Oberlin College and Conservatory, a world leader in developing innovative thinkers and exceptional artists, has approved seven new majors spanning a wide range of disciplines. Each new major was voted on and approved by the Oberlin faculty.

In the College of Arts and Sciences, new majors include Business, Financial Economics, Environmental Science, Communication Studies, and Data Science. The Conservatory of Music has added Music Theater and Recording Arts and Production.

Recording Arts and Production welcomed its first class this fall. All other programs will be available to incoming students in fall 2025. Current College of Arts and Sciences students should reach out to their advisors for information about adding a major in these new areas.

The decision to add the new majors was motivated in part by interest expressed by current and prospective students. Six of them represent natural next steps for programs that have been introduced in recent years, generally as minor courses of study or concentrations, and each of them met with enthusiasm among students and faculty.

Music Theater is taking shape with the addition of an impressive roster of internationally known faculty and a state-of-the-art space created specifically for the program.

Oberlin remains unwavering in its commitment to such longstanding programs that are essential to preparing well-rounded graduates. The new majors arrive at a time when colleges and universities everywhere are streamlining traditional course offerings in response to budget challenges.

"I share in our faculty's firm belief that this is not a time to back down from the programs that are foundational to our values as an institution," says Carmen Twillie Ambar, President of Oberlin College and Conservatory. "Just as important: This is the moment to double down on that commitment, and to continually ask ourselves the question Can we do more to prepare our students for success?

"The arrival of these new majors offers a resounding answer: We can do more, and we are prepared to do just that. I applaud our faculty in both the college and conservatory for their visionary dedication to creating vital opportunities for our students."

Like all Oberlin majors, the seven new programs were proposed and approved by faculty. The new Arts and Sciences majors are the first in more than 20 years.

"An Oberlin education has always stood on the foundation of the traditional liberal arts, and the belief that the practices of the mind honed through this education are invaluable in life," says David Kamitsuka, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "These new majors build on this foundation by giving students the content to apply their work in the liberal arts to their areas of professional interest."

"With these new programs, we are able to equip new generations of Oberlin graduates with the tools they need to address the world's most complex challenges."

The new majors also offer previously unimaginable combinations of study in the form of double majors as well as Oberlin's popular Double Degree Program, through which students earn both a Bachelor of Arts in the college and a Bachelor of Music in the conservatory in five years or fewer.

"Oberlin was the first institution in America to confer the Double Degree, and we welcome new opportunities to expand the potential range of multidisciplinary approaches made possible by the program," says Dean of the Conservatory William Quillen. "Already, we are hearing from many of our conservatory students about their enthusiasm for pursuing the new college majors through the Double Degree Program."

Learn more about the Double Degree on Oberlin's Admissions website.

Click the links below to learn more about each program:

Business: Oberlin graduates pursue careers in business more than almost any other field. The Business major provides an exceptional foundation that offers a natural complement to secondary courses of study and double majors. Business majors tap into Oberlin's vast network of alumni connections spanning a wide range of industries.

Communication Studies: The program emphasizes critical analysis of all types of communication with a focus on how people use messages to generate meaning. Students learn to be ethical producers and thoughtful consumers of a comprehensive range of communications-an ever-expanding universe with implications encompassing every industry imaginable.

Environmental Science: Students investigate the complicated relationships between humans and the environment and explore interdisciplinary, science-based solutions to the challenges of today and tomorrow. The program is a companion to Oberlin's popular Environmental Studies major, which approaches the subject more from a sociological perspective.

Data Science: Data informs virtually everything we do today: It fuels critical thinking for 21st-century challenges and unlocks insights across the sciences, business, the humanities, and beyond. The Data Science major prepares students to be evidence-based decision-makers for a constantly evolving world.

Financial Economics: The program applies theoretic principles to extensive hands-on experiences with industry-standard software and data, preparing graduates for careers in a wide range of fields related to investment banking, asset management, venture capital, and more.

The conservatory major in Music Theater reinforces a longstanding tradition of Oberlin graduates who have transformed Broadway through their artistry. The program will debut in 2025 with a newly built home, outstanding faculty and staff, and a host of complementary resources. Learn more about the launch of Music Theater at Oberlin.edu.

The major in Recording Arts and Production, available this fall, capitalizes on the extensive resources of the conservatory-including more than 500 on-campus performances each year and extraordinary recording and production facilities. Its expert faculty facilitate an understanding of the technical skills and aesthetic considerations that inform the craft of those at the leading edge of the profession and across a multitude of musical styles.

"These programs demonstrate our commitment to expanding the aperture of today's conservatory education," says Quillen. "Music Theater and Recording Arts and Production, while obviously distinct from one another, are unmistakably united in the ways they support our mission to prepare students for relevant and fulfilling careers across the professional music landscape of today and tomorrow. This has been a hallmark of an Oberlin Conservatory education throughout our 158-year history, and it is unquestionably more crucial today than ever before."

Visit Oberlin.edu for more information about majors in the College of Arts and Sciences and Conservatory of Music.

ABOUT OBERLIN COLLEGE AND CONSERVATORY: Since its founding in 1833, Oberlin College and Conservatory has led the nation in its commitment to educational access and opportunity. Oberlin was the first U.S. college to adopt a policy to admit Black students and grant undergraduate degrees to women alongside men.

Located at the heart of a bucolic Northeast Ohio town, Oberlin uniquely combines an outstanding pre-professional school of music with a leading undergraduate college of arts and sciences. Oberlin students hail from nearly every U.S. state and more than 50 nations. Our alumni include 15 MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellows, four Nobel Laureates, nine Pulitzer Prize recipients, and countless Grammy Award winners. In the last century, more graduates of Oberlin have gone on to earn PhDs than any other liberal arts institution. Learn more at Oberlin.edu.

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