Subject vs. Major — What's the Difference?
Edited by Tayyaba Rehman — By Urooj Arif — Updated on March 26, 2024
Subject refers to a specific area of knowledge or study within a broader educational curriculum, whereas a major is the primary focus of study in a degree program at a college or university.
Difference Between Subject and Major
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Subjects are individual areas of knowledge, such as mathematics, history, or science, offered within educational programs. On the other hand, a major is a concentrated area of study that a student chooses to focus on during their undergraduate education, often requiring a specific set of courses to complete.
While subjects can be standalone or part of broader educational pursuits at any level, majors are specific to higher education, dictating the core of a student's academic focus in college or university. Whereas subjects are foundational and can be explored at elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels.
Choosing a major is a significant decision for college students, as it can influence their career path and job prospects. Subjects, however, are selected based on interest, requirement, or as part of a broader educational goal, including prerequisites for advanced study.
In terms of educational structure, subjects make up the building blocks of an academic program, including majors. Majors, however, represent a commitment to mastering a particular discipline or field, culminating in a degree.
Comparison Chart
Definition
A specific area of knowledge or study
The primary focus of study in a degree program
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Level
Can be explored at any educational level
Specific to higher education
Purpose
To provide knowledge and skill in a specific area
To prepare students for a career or further education
Selection
Based on interest, requirement, or educational goal
Chosen by the student as a primary academic focus
Outcome
Understanding and skills in a particular area
Degree in a specialized field
Compare with Definitions
Subject
A particular area of study within a broader educational curriculum.
Mathematics is my favorite subject in school.
Major
The primary field of study in a college or university degree program.
I declared my major in biology because I want to go into research.
Subject
Reflects a branch of knowledge.
The subject of linguistics fascinates me because of its complexity.
Major
Determines the focus of undergraduate studies.
Choosing a major can be daunting, but it's crucial for your career path.
Subject
Subjects are offered at various educational levels.
English is a compulsory subject from elementary to high school.
Major
A major requires completing a set number of credits or courses.
My major in computer science has 40 credit requirements.
Subject
Subjects can be chosen based on interest or requirement.
I chose history as my elective subject this semester.
Major
Often aligned with career aspirations.
She chose her major in education to become a teacher.
Subject
Can be foundational or specialized.
Advanced subjects in physics require understanding basic concepts first.
Major
A major is declared by the student, usually in their second year.
I need to declare my major by next semester.
Subject
A person or thing that is being discussed, described, or dealt with
I've said all there is to be said on the subject
He's the subject of a major new biography
Major
Major is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world.
Subject
A branch of knowledge studied or taught in a school, college, or university
Maths is not my best subject
Major
Important, serious, or significant
The use of drugs is a major problem
Subject
A member of a state other than its ruler, especially one owing allegiance to a monarch or other supreme ruler
The legislation is applicable only to British subjects
Major
(of a scale) having intervals of a semitone between the third and fourth, and seventh and eighth degrees.
Subject
A noun or noun phrase functioning as one of the main components of a clause, being the element about which the rest of the clause is predicated.
Major
(appended to a surname in public schools) indicating the elder of two brothers.
Subject
A thinking or feeling entity; the conscious mind; the ego, especially as opposed to anything external to the mind.
Major
(of a term) occurring as the predicate in the conclusion of a categorical syllogism.
Subject
Likely or prone to be affected by (a particular condition or occurrence, typically an unwelcome or unpleasant one)
He was subject to bouts of manic depression
Major
A rank of officer in the army and the US air force, above captain and below lieutenant colonel.
Subject
Dependent or conditional upon
The proposed merger is subject to the approval of the shareholders
Major
A major key, interval, or scale.
Subject
Under the authority of
Ministers are subject to the laws of the land
Major
A major organization or competition
The majors have swept up the smaller independent companies in licensing deals
It's not unreasonable to believe someone can win all four majors
The oil majors had a profit bonanza
Subject
Conditionally upon
Subject to the EC's agreement, we intend to set up an enterprise zone in the area
Major
A student's principal subject or course
Many students would ignore courses outside their major
Subject
Cause or force someone or something to undergo (a particular experience or form of treatment, typically an unwelcome or unpleasant one)
He'd subjected her to a terrifying ordeal
Major
A major term or premise.
Subject
Bring (a person or country) under one's control or jurisdiction, typically by using force
The city had been subjected to Macedonian rule
Major
Short for major suit
South was anxious to mention his four-card major and bid one spade
Subject
Being in a position or in circumstances that place one under the power or authority of another or others
Subject to the law.
Major
A goal.
Subject
Prone; disposed
A child who is subject to colds.
