They do have pretend majors. I can find one or two people that fell from seven stories up and lived, but would you go around thinking it's safe to jump from the seventh floor? There are exceptions to every rule. If I applied to UConn, with my good but not great academic record, and said I want to major in individualized basket weaving, do you think I get accepted without being 6 ft tall and able to shoot a basketball? I would be rejected or told that the Waterbury campus is nice in the summer.
As someone who actually has a relatively recent degree from UConn, let me clear up a few things. The individualized majors aren’t pretend majors. You’re not taking pretend classes. You don’t have fewer credit hours to earn the degree.
Oh, AND NON-ATHLETES HAVE THEM, TOO.
At least 36 credit hours, 2000 level and above, have to be from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences or the College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources (the two departments that allow individualized majors). So when Lawlor got her degree in Sustainable Farm and Ranch Management, she had at least 36 CAHNR hours and took classes with the business school. That is all on top of their university requirements. Is there a major on the books called Sustainable Farm and Ranch
Is it the same as majoring in biomedical engineering or physics? No. But neither were my degrees in English and education.
So until you can prove they’re fabricating classes and programs for student athletes where no work is actually required, take your pretend degree accusations and, politely, shove ‘em.
