Concentrations are taken by students within their own major, as a way of focusing their studies on a particular area. Many members of the faculty realized that this was already being done informally by students, who used their electives to take courses in a particular area of their chosen fields. This proposal allowed for the formal recognition of these interests on the transcript. Some departments have elected to approve concentrations while others have not, but this does not stop students from calling attention to their interests on their resumes. An example of this is Computer Science majors who work towards a systems and networks interest. Professor Wills pointed out that "we don't have to formalize all concentrations."
One of the biggest selling points of the programs was that it did not require the addition of faculty or courses, as students would take courses which were already offered. The main concern was that it could cause some students to attempt to overspecialize, when undergraduates should be attempting to obtain a broad base of knowledge. This was overcome by recognizing that students must still meet their undergraduate requirements for their majors and that the formal recognition was for combinations of courses that many students were already taking. In this sense, the concentrations weren't really a big change.
Minors are taken by students in a field outside their major and some programs, like entrepreneurship and pre-law do not have a corresponding major at WPI. Students must finish two units of work in their minor, of which no more than one can overlap with other requirements for their major. The minor program also calls for a capstone course of project, which varies with each program. Examples of capstone are a seminar course in international studies, additional course work (such as a term paper) in a given class, or a 4000 level course for the computer science minor.
The program allows students to pursue a secondary or non-major interest and does not appear on the diploma. This work again appears on transcripts and minors are only allowed when a department has brought one forward. Faculty approval of this program allowed for more chances for students to pursue interdisciplinary work and it should be recognized that the capstone makes WPI's minor program different from minor programs at other schools.