to move forward with skills that apply across career paths. Whether you’re advancing in your current field, changing directions or completing the degree you started years ago, this program is designed to help you build career-ready strengths in communication, critical thinking, problem-solving and leadership. With flexible tracks connected to real-world workforce areas and interests, you can shape a degree that reflects both where you’ve been and where you want to go next. Explore career options and their national salaries below.1

Marketing Manager
Annual Median Salary: $161,030
Advertising Manager
Annual Median Salary: $159,660
Healthcare Administrator
Annual Median Salary: $117,960
Editor
Annual Median Salary: $75,260
Public Relations Specialist
Annual Median Salary: $69,780
Health Education Specialist
Annual Median Salary: $63,000

70% AI Growth

In the U.S., jobs requiring AI literacy grew 70% year-over-year.2

27,600 New Jobs

for public relations specialists are projected each year over the decade.1

7% Job Growth

for marketing managers between 2024–20341

1. U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 2026
2. Labor Market Report 2026: Building a Future of Work That Works, 2026

Kandi Tudor, Class of 2019

"There were a lot of jobs that require a bachelor’s degree. It was a goal that I had set for myself a long time ago. I kept putting it off because of work and children, but I wanted to get it done."

Kandi Tudor, Class of 2019

Curriculum & Courses

Courses to Stay Competitive in a Changing Workforce

The interdisciplinary studies degree online program is a 120-credit undergraduate degree offered through the Humanities, Social Sciences and the Arts. It includes 18 credits in the Interdisciplinary Studies core with 12 credits in a chosen track and 12 Interdisciplinary Studies Electives, 39 General Education credits and 39 General Electives credits. At least 18 credit hours must come from courses at the 300 or 400 level.

Curriculum Overview & Degree Requirements

In the interdisciplinary studies degree online program, you’ll build on the credits you already have while developing adaptable skills valued across business, nonprofit, healthcare, education, public service and other growing sectors. Coursework emphasizes critical thinking, communication, interdisciplinary analysis, and applied problem-solving, helping you strengthen the kind of decision-making and adaptability employers look for broadly.

Designed for students from varied academic backgrounds, the program offers a clear and flexible path to completion with up to 90 transfer credits accepted from prior institutions. Instead of starting over, you’ll maximize previously earned coursework and follow a structured plan built around your goals. Throughout the program, faculty mentors and advisors help you stay focused and supported while giving you the flexibility to shape a path that feels purposeful and aligned to your direction.

The exact number of General Education and General Electives courses may vary depending on the application of transfer credits.

Degree Breakdown

General Education 39 Credits
Interdisciplinary Studies Core 18 Credits
Interdisciplinary Studies Electives 12 Credits
Track Courses 12 Credits
General Electives 39 Credits

Choose from Two Tracks

The online interdisciplinary studies degree includes two focused tracks designed to help you connect your coursework to your goals and interests. Choose from Enterprise and Economy or Interdisciplinary Arts and Humanities, each offering a structured pathway that still allows flexibility in how you apply your previous coursework and shape your degree experience.

The Interdisciplinary Arts and Humanities track also includes an integrated AI literacy certificate sequence, giving you the opportunity to build practical digital and AI knowledge as part of your bachelor’s degree. Through a three-course sequence, you’ll explore how AI impacts communication, research, decision-making and work across industries while earning a stackable credential that signals adaptability and digital fluency in a changing job market.

Enterprise and Economy

Focus on how organizations operate, grow and adapt in a changing economy.

You’ll build skills in business fundamentals, problem-solving and decision-making while exploring topics like markets, entrepreneurship and economic systems. This track has broad applications and is well-suited for those looking to strengthen their business knowledge and expand career opportunities. This track aligns well for careers in business, marketing, management, entrepreneurship and organizational leadership.

Featured Courses in Track

  • Entrepreneurship in Underserved Communities
  • Legal Environment of Business
  • Business and Professional Communication
  • Professional Selling
  • Managing and Marketing for Entrepreneurs

Interdisciplinary Arts and Humanities

Take an expansive, more flexible approach by connecting ideas across disciplines like culture, communication, technology and society.

You’ll develop critical thinking, research and communication skills while exploring topics that shape how people live and work. This track also includes an embedded AI literacy certificate, helping you build digital fluency alongside your degree. This track aligns well for careers in communications, public relations, media, nonprofit leadership, education and emerging AI-enabled fields.

Featured Courses in Track

  • AI Essentials: Understanding Artificial Intelligence
  • Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
  • Reading and Writing Arguments
  • Language and Meaning
  • American Environmental History

Sample Courses

Coursework in the interdisciplinary studies degree online program is designed to help you develop skills you can apply broadly across careers, sectors and communities. Courses emphasize practical communication, analytical thinking, leadership and interdisciplinary problem-solving while helping you connect ideas from multiple fields and perspectives. 

