Directed Study

A directed study is a personalized, independent course of study designed to offer educational opportunities not provided by an existing course in the course catalog. 

• To be eligible for a directed study, a student must have a minimum Northwestern cumulative GPA of 2.50.
• A student may complete more than one directed study in the same subject area, with each directed study impacting the student’s GPA, as long as the content of the study is unique.
• A maximum of 8 semester credits of directed study may apply to major requirements; a maximum of 4 semester credits may apply to a minor or electives. One semester credit of directed study may be applied to the core curriculum requirements in any category. A maximum of 4 credits may be applied to Bible requirements (within the core curriculum) or as electives.
• The faculty instructor and the department chair/assistant dean with jurisdiction over the course must approve a student’s request to register for a directed study. If the faculty supervisor is also the department chair/assistant dean, the consent of the respective college dean is required.
• A faculty member may supervise one directed study per semester. If a faculty member wishes to supervise any additional directed studies, the consent of the department chair/assistant dean is required. The supervision of directed studies may not interfere with regular classroom and/or committee duties.
• Grading type (LT-letter; P/NC-pass/no credit; etc.) for a directed study is at the discretion of the faculty supervisor. If the faculty supervisor does not select a grading type, it will default to LT.