Most colleges prescribe a set of courses a student must take in order to graduate. For some colleges, the student must meet not only the requirements for a particular major, but also distribution or core requirements. For other colleges, they follow an open curriculum. On the right is a listing of colleges with an open curriculum. Open curriculum is a very uniquely American opportunity. UK, European, Hong Kong, Korean, Australian etc have much more prescribed curriculums.

Even in an open curriculum, you will still have requirements to complete to graduate with a particular major. There are just no core requirements. If you are looking for the maximum flexibility, consider designing your own major. “An individually designed major can be an asset if it was developed ‘with the job search in mind,” according to one article on buzzfeed. Another article on hercampus illustrates how power this can be in a job interview:

1. Avery is confident that creating her own major demonstrates initiative and will help her stand out during interviews. “The interviewer for my internship last summer was extremely interested in my created major and asked me a lot about it during the selection process,” says Avery. “I was happy to have the opportunity to dive deeply into my academic passions while showcasing something unique about myself in a professional setting.”
   

The Collegeboard lists 982 US colleges with “student designed majors.” Perhaps the most prominent Design your own major program is Gallatin School of Individualized Studies at NYU where about 1500 students are pursuing their unique passions:

1. ★Students receive two faculty mentors--one for year you are in and one to help you shape your concentration.
   

2. ★Each student must defend their concentration in an oral exam called the colloquium.
   

According to Wikipedia, other requirements include:

1. ★Gallatin students are required to take 25% of their courses within Gallatin. Options include writing and arts workshops,interdisciplinary seminars reaching across the liberal arts, community learning, tutorials, internships, and independent studies.
   

2. ★Foundation courses, either the Liberal Arts Foundation (8 Humanities credits, 8 Social Science credits, 4 Mathematics or Science credits) or Historical and Cultural Foundation (4 Premodern credits, 4 Early Modern credits, and 4 Global Cultures credits). The two sets of foundation requirements may overlap and fulfill more than one requirement at once.[5]
   

3. ★First year requirements: Students take a First-Year Interdisciplinary Seminar, a First-Year Writing Seminar, and a First-Year Research Seminar (numerous topics are available).
   

4. ★Second year requirements: The student writes their Intellectual Autobiography and Plan for Concentration (IAPC), an essay which charts their studies thus far and describes the plan for their continuation and refinement.
   

5. ★Third year requirements: The student writes their Rationale, an essay describing their planned course of study for their final year accompanied by a list of 20-25 books that will be discussed during the Colloquium (see below). The Rationale is reviewed and approved by two faculty members.
   

6. ★Fourth year/graduation requirement: The student must successfully pass their Colloquium, an intensive oral examination during which the student engages with a panel of three faculty for approximately two hours about their concentration and concomitant literature.[5]
   

Below are some other examples of colleges where you can design your own major:

James Madison University

A public university in Virginia, James Madison offers a major in individualized study under its adult degree program. This course of study includes a few core requirements, but many of these allow students to earn these credits outside of the classroom. This allows students to develop their own focus while earning credits.

Gallatin School for Individualized Study at New York University

One of several colleges at NYU, Gallatin describes itself as an 'experimental' school. Students at Gallatin take core requirements but are given a fair amount of freedom to focus on their specific interests. In addition to the arts and writing courses offered through the college, students can also take classes at other colleges in the university.

The University of Washington

Located in Seattle, Washington, this public university is a great choice for students who think they might be interested in studying something off the beaten path. Students who are interested in the university's individualized studies major must come up with a proposal outlining their intentions in order to be accepted into the major program.

Smaller Colleges

It's easy for smaller schools to build a culture around an academic program with no majors. Though not an exhaustive list of smaller colleges that allow students the freedom to design their own courses of study, these examples can give you a good idea of what you might expect from a school that emphasizes individual interests.

Sarah Lawrence College

Sarah Lawrence is a private college with a total student population count that's typically around 1,300. If you're looking for a smaller college experience, this school, with a campus just a few hours from New York City, is a great choice. There are no majors at Sarah Lawrence for any student. Instead, students work with academic advisors known as 'dons' to determine which courses they should take throughout the years.

Marlboro College

Vermont's private Marlboro College is an exceptionally small school, typically with fewer than 500 students enrolled (currently, the school lists its student body as 330 undergraduates strong). Students at Marlboro do choose a specific field of study, and may be required to fulfill a few requirements within that field, but the academic emphasis at this college is ultimately on the student's individual interests. This is a different approach to offering majors than is taken at most colleges.

Source: Educational-portal

More opportunities:

University of Connecticut's individualized major program, which enrolls 150 of the university's 21,500 undergraduates.

Indiana University, with an enrollment of about 30,000 undergraduates at its Bloomington campus, has seen its individualized-majors program grow about 15% in the past decade.

Philadelphia's Drexel University is now in its third year and has graduated its first two students.

More Profiles and a lot of really interesting ideas are at Edupunk’s Guide:

1. 1Antioch University Seattle
   

2. 2California Institute of Integral Studies
   

3. 3College Unbound
   

4. 4Excelsior College
   

5. 5Gaia University
   

6. 6Goddard College
   

7. 7Johnston Center
   

8. 8Southern New Hampshire University
   

9. 9Thomas Edison State College
   

10. 10Trinity College: Individualized Degree Program for Adults at Trinity College
    

11. 11UMass Amherst University Without Walls
    

12. 12University of Toledo