Capstone projects in college allow students pursuing a bachelor’s degree to integrate and apply what they have learned throughout their academic studies to a substantial project. The deliverables or final work products of a capstone project vary depending on the student’s major and area of focus but generally involve conducting original research, developing a new product or software, designing a system or process, or implementing a solution to address a real-world problem or need. Some common examples of capstone project deliverables include:

For students majoring in engineering, capstone projects often result in the production of prototypes. Examples could include designing and building a robotic system, developing a new medical device, creating 3D models and prototypes of structures like bridges or buildings, or programming and testing embedded systems. The deliverables would be documentation of the design process, prototype models, test results, engineering drawings, specifications, analysis of alternatives considered, and demonstration of the final product.

Students concentrating in computer science or software engineering frequently develop functional software applications, tools, or websites as part of their capstone. Deliverables typically consist of the working software program or platform, documentation of requirements and design specifications, user manuals, testing plans and results, demonstrations of the software in use, and analysis of the development process. Examples range from mobile apps and games to complex databases and management systems.

Those studying healthcare fields like nursing, health sciences, or kinesiology may carry out comprehensive research projects involving data collection and analysis related to a particular medical topic, treatment, or patient population. Deliverables include research proposals, literature reviews, methodology descriptions, results from surveys, interviews or experiments, discussions of findings, conclusions, references, and formal research papers or reports presenting the complete study.

For business and management majors, capstone projects regularly involve consulting projects for real organizations. Students identify issues or opportunities within a company, conduct research, develop recommendations in their areas of study like marketing, finance, operations or human resources, and present proposed solutions. Deliverables consist of project proposals and plans, research data, client recommendations reports, implementation strategies, business cases, financial analyses, presentations defending recommended solutions, and executive summaries.

Students concentrating in communications, media, or digital design create a variety portfolio-quality works for their capstone. Examples include documentary films, public relations campaigns, marketing strategies and collateral, websites, interactive media installations, photography exhibits, graphic design projects, promotional videos, and editorial publications. Deliverables incorporate the finished products along with planning documents, style guides, proposals, treatments, scripts, storyboards, timelines, and post-project evaluations.

For liberal arts or social science degrees, capstone projects frequently take the form of original academic research with a written thesis. Deliverables typically include research proposals, literature and data reviews, methodological approaches, findings from qualitative interviews, surveys or quantitative statistical analyses, discussions of results, conclusions, limitations and ideas for future research. Extensive reference lists and formally structured thesis papers between 20 to 50 pages presenting the complete research project are also required.

Across various disciplines, final presentations are a common deliverable for capstone projects. Students often develop multimedia slide decks, video project explanations, physical models or demonstrations to verbally share their work at a symposium or conference-style event. These allow students to convey the purpose and significance of their projects, highlight key results, receive feedback from faculty and peers, and formally communicate and defend their capstone work.

Capstone projects across different academic majors are open-ended opportunities for students to apply their accumulated knowledge to an authentic challenge. Through substantive deliverables of research reports, prototypes, software, applied solutions, professional portfolios or other works, capstones allow students to gain real-world work experience and demonstrate their mastery of their field of study before graduation.