Earning a bachelor’s degree in finance soon won’t be as hard as it sounds.
For the first time next fall, students in the GW School of Business’ bachelor of science in finance program will no longer need to fulfill G-PAC or Elliott School of International Affairs requirements to complete their mandatory second major outside of the business school — easing course loads for more than 80 students.
Isabelle Bajeux-Besnainou, the school’s associate dean of undergraduate programs, said in an email that faculty made the change to “simplify the process and enhance the experience for our students regardless of program or second major.”
Students in the program will have to complete the same requirements as other business school students, which include courses like economics, the humanities and two sciences, according to a copy of an email from Mirasol Española, the business school’s executive director of undergraduate advising and programs, that was sent to students Tuesday and obtained by The Hatchet.
Española wrote in the email that any G-PAC courses that students have already taken could end up as fall-through courses, which means they will no longer count toward the major requirements.
“Please work closely with your academic adviser should you have any questions in preparing your academic plan,” Española wrote.
Undergraduate advisers in the business school learned about the change last week, according to a separate email from an undergraduate adviser that was obtained by The Hatchet.
Several finance professors in the business school declined to comment on the change.
Emma Franklin, a freshman in the bachelor of science in finance program, said the change could also attract new students by making the program “seem a bit less daunting in terms of major requirements.”
Heather Abrams, another freshman in the program, said the new policy would help ease her course load by removing at least five classes that were previously required.
“The fact that you have to double-major is not easy, but with the G-PAC requirements on top of it, it was kind of ludicrous,” Abrams said.
