By the Numbers: UNL’s Largest and Smallest Academic Programs

As a land-grant university, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln offers a wide range of academic programs for students ranging from first-time freshmen to those pursuing a Ph.D. Some programs are immensely popular. For example, the largest undergraduate major, Psychology, had 961 students enrolled in the fall of 2022. Other programs are very small, with only one current student enrolled. 

How many majors are there?

Undergraduate students can enroll in 140 different academic majors at UNL. In the fall of 2022, 19,097 students were enrolled in undergraduate programs. A few of these majors, appear to be duplicates of other college majors but are specific for students in the Raikes School. For example, a student can major in Accounting or Accounting – Raikes.

Largest Majors

In the fall of 2022, there were eight majors on campus that enroll more than 500 students. Additionally, 827 students were undeclared. These majors are: 

• Psychology – 961
• Business Administration - 930
• Undeclared – 827
• Pre-Health – 761
• Nutrition & Health Sciences – 697
• Finance – 683
• Marketing – 631
• Mechanical Engineering – 619
• Biological Sciences - 607

Smallest Major

In fall 2022, there were eight majors that only had one student enrolled. These majors were: 

• Interdisciplinary Studies (FPA)
• Grazing Livestock Systems
• Business and Law (Raikes)
• Business Admin (Raikes)
• Biology
• Marketing (Raikes)
• Food tech for companion animals
• Statistics and data analytics 

Where do we rank?

The average number of students in majors across UNL is 136 students. Three of our academic programs, advertising and public relations (391), sports media and communication (289) and journalism (137) are above average. Our smallest major, broadcasting, is just slightly below the average at 128.

Most academic programs fall below the average in majors enrolled. In fall 2022, 98 of the 140 academic programs, had an enrollment of fewer than 136 students.

Split Programs

Interestingly, there are 12 academic programs where students can be enrolled in the same major but in different colleges. For example, a student majoring in computer science might be enrolled in Arts & Sciences or in Engineering. These programs are: 

Degrees

We would expect that the largest majors in terms of enrollment would also grant the most degrees. While similar, this is not entirely accurate. In 2021-2022, the university awarded 4,214 bachelor’s degrees. Ten academic programs granted more than 100 bachelor’s degrees. With our major, advertising and public relations, ranking fifth highest in the number of bachelor’s awarded.

• Psychology – 219
• Finance – 193
• Management – 171
• Nutrition and Health Sciences – 162
• Advertising and Public Relations – 160
• Marketing – 139
• Child, Youth and Family Studies – 138
• Mechanical Engineering – 130
• Biological Sciences – 122
• Accounting – 122 

Graduate Programs

Unsurprisingly, the university’s graduate programs are smaller – both in terms of available programs and in terms of enrollment, than the undergraduate programs. There are 108 different graduate programs available to students at UNL.

Largest Programs

In fall 2022, there were six graduate programs with 100 or more students enrolled. Additionally, 217 students were enrolled as post-baccalaureate students. This means they have been admitted to the Graduate College but have not been admitted to an academic program. This is like undeclared students at the undergraduate level.  

• Business – 352
• Post-Baccalaureate – 217
• Educational Studies – 157
• Educational Administration – 154
• Natural Resources Sciences – 108
• Mathematics – 106
• Computer Science – 100 

Smallest Programs

In fall 2022, there were 16 graduate programs with only one student enrolled. They were:

• Community College Leadership
• Sensory Disabilities
• Teaching English
• Grassland Management
• Financial Analytics
• Telecommunications Engineering
• Educational Neuroscience
• Marketing Analytics
• Rural Economy and Community Vitality
• Digital Humanities
• Floriculture and Nursery Management
• Geographic Information Science
• Social Justice and Diversity Education
• Food Safety and Defense
• Museum Studies
• Financial Communications 

Where do we rank?

The average enrollment in graduate programs at UNL is 36 students. Seventy of the university’s graduate programs enrolled less than 36 students. Our master’s degree in journalism and mass communications is larger than average at 51 students in fall 2022. Both of our graduate certificates were smaller than average. Public relations and social media had 13 students enrolled in fall 2022, while financial communications had 1.

Degrees

In 2021-2022, the university granted 1,443 graduate degrees or certificates. Only three programs grant more than 50 degrees.

• Business - 164
• Business Analytics - 68
• Educational Administration - 59

Overall, the college’s undergraduate programs and master’s programs are at or above average in terms of size. Additionally, advertising and public relations was among the largest programs granting bachelor’s degrees. 

Undergraduate Enrollment - Fall 2022

Graduate Enrollment - Fall 2022

Bachelor's Degrees - 2021-2022

Graduate Degrees and Certificates - 2021-2022