What Can You Do With an Interdisciplinary Studies Degree?

An interdisciplinary studies degree opens doors in public service, business, nonprofits, education, and entrepreneurship. It covers more ground than a single major because it intentionally combines fields. The online Bachelor of Arts/Science (BA/BS) in Interdisciplinary Studies program at the University of West Alabama (UWA) lets you build that combination yourself. You might pair sociology with communication, or business with psychology, depending on the career you want. It is also a popular option for students with prior credits looking to finish their bachelor’s degrees.

More students are choosing this path every year. Bachelor’s degrees in multi/interdisciplinary studies fields have roughly doubled since 2000, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), rising from about 26,000 conferred in 2000-01 to nearly 53,000 in 2021-22. Data shows that employers increasingly want graduates who move across functions.

Interdisciplinary Studies Careers: How Graduates Stand Out in a Multi-Skill Job Market

Employers increasingly hire for skills over pedigree, favoring graduates who can point to a mix of coursework instead of one major. The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) found that 70% of employers now use skills-based hiring, up from 65% the year before. GPA screening has fallen accordingly, from 73% of employers in 2019 to just 42% today.

Broad preparation is also winning confidence at the institutional level. The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) found that 85% of employers say colleges do a good job preparing students for the workforce. Hands-on experience and leadership roles carry weight in hiring decisions, which rewards students who used their coursework to run a real project rather than just study one.

How to Present Your Interdisciplinary Studies Degree to Employers

An interdisciplinary degree can look unfamiliar on paper, so graduates need to translate it fast. A simple framework works in most interviews: name the two or three areas you combined, then name the skill that combination produced. Skip the academic explanation and go straight to the outcome.

For example: “I combined sociology and business to understand what drives people and how organizations run. That means I can move between community-facing work and internal operations without a learning curve.” That kind of answer shows exactly how the skills-based hiring approach more employers now use is meant to work: skills demonstrated in a specific combination, not just a major listed on a transcript. It also gives an interviewer a concrete reason to remember the answer after the conversation ends.

5 Career Paths for Interdisciplinary Studies Graduates

Graduates typically build careers in one of five areas: public service, nonprofit work, business, education support, or entrepreneurship. The best fit usually depends on which concentration you pair with your core coursework. Sociology and political science point toward public policy. Business and communication direct toward corporate roles, while education and psychology point toward school-support work.

Each sector rewards a different mix of coursework, and the pay figures below are national medians rather than entry-level pay. Actual pay still climbs with experience, location, and concentration. The five sectors are ordered from the most policy-driven to the most self-directed. Note that the salary information provided below is current as of September 2026, and actual salaries will differ based on job location, work experience and other factors.

Public Service and Government

Public service roles suit graduates who paired their core coursework with sociology, political science, or public administration. Typical titles include policy analyst, program coordinator, community outreach director, and grant writer. Many of these jobs fall under the category that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) tracks as social and community service managers, who earned a median of $80,390 in May 2025. Local government employers paid the highest median in that group, at $102,630.

Agencies tend to value candidates who can read a policy brief and also explain it to the public. That dual strength is exactly what an interdisciplinary background builds.

Nonprofit and Social Services

Nonprofit roles reward graduates who combine social work, psychology, or communications with their core courses. Program director, development associate, and case manager are common entry points. The same social and community service manager data from BLS shows individual and family services organizations, a major nonprofit employer, paying a median of $76,760. Religious, grantmaking, and civic organizations paid closer to $79,990. Smaller nonprofits especially value staff who can manage a caseload, write a grant, and run community outreach without needing three separate specialists.

Business and Marketing

Business-minded graduates often pair their core courses with communications or psychology. Common roles include marketing coordinator, human resources generalist, corporate trainer, and operations coordinator. BLS puts median pay for market research analysts and marketing specialists at $78,760. It lists a median of $75,940 for human resources specialists over the same period.

Both roles reward someone who can read data and also manage the people side of a decision. That is where an interdisciplinary mix of business and behavioral coursework pays off. For a closer look at how a business background compares to other specializations, see UWA’s guide to types of business degrees.

Education Support

Graduates who blend education with psychology or communications often move into instructional support, curriculum assistant, or student services roles. The closest tracked occupation, instructional coordinators, earned a median of $77,440 in May 2025. BLS projects only 2% job growth for the role through 2035, slower than average, and notes that state and local government budget constraints may limit demand. Even so, the role’s core duties, including developing curriculum, training teachers, and evaluating program data, combine exactly the people-focused and administrative skills interdisciplinary coursework is built to deliver.

Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment

An interdisciplinary background suits founders well, since running a business draws on product knowledge, communication, and operations at once. New business formation has been climbing. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation reported that about 360 out of every 100,000 working-age adults started a new business each month in 2025. Of those new entrepreneurs, 83.3% started by choice rather than necessity.

Graduates who paired business courses with design, communication, or technology are often best positioned to launch something of their own. A founder rarely gets the luxury of a single job description.

Build a multi-dimensional career at UWA, explore the online BA/BS in Interdisciplinary Studies program, and design a degree that matches where you want to go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an interdisciplinary studies degree?

An interdisciplinary studies degree lets you combine two or more academic fields into one program you design yourself. Rather than committing to a single major, you pair complementary areas, such as sociology and business, and build coursework around the specific combination that suits your career goals.

Is an interdisciplinary studies degree worth it?

It’s worth it when the combination is deliberate and tied to a specific career goal, not chosen at random. The degree’s value doesn’t come from its name on a transcript; it comes from pairing fields that develop a skill set employers can use, then clearly naming that pairing in an interview.

What jobs can you get with an interdisciplinary studies degree?

Graduates typically move into public service, nonprofit work, business, education support, or entrepreneurship. Which path fits best usually depends on which concentration you paired with your core coursework, since each sector rewards a different mix.

What are some examples of interdisciplinary studies combinations?

Common combinations pair a core discipline with a complementary one, such as sociology with communication or business with psychology. Other frequent pairings include education with psychology for school-support roles, or business with design and technology for founders building their own companies.

How long does it take to earn an interdisciplinary studies degree?

Most students complete a 120-credit-hour interdisciplinary studies bachelor’s in about four years of full-time study. Transfer students who already hold credits across multiple fields often finish faster, since those credits count directly toward the customized portion of the degree.

About the University of West Alabama’s Online BA/BS in Interdisciplinary Studies

The University of West Alabama’s online Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies is a 120-credit-hour degree, with 57 hours that students customize by combining courses across two or more academic areas, guided by an academic advisor at every step. The fully online format suits working adults and transfer students who already hold credits across multiple fields and want a direct path to a bachelor’s degree.

Graduates leave with a skill set built around a specific career goal, plus the ability to explain that combination clearly to employers. That explanation is built into the degree itself, not assembled after the fact, which is what gives interdisciplinary graduates a head start once they reach the interview.