What is your career choice? Do you want to design the user interface for the next Croco Casino login games? Do you want to write the movie script for the next blockbuster movie? With Marymount University dropping ten traditional majors like Art and English, is Marymount University still a potential university choice?
Marymount University in Virginia, on Friday, February 23, 2023, announced that they were dropping 10 Bachelor of Science majors and one master degree program due to low enrollment:
- Art, BA
- Economics, BA
- English, BA
- History, BA
- Mathematics, BA
- Philosophy, BA
- Secondary Education, BA
- Sociology, BA
- Theology & Religious Studies, BA
- English and Humanities, MA
This change does not impact other Master’s degrees or minors. So even though English as a major is no longer offered, it is still offered as a minor. Not to mention that many choices are still available as electives.
Was this the right choice? First, we must look at the list and compare it with the university’s other majors. But with a quick look, for most of those majors, without any further education to supplement them, the only job potential would be to continue to get a PhD in those fields and teach at a university. In other words, it forced the student to take out over $100k in student loans. For what? A university job that they may or may not eventually get?
But dropping those majors is not as bad as everybody is making it out. They are not dropping the courses. They are dropping the majors. That means that they have to replace them with something else. Most of those choices are one of the above-given majors plus something else. And it is something else that will eventually give them the skills to get a job.
ESL, ELL English Language Learners, intensive courses
Everybody knows that a massive influx of illegal immigrants pays $10k to cross the border. So what if instead of paying that money to coyotes, they delivered it to the university, and after a year of study, they were fluent in English? Regardless of your views on illegal immigration, everybody would agree that an immigrant (legal or illegal) would be better off in the long term with a solid foundation in English. That is a no-brainer, and Marymount has already admitted that it is one of the options they are adding.
Art
- Art with K-12 teaching license (not Art only and not secondary education only, but a combination of both)
- Fashion Design — designing clothing
- Fashion Merchandising and marketing — retail marketing
- Graphic and Media Design — Art on a computer
- Interior design — designing the inside of a house
- Art History (minor)
- Ceramics (minor)
- Fashion Design (minor)
- Fashion Marketing (minor)
- Fashion Merchandising (minor)
- Game Design and Development (minor) — Graphics in computer games
- Graphic and Media Design (minor)
- Illustration (minor)
- Marketing (minor)
- Media and Performance Study (minor) — YouTube videos, anyone?
- Studio Art (minor)
- UX/UI Web Design (minor)
- Web Design (minor)
Economics
- BA in economics + Catholic University School of law (economics plus entry into law school, combination of two majors)
- Economics (minor)
English
- Communication — being able to communicate is always needed
- Communication + Catholic University School of law (communication plus entry into law school, combination)
- Digital Writing and Narrative Design — Blogging and article writing and YouTube video storyboarding
- English + Catholic University School of Law
- English with Secondary level teaching license
- Communication (minor)
- English (minor)
- Journalism (minor)
- Writing (minor)
History
- History and Social Sciences with Secondary level teaching license
Mathematics
- Mathematics and University of North Dakota Mechanical Engineering Dual Degree
- Mathematics with a secondary teaching license
- Applied Statistics (minor) — Somebody needs to analyze all that data. Knowing how to use Power BI is also big money.
- Data Science (minor) — Big money in this field
- Mathematics (minor)
Philosophy
- Liberal Studies, Leadership and systems thinking tracks
- Neuroscience
- Philosophy (minor)
Secondary Education
- Special Education K-12
Sociology
- Liberal Studies, Leadership and systems thinking tracks
- Sociology + Catholic University School of Law
- Criminal Justice (minor) — the study of the justice system (judges, police, courts, correctional facilities, rehabilitation facilities, etc.)
- Forensic Psychology (minor) — Only open to psychology majors. Forensic Research Psychologists conduct their research in various areas by studying criminal history and questioning suspects, victims, and other people related to a crime. They also learn the situations surrounding a particular crime and the age group most related to it.
- Forensics and Criminal Investigation (minor) — Looking at hard evidence to help solve a crime: fingerprints, ballistics, chemistry, etc.
- Gender and Society (minor)
- Public Relations (minor) — Public relations is managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization to the public to influence their perception.
- Social Entrepreneurship (minor) — Interested in managing a small non-profit organization? Somebody has to manage the finances for Churches and other “help” organizations.
- Entrepreneurship (minor) — Course selection between this significant and social entrepreneurship differ. This major does not include a course in marketing or project management. Weird.
- Sociology (minor)
Theology and Religion
- Theology and Religious Studies + Master of Business
- Theology and Religious Studies (minor)
English and Humanities
- Liberal Studies, Leadership and systems thinking tracks
Review of the current majors, with no ones added.
I read about Marymount University changing its majors on Fox News. Still, the funny thing is that many people who read Fox News are always discussing the problem of people majoring in something with no career opportunities except for getting a PhD and teaching that same major—expecting others to pay for their student loans.
So what does Marymount University do? They tell their students that you can’t major in these majors alone. You can still study these areas (as a minor), but you have to major in something else that will provide you with the skills. Although, there are a few that have a direct major + law school track. If you do well in your undergraduate studies, you get automatic entry into law school. So again, somebody has a clear career path.
Do I agree or disagree with what Marymount is doing?
I supported it, but then I went to the Rochester Institute of Technology, and they had the same philosophy. They had a top-notch art program, but it was not traditional Art and traditional art history. Instead, it was teaching you to use your art skills to do “something” that would give you the skills to get a job when you graduate.
For example, students majored in computational mathematics instead of majoring in mathematics at RIT. Instead of majoring in Art, students majored in medical illustration.
From what I can see, as an outsider looking in, Marymount is following in the direction schools like RIT were going in 30 years ago.
Summary
Most negative feedback to Marymount University’s dropping of majors is from alums who are emotionally attached to the situation, and their reactions are based on that.
If they took the time to look at the wide range of significant offerings at Marymount University, they would realize that in 2023, more than those majors is needed in a student’s best interest.
And if these students are to succeed in the future, they will need those skills as well as other skills to get a job that can support themselves and their future families.
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