Exploring Academic Pathways: A Guide to Majors at Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) offers a diverse range of academic programs across its various schools, fostering creativity, intellectual exploration, and preparing students to address the world's most pressing challenges. From the humanities to engineering, business to medicine, WashU provides a rich environment for students to find their intellectual home and build a solid foundation for their future careers. This article explores the academic landscape at WashU, highlighting the various schools and the majors they offer.
A Hub of Academic Excellence: WashU's Schools and Programs
WashU comprises several distinguished schools, each with its unique focus and offerings:
- Arts & Sciences: This school forms the core of WashU's academic foundation, encompassing the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
- McKelvey School of Engineering: The McKelvey School of Engineering promotes independent inquiry in engineering research and education with an emphasis on scientific excellence, innovation, and collaboration without boundaries. WashU engineers produce new knowledge that changes the world, and faculty educate students to explore and create for a future we cannot yet imagine.
- Olin Business School: At Olin Business School, students learn to look beyond the bottom line and make thoughtful decisions that benefit business and society. Their global-mindedness - coupled with a values-based, data-driven approach to decision making - prepares students to tackle the greatest challenges and to change the world, for good.
- Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts: The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts is a unique collaboration in architecture, art, and design education that links professional studio programs with one of the country’s finest university art museums. Composed of the College of Architecture, the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design, the College of Art, the Graduate School of Art, and the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, the Sam Fox School is an inspiring place for learning, making, and creative research.
- Brown School: The Brown School is a leader in social work and social policy, recognized for its commitment to equity and real-world impact. For more than a century, it has addressed society’s most urgent challenges through teaching, practice, and evidence-based research. Grounded in rigorous science and informed by community experience, the school advances solutions that shape policy, strengthen communities, and expand opportunity.
- School of Law: The WashU School of Law introduces students to all facets of the law while also empowering them to personalize their curriculum and further investigate their areas of interest. The program is designed to educate well-rounded, thoughtful attorneys.
- School of Medicine: WashU School of Medicine is a world leader in medical education, research, and patient care. Its graduate programs in medical education, occupational therapy, physical therapy and audiology are considered to be among the nation’s best. Faculty lead a robust research enterprise, supported by the National Institutes of Health. The school’s physicians provide care in partnership with the nationally ranked Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St.
- School of Continuing & Professional Studies (CAPS): The School of Continuing & Professional Studies (CAPS) is the professional and continuing education division at WashU.
- School of Public Health: After completing the 2022 strategic plan, Here and Next, WashU is establishing its first new school in 100 years. More than a school, the School of Public Health will be an interdisciplinary, collaborative, innovative, data-driven and people-focused home for research and education equipped to meet current and future challenges in public health in St.
Majors and Programs at McKelvey School of Engineering
The McKelvey School of Engineering offers a range of programs designed to equip students with the technical skills and knowledge to solve complex problems and innovate for the future. Here are some of the majors and programs available:
- Biomedical Engineering: The Department of Biomedical Engineering offers five degree options, including a bachelor’s, combined bachelor’s/master’s, master’s, master of engineering, and PhD.
- Cybersecurity Programs: Graduates of the cybersecurity programs will be equipped with the theoretical and hands-on engineering expertise to solve complex cybersecurity problems affecting diverse enterprises worldwide.
- Data Science: Students majoring in data science will have the formal foundation needed to understand the applicability and consequences of the various approaches to analyzing data with a focus on statistical modeling and machine learning.
- Robotics: Students in the master of engineering in robotics program will prepare for professional practice in robotics engineering by leveraging the technical skills developed in an undergraduate engineering or physical science program.
- Quantum Engineering: Quantum Engineering integrates quantum knowledge - quantum physics, quantum information science, and quantum technologies - into the engineering education at Washington University.
Minors in Engineering
- Energy Engineering: The Energy Engineering minor gives students a broad coverage of courses in Energy Engineering.
- Nanotechnology: This minor in the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering will enhance student's knowledge and skills in the area of nanotechnology.
- Human-Computer Interaction: The human-computer interaction minor is designed to give undergraduate students a multidisciplinary understanding of the principles and applications of HCI.
Graduate Certificates
- Financial Engineering: The Graduate Certificate is designed to introduce students into the field of financial engineering.
- Master of Engineering Management Program: The master of engineering management program bridges the gap between technology and business by providing students with technical expertise and leadership skills needed to advance their career.
Majors and Programs at Olin Business School
Olin Business School provides a comprehensive business education, preparing students to lead in a globalized and rapidly changing world. Students have more than a year to take classes and consider their options. They declare their business major (or majors) during their sophomore year. You’re able to combine the majors listed below with majors or minors from WashU’s other schools, such as Arts & Sciences or the McKelvey School of Engineering, further personalizing your college education.
- BSBA in Accounting: Accounting represents a proven path to an exciting and challenging career in business.
- Undergraduate to Graduate Accelerated Pathway (U-GAP): Earn your BSBA in Accounting and MACC simultaneously through our Dual or Second Degree initiative.
- BSBA in Finance: Dive deep into a complex and competitive field, the expertise of which is valued around the globe.
- Undergraduate to Graduate Accelerated Pathway (U-GAP): Earn your BSBA in Finance and MSF simultaneously through our Dual or Second Degree initiative.
- BSBA in Healthcare Management: Gain proficiency in one of our nation's fastest-growing industries-the business of medicine.
- BSBA in Marketing: Our marketing major immerses you not only in the fundamentals of market research but also in such niche topics as business experiments, pricing strategies and innovations.
- BSBA in Operations and Supply Chain Management: Operations and Supply Chain Management offers a high-demand career path across industries, from delivering goods to optimizing services like healthcare. It develops hard skills such as process optimization and data analysis alongside soft skills like leadership and problem-solving.
- Undergraduate to Graduate Accelerated Pathway (U-GAP): Earn your BSBA in Operations, SCM, and MSSCM simultaneously through our Dual or Second Degree initiative.
- Management: Learn how to lead in any industry and shape the workplace of the future.
Specialized Business Areas
- Art & Business: Study the economic side of creating, buying and selling works of art with courses and experiential learning opportunities that touch on fashion, publishing, entrepreneurship and consumer behavior.
- Entertainment: Immerse yourself in the economics of a multidisciplinary juggernaut, the entertainment industry.
- Sports Business: Dive deep into the competitive field of sports economics with a core curriculum that covers management, analytics and marketing. Electives give you a glimpse into such specifics as legal issues in sports, brand management and sports entrepreneurship.
Undergraduate to Graduate Accelerated Pathway (U-GAP)
The Undergraduate to Graduate Accelerated Pathway (U-GAP) is designed for current WashU Olin undergraduates.
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Additional Academic Opportunities
- Interdisciplinary Studies: You’re able to combine the majors listed below with majors or minors from WashU’s other schools, such as Arts & Sciences or the McKelvey School of Engineering, further personalizing your college education.
- Pre-Health Studies: You can build a solid academic foundation for a career in the health professions while majoring in any subject.
- Business and Computer Science: This is a distinctive degree that captures the intersection of business and computer science and the growing demand for people with this special and sought-after skillset.
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