"I remember joking about majoring in puzzles as a kid, never imagining that such a thing was possible until my mom discovered the individualized major program," Shortz said. Between 2019 and 2021, there was a 3% increase in the number of students graduating with individualized studies degrees. With majors like Chaos, Human Computer Interaction, and Architecture and Food Theory, students aren't just crafting these degrees for fun. In 2020, RIT renamed its individualized major the New Economy major and highlighted the need for students to "adapt to evolving career fields." Adopting a rather divergent approach to the same goal, New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Studies frames its approach as honing the "management of knowledge."

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Persons: Will Shortz, Shortz, — Shortz, He's, we're, Oluwaseyi Onifade, Onifade, James Hall, they're, Makini Beck, SOIS, he's, Ben Papernick, Papernick, haven't, Peter Rajsingh, Gallatin, Kahrej Ahluwalia, Ahluwalia, Rajsingh, Tiffany Ng Organizations: Dell, Indiana University, The New York Times, National Center for Education Statistics, Rochester Institution of Technology, Oluwaseyi, RIT's, Society, Jobs, RIT, Genesee Community College, Applied, University of Texas, Austin, University of Southern, New York University's Gallatin School, Baseball, Gallatin, Schools, NYU Locations: RIT's, Western New York, University of Southern California, New York, Gallatin