Major
Specialize in (a particular subject) at college or university
I was trying to decide if I should major in drama or English
Subject
Likely to incur or receive; exposed
A directive subject to misinterpretation.
Major
Greater than others in importance or rank
A major artist.
Subject
Contingent or dependent
A vacation subject to changing weather.
Major
Great in scope or effect
A major improvement.
Subject
One who is under the rule of another or others, especially one who owes allegiance to a government or ruler.
Major
Great in number, size, or extent
The major portion of the population.
Subject
One concerning which something is said or done; a person or thing being discussed or dealt with
A subject of gossip.
Major
Requiring great attention or concern; very serious
A major illness.
Subject
Something that is treated or indicated in a work of art.
Major
Of or relating to the field of academic study in which a student specializes.
Subject
(Music) A theme of a composition, especially a fugue.
Major
Designating a scale or mode having half steps between the third and fourth and the seventh and eighth degrees.
Subject
A course or area of study
Math is her best subject.
Major
Equivalent to the distance between the tonic note and the second or third or sixth or seventh degrees of a major scale or mode
A major interval.
Subject
A basis for action; a cause.
Major
Based on a major scale
A major key.
Subject
One that experiences or is subjected to something
The subject of ridicule.
Major
A commissioned rank in the US Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps that is above captain and below lieutenant colonel.
Subject
A person or animal that is the object of medical or scientific study
The experiment involved 12 subjects.
Major
One who holds this rank or a similar rank in another military organization.
Subject
A corpse intended for anatomical study and dissection.
Major
One that is superior in rank, importance, or ability
An oil-producing country considered as one of the majors.
Subject
One who is under surveillance
The subject was observed leaving the scene of the murder.
Major
A field of study chosen as an academic specialty.
Subject
(Grammar) The noun, noun phrase, or pronoun in a sentence or clause that denotes the doer of the action or what is described by the predicate.
Major
A student specializing in such studies
A linguistics major.
Subject
(Logic) The term of a proposition about which something is affirmed or denied.
Major
A major premise.
Subject
The mind or thinking part as distinguished from the object of thought.
Major
A major term.
Subject
A being that undergoes personal conscious or unconscious experience of itself and of the world.
Major
A major scale, key, interval, or mode.
Subject
The essential nature or substance of something as distinguished from its attributes.
Major
A chord containing a major third between the first and second notes and a minor third between the second and third notes.
Subject
To cause to experience, undergo, or be acted upon
Suspects subjected to interrogation.
Rocks subjected to intense pressure.
Major
Majors Sports The major leagues.
Subject
To subjugate; subdue.
Major
To pursue academic studies in a major
Majoring in mathematics.
Subject
To submit to the authority of
Peoples that subjected themselves to the emperor.
Major
(attributive):
Subject
Likely to be affected by or to experience something.
A country subject to extreme heat
Menu listings and prices are subject to change.
He's subject to sneezing fits.
Major
Greater in dignity, rank, importance, significance, or interest.
Subject
Conditional upon something; used with to.
The local board sets local policy, subject to approval from the State Board.
Major
Greater in number, quantity, or extent.
The major part of the assembly
Subject
Placed or situated under; lying below, or in a lower situation.
Major
Notable or conspicuous in effect or scope.
Subject
Placed under the power of another; owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state.
Major
Prominent or significant in size, amount, or degree.
To earn some major cash
Subject
(grammar) In a clause: the word or word group (usually a noun phrase) about whom the statement is made. In active clauses with verbs denoting an action, the subject and the actor are usually the same.
In the sentence ‘The cat ate the mouse’, ‘the cat’ is the subject, ‘the mouse’ being the object.
Major
(medicine) Involving great risk, serious, life-threatening.
To suffer from a major illness
Subject
An actor; one who takes action.
The subjects and objects of power.
Major
Of full legal age, having attained majority.
Major children
Subject
The main topic of a paper, work of art, discussion, field of study, etc.
Major
(education) Of or relating to a subject of academic study chosen as a field of specialization.
Subject
A particular area of study.
Her favorite subject is physics.
Major
(music):
Subject
A citizen in a monarchy.
I am a British subject.
Major
Having intervals of a semitone between the third and fourth, and seventh and eighth degrees.
Major scale
Subject
A person ruled over by another, especially a monarch or state authority.
Major
Equivalent to that between the tonic and another note of a major scale, and greater by a semitone than the corresponding minor interval.
Major third
Subject
(music) The main theme or melody, especially in a fugue.
Major
(postpositive) of a key Based on a major scale, tending to produce a bright or joyful effect.
Subject
A human, animal or an inanimate object that is being examined, treated, analysed, etc.
Major
(campanology) Bell changes rung on eight bells.
Subject
(philosophy) A being that has subjective experiences, subjective consciousness, or a relationship with another entity.