Introduction to interdisciplinary studies and its six tracks. In order to understand each track, students study selected topics in six separate modules. Topics include but are not limited to: income inequality, access to healthcare, climate change, the ethics of incarceration, artificial intelligence and genomics, and artificial intelligence and the written word.

Accreditation

The University of North Carolina Wilmington is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award baccalaureate, master’s, education specialist, and doctoral degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097, call 404.679.4500, or visit sacscoc.org.

Accreditation
Leanne B.

Coach quote

I enjoy being a success coach because I am not only a part of such a lovely and supportive community, but I also get to take part in North Carolina's initiative to increase the number of college graduates across the state. Our adult learners are incredible, hardworking and determined to create a better future for themselves and their families. I am grateful to be their support and advocate throughout their journey.

Leanne B.
Flight Path Success Coach
Admissions & Transfer

General Admissions & Transfer Credit Criteria

UNCW is committed to providing equal educational opportunities and does not discriminate against applicants on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or ability. Our undergraduate Flight Path programs are open to students who have previously attended college.

Applicants to UNCW Flight Path programs must meet the university’s standard admissions and transfer requirements. The overview below reflects current UNCW policies and is intended as a high-level guide; official requirements and final determinations are governed by UNCW. For full details and program-specific requirements, visit the main UNCW transfer admissions page.

24 + Transfer Credits

At least 24 transferable credit hours from the last or current institution attended.

2.4 Minimum GPA

A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.4 in all attempted coursework.

Grade of C or Better

A grade of C (2.0) or higher in coursework is required to be considered for transfer.

Good Academic Standing

Applicants must be in good academic standing at their current or most recent institution.

Official Transcripts

Official transcripts are required from all colleges and universities previously attended.

A Completed Application

Submission of UNCW’s online application for admission, including all required materials.

Transfer Credit Notes

  • UNCW accepts all transferable coursework with grades of C (2.0) or higher from regionally accredited institutions.
  • There is a maximum of 90 transfer credits accepted.
  • Students must meet UNCW’s residency requirement for credits earned at UNCW.

Don’t have 24 transfer credits?

Your experience may still count! The Workforce Learning and Talent Development program allows eligible professional training and prior work experience to be evaluated for academic credit, helping some students meet admission requirements and reduce the number of courses needed to graduate. If you’ve built knowledge on the job, there may be more pathways available than you think.

Tuition & Financial Aid

Tuition & Financial Aid

Cost Snapshot

UNCW’s Flight Path programs are built around a simple premise: you should know what your degree is going to cost before you commit to it. Pricing is straightforward, financial surprises are not part of the deal, and the path from first credit to diploma is designed to be as direct as possible.

  • In-state tuition: $375 per credit hour
  • Out-of-state tuition: $450 per credit hour
  • Technology fee: $26.01 per credit hour

 Tuition is subject to change. 

Financial Aid Overview

Most Flight Path students qualify for some form of financial assistance. Federal aid, grants, scholarships and loan programs may all be on the table depending on your situation — and our team can help you figure out what applies to yours before you ever fill out an application.

  • Federal financial aid available for eligible students
  • NC state grants and scholarships may apply
  • UNCW institutional grants for qualifying students
  • Military and veteran benefits may be applicable

Meet Your Faculty

Aaron Wilcox

Professor
Program Director – College of Humanities, Social Sciences and the Arts

Education is our way to connect us to the community and reflect on the human experience.

Jessica Mesmer Magnus

Ph.D.
Dept. Chair/Professor, Management – Cameron School of Business

Dr. Magnus has been with UNCW since 2005 and serves as the Department Chair for the Cameron School’s Department of Management. Prior to returning...

Paul A. Townend

Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Student Success and Policy – College of Humanities, Social Sciences and the Arts

Born and raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Dr. Townend is a first generation American; his mother grew up in Cork, Ireland, and his father in Yorkshire...

Stephanie B. Caulder

D.M.
Dean – College of Humanities, Social Sciences and the Arts 

Stephanie Caulder, a native of Wilmington, North Carolina, serves as Founding Dean of the College of Humanities, Social Sciences and the Arts and Professor...

College of Humanities, Social Sciences and the Arts

Our Program’s Mission Statement

Interdisciplinary Studies offers high quality education with transferrable career relevant skills through individualized student support and a flexible, student-centered and purpose-driven curriculum. The degree is designed to empower personal and professional growth, providing graduates the confidence and skills to be leaders in their communities.

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Frequently Asked Questions

The program requires 120 total credits and a minimum of 24 transfer credits to enroll. Most students finish in two years, with some taking up to 3.5 years depending on transfer credits and course load. Your timeline is largely in your hands.

Ask your questions.

Set your course with someone who knows the way.

This short form takes less than three minutes to fill out, and once you submit it, an admissions representative will reach out to answer any questions you have. No lines or gimmicks. It’s a straightforward conversation focused on your goals and experience.


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