Gettysburg College announces new majors in finance, public health policy

Continuing to meet the needs of today’s students and equip them with the knowledge and enduring skills that employers desire, Gettysburg College is proud to announce the launch of two new majors—finance and public health policy. Both will be available to students beginning in the 2025-2026 academic year.

Grounded in the liberal arts and sciences, the finance and public health policy majors will graduate effective leaders and engaged citizens ready to contribute to economies worldwide. Read about each new major below.

Finance Major

The Economics and Management departments will oversee the new interdisciplinary, dual-track major in finance. Students interested in finance, banking, and financial policy careers, as well as graduate study in the field, can declare as early as the Fall 2025 semester.

“The new major should provide students interested in finance with some exciting options for focusing their academic studies and starting along a successful career path in the field,” said Management Chair Joseph R. Radzevick.

All finance majors will complete foundational and core courses in business, economics, and mathematics, as well as a capstone. As they learn about the value of money, risk assessment, asset valuation, and portfolio management, they will gain skills in financial analysis, critical thinking, data analytics, problem solving, and communication. Finance majors will also gain real-world experience through internships, case studies, and simulations with financial software tools.

The finance major will have two tracks:

1. A business track, resulting in a Bachelor of Arts degree with a total of 12 courses. Administered by the Management Department, this track focuses on the study of finance within business with elective courses in business and finance.
2. An economics track, resulting in a Bachelor of Science degree, with a total of 16 courses. Administered by the Economics Department, this track focuses on the study of finance within economics. With a more technical lens, this track has more quantitative courses, including elective courses in mathematics, computer and data science, economics, and finance.

Those focusing on the business track will graduate ready to analyze financial statements, corporate risk, capital structure, and cost of capital, plus forecast budgets and returns on investment and solve financial problems.

Students pursuing the economics track will develop the skills to apply economic theory to financial markets and institutions. They will grow an understanding of how macroeconomic events impact financial markets around the world, how historical and ethical perspectives intersect in the field, and how financial regulations impact markets. They will also become proficient in statistical analysis and econometrics for financial modeling and forecasting.

“The design of the major is unique and will allow Gettysburg College to offer a rigorous finance degree with a strong liberal arts foundation,” said Economics Chair Linus M. Nyiwul. “The major’s strong emphasis on quantitative finance is aimed at preparing students for emerging careers in this field.”

Public Health Policy Major

The new interdisciplinary and innovative public health policy major will be a joint degree between the Health Sciences and Public Policy departments. Students interested in solutions-based approaches to mitigating public health challenges will benefit from this new degree’s rigorous, interdisciplinary, applied approach. Students majoring in public health policy can pursue diverse career paths at community and societal levels in government agencies, nonprofits, hospitals and health care organizations, and nongovernmental agencies, as well as graduate study in the field. Students can declare as early as the Fall 2025 semester.

With the growing need for public health professionals to address emerging health challenges and crises, the public health policy major will provide foundational courses in health sciences and public policy.

Through natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities coursework, students will gain an interdisciplinary understanding of local and global public health policy issues, emphasizing links among health, society, and public policy. They will graduate ready to communicate the values, concepts, methods, and functions of both public health and public policy while being able to apply those frameworks to social, economic, biological, environmental, and behavioral health factors. They will also be able to analyze the role of public policy in population health outcomes. 

“In this new major, we cultivate critical thinkers to develop evidence-based responses to current and emerging public health policy challenges and consider public health through a social justice lens,” said Public Policy Chair Anne S. Douds.

Public health policy majors will receive a Bachelor of Arts after taking a total of 14 courses, two of which are electives. With experiential learning as a core component of their coursework, students will pursue a community internship experience and complete a capstone class. Some of their course requirements could be completed while studying abroad in Bonn, Germany, through the Center for Global Education.

“We are excited to engage with students and the community on local and global public health issues through this new major,” said Health Sciences Chair Amy Dailey. “As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, creating effective public health policy requires individuals who can critically analyze issues from multiple perspectives. This major will provide students with a strong foundation in both public health and public policy while encouraging engagement across campus in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.”

Visit campus today to learn about these exciting new academic offerings.

By Megan Miller
Photos by Jason Minick and Shawna Sherrell
Posted: 09/27/24