Major
Indicating the elder of two brothers, appended to a surname in public schools.
Subject
(logic) That of which something is stated.
Major
(logic)
Subject
(math) The variable in terms of which an expression is defined.
0, we have x
Major
Occurring as the predicate in the conclusion of a categorical syllogism.
Subject
To cause (someone or something) to undergo a particular experience, especially one that is unpleasant or unwanted.
I came here to buy souvenirs, not to be subjected to a tirade of abuse!
Major
Containing the major term in a categorical syllogism.
Subject
(transitive) To make subordinate or subservient; to subdue or enslave.
Major
(military ranks) A rank of officer in the army and the US air force, between captain and lieutenant colonel.
He used to be a major in the army.
Subject
Placed or situated under; lying below, or in a lower situation.
Major
An officer in charge of a section of band instruments, used with a modifier.
Subject
Placed under the power of another; specifically (International Law), owing allegiance to a particular sovereign or state; as, Jamaica is subject to Great Britain.
Esau was never subject to Jacob.
Major
A person of legal age.
Subject
Exposed; liable; prone; disposed; as, a country subject to extreme heat; men subject to temptation.
All human things are subject to decay.
Major
(music):
Subject
Obedient; submissive.
Put them in mind to be subject to principalities.
Major
Ellipsis of major key.
Subject
That which is placed under the authority, dominion, control, or influence of something else.
Major
Ellipsis of major interval.
Subject
Specifically: One who is under the authority of a ruler and is governed by his laws; one who owes allegiance to a sovereign or a sovereign state; as, a subject of Queen Victoria; a British subject; a subject of the United States.
Was never subject longed to be a king,As I do long and wish to be a subject.
The subject must obey his prince, because God commands it, human laws require it.
Major
Ellipsis of major scale.
Subject
That which is subjected, or submitted to, any physical operation or process; specifically (Anat.), a dead body used for the purpose of dissection.
Major
(campanology) A system of change-ringing using eight bells.
Subject
That which is brought under thought or examination; that which is taken up for discussion, or concerning which anything is said or done.
Make choice of a subject, beautiful and noble, which . . . shall afford an ample field of matter wherein to expatiate.
The unhappy subject of these quarrels.
Major
A large, commercially successful company, especially a record label that is bigger than an indie.
Subject
The person who is treated of; the hero of a piece; the chief character.
Writers of particular lives . . . are apt to be prejudiced in favor of their subject.
Major
The principal subject or course of a student working toward a degree at a college or university.
Midway through his second year of college, he still hadn't chosen a major.
Subject
That of which anything is affirmed or predicated; the theme of a proposition or discourse; that which is spoken of; as, the nominative case is the subject of the verb.
The subject of a proposition is that concerning which anything is affirmed or denied.
Major
A student at a college or university specializing on a given area of study.
She is a math major.
Subject
That in which any quality, attribute, or relation, whether spiritual or material, inheres, or to which any of these appertain; substance; substratum.
That which manifests its qualities - in other words, that in which the appearing causes inhere, that to which they belong - is called their subject or substance, or substratum.
Major
(logic):
Subject
The principal theme, or leading thought or phrase, on which a composition or a movement is based.
The earliest known form of subject is the ecclesiastical cantus firmus, or plain song.
Major
Ellipsis of major term.
Subject
The incident, scene, figure, group, etc., which it is the aim of the artist to represent.
Major
Ellipsis of major premise.
Subject
To bring under control, power, or dominion; to make subject; to subordinate; to subdue.
Firmness of mind that subjects every gratification of sense to the rule of right reason.
In one short view subjected to our eye,Gods, emperors, heroes, sages, beauties, lie.
He is the most subjected, the most nslaved, who is so in his understanding.
Major
(bridge) major suit.
Subject
To expose; to make obnoxious or liable; as, credulity subjects a person to impositions.
Major
(Canadian football) A touchdown, or major score.
Subject
To submit; to make accountable.
God is not bound to subject his ways of operation to the scrutiny of our thoughts.
Major
(Australian rules football) A goal.
Subject
To make subservient.
Subjected to his service angel wings.
Major
An elder brother (especially at a public school).
Subject
To cause to undergo; as, to subject a substance to a white heat; to subject a person to a rigid test.
Major
(entomology) A large leaf-cutter ant that acts as a soldier, defending the nest.
Subject
The subject matter of a conversation or discussion;
He didn't want to discuss that subject
It was a very sensitive topic
His letters were always on the theme of love
Major
(obsolete) mayor and {{en}}.
Subject
Some situation or event that is thought about;
He kept drifting off the topic
He had been thinking about the subject for several years
It is a matter for the police
Major
(intransitive) major in
Subject
A branch of knowledge;
In what discipline is his doctorate?
