Oberlin College and Conservatory Adds 7 New Majors

Oberlin College and Conservatory, a world leader in developing innovative thinkers and exceptional artists, will launch seven new majors spanning a wide range of disciplines. The majors not only have broad faculty support but their creation was driven by faculty desire to expand our curriculum to meet evolving student interests and the opportunities and challenges of our complex world.

In the College of Arts and Sciences, the new majors are 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, Financial Economics, and Communication Studies welcomed their first classes 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 the chairs of the new majors for information about adding a major in these new areas.

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.

“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 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.”

The seven new majors are designed to build upon Oberlin’s historic excellence in launching creative thought leaders from all walks of life. 

“These new majors,” says David Kamitsuka, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, “build on Oberlin’s academic excellence and will equip our students to harness the power of their liberal arts education for an ever wider range of professional interests and 21st-century global challenges.” 

The new majors also offer previously unimaginable combinations of study in the form of double majors and 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: Business and finance are among the top fields pursued by Oberlin graduates. Through rich and varied courses and experiential learning opportunities, the Business major offers students the knowledge, skills, and experience to build, improve, and lead organizations in creating sustainable value. With signature programs such as Internship+, the Ashby Business Scholars, and the Impact Investment Advisory Group, Business at Oberlin includes high-impact opportunities for applying theoretical knowledge to real-world business challenges and tapping into Oberlin’s influential network of alumni connections spanning a wide range of industries.

Communication Studies: The program equips students to be ethical producers and discerning consumers of a comprehensive range of communications and communications mediums. Students analyze and deploy communication strategies to address the interpersonal, cultural, and political challenges facing pluralistic democratic societies today.

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 from more cultural and sociological perspectives.

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

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.