Teachers should be well trained in their subject
Anthropology is the study of human beings
Major
Greater in number, quantity, or extent; as, the major part of the assembly; the major part of the revenue; the major part of the territory.
Subject
Something (a person or object or scene) selected by an artist or photographer for graphic representation;
A moving picture of a train is more dramatic than a still picture of the same subject
Major
Of greater dignity; more important.
Subject
A person who is subjected to experimental or other observational procedures; someone who is an object of investigation;
The subjects for this investigation were selected randomly
The cases that we studied were drawn from two different communities
Major
Greater by a semitone, either in interval or in difference of pitch from another tone.
Subject
A person who owes allegiance to that nation;
A monarch has a duty to his subjects
Major
An officer next in rank above a captain and next below a lieutenant colonel; the lowest field officer.
Subject
(grammar) one of the two main constituents of a sentence; the grammatical constituent about which something is predicated
Major
A person of full age.
Subject
(logic) the first term of a proposition
Major
That premise which contains the major term. It its the first proposition of a regular syllogism; as: No unholy person is qualified for happiness in heaven [the major]. Every man in his natural state is unholy [minor]. Therefore, no man in his natural state is qualified for happiness in heaven [conclusion or inference].
Subject
Cause to experience or suffer or make liable or vulnerable to;
He subjected me to his awful poetry
The sergeant subjected the new recruits to many drills
People in Chernobyl were subjected to radiation
Major
A mayor.
Subject
Make accountable for;
He did not want to subject himself to the judgments of his superiors
Major
A commissioned military officer in the United States Army or Air Force or Marines; below lieutenant colonel and above captain
Subject
Make subservient; force to submit or subdue
Major
British statesman who was prime minister from 1990 until 1997 (born in 1943)
Subject
Refer for judgment or consideration;
She submitted a proposal to the agency
Major
A university student who is studying a particular field as the principal subject;
She is a linguistics major
Subject
Not exempt from tax;
The gift will be subject to taxation
Major
The principal field of study of a student at a university;
Her major is linguistics
Subject
Possibly accepting or permitting;
A passage capable of misinterpretation
Open to interpretation
An issue open to question
The time is fixed by the director and players and therefore subject to much variation
Major
Have as one's principal field of study;
She is majoring in linguistics
Subject
Being under the power or sovereignty of another or others;
Subject peoples
A dependent prince
Major
Of greater importance or stature or rank;
A major artist
A major role
Major highways
Major
Greater in scope or effect;
A major contribution
A major improvement
A major break with tradition
A major misunderstanding
Major
Greater in number or size or amount;
A major portion (a majority) of the population
Ursa Major
A major portion of the winnings
Major
Of the field of academic study in which one concentrates or specializes;
His major field was mathematics
Major
Of a scale or mode;
Major scales
The key of D major
Major
Of greater seriousness or danger;
A major earthquake
A major hurricane
A major illness
Major
Of full legal age;
Major children
Major
Of the elder of two boys with the same family name;
Jones major
Common Curiosities
How do I choose a major?
Choosing a major typically involves considering your interests, career goals, and the subjects you are passionate about.
Can a subject become a major?
Yes, many subjects offered at lower educational levels can be pursued as a major in higher education.
Can I study multiple subjects within a major?
Yes, a major often encompasses multiple related subjects to provide a comprehensive understanding of a field.
Is it possible to change my major?
Yes, students can change their majors, though it may affect the time it takes to graduate.
What if my interests span multiple subjects?
Interdisciplinary majors or minors can accommodate a wide range of interests across different subjects.
What is the difference between a subject and a major?
A subject is a specific area of study, while a major is a concentrated field of study in a college degree program.
What happens if I don’t choose a major?
Most colleges require the declaration of a major to graduate; without one, you cannot complete a degree.
Are there prerequisites for choosing a major?
Some majors have prerequisites, requiring students to complete certain subjects before declaration.
Can I change my subject choices in high school?
Subject choices in high school can often be changed, depending on the school’s policies.
Do employers look at my major?
Yes, many employers consider your major as an indicator of your skills and area of expertise.
Can I major in two fields?
Yes, pursuing a double major involves fulfilling the requirements for two separate fields of study.
How does a major affect my career?
A major can significantly influence your career path by developing expertise in a specific field.
What is a minor in relation to a major?
A minor is a secondary field of study in college, requiring fewer courses than a major.
How important is it to select the right major?
It’s important for academic satisfaction and career prospects, but interests and paths can also evolve over time.
Are subjects and majors the same in all countries?
The concept of subjects is universal, but the structure of majors and degree programs can vary by country.
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Written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
Edited by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
