By Jesse Dolojan, Staff Writer 

Xavier University will be offering five new majors in the Fall of 2025 to meet both current and prospective students’ interests: artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, genetics, neuroscience and microbiology. 

Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Dr. Florenz Plassmann noted that according to the Admissions Office, many touring high school seniors inquired about and expressed interest in these majors. Plassmann stressed that Xavier is still invested in the humanities. 

“We are going to offer additional programs in the more traditional liberal arts. We are working on a Bachelor’s degree in Medical Humanities that comes out of the English department,” Plassmann said. 

He emphasized a desire to ensure that humanities majors would be able to gain skills in areas outside of their majors so that they are more marketable to employers.  

Plassmann emphasized how Xavier has many faculty members who are capable of teaching courses for the new majors. He noted that many of the new majors involve courses already present at Xavier, and part of planning was designing the curriculum and identifying which courses needed to be added for the new majors. 

For areas where Xavier does not have a trained professor for a course, departments are currently looking for new faculty members to fill those roles.  

“I’m really blown away by the faculty, the staff and the students. Xavier students really stand out,” Plassmann said. “I’m super excited that we are able to offer these additional majors for our truly outstanding students and attract even more outstanding students down the road.” 

Head of the Computer Science Department Dr. Elizabeth Johnson believes that the cybersecurity and artificial intelligence majors are especially relevant in today’s world. Johnson noted how Xavier used to offer courses on AI, but how in recent years it has become more important to be trained in AI than ever. 

“If you think about ChatGPT and all that, the progress in artificial intelligence has been amazing,” Johnson said. “We did teach artificial intelligence four years ago. But we are bringing it back because now it seems like our students, especially all of our computer science students, have to know something about it.” 

Senior sociology major Sean Dwyer believes that having these options available to students will give them a chance to explore other fields of study. Dwyer noted that many universities have been placing a priority on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors, and that Xavier is following this national trend. 

“I know STEM tends to be where a lot of students want to go. It’s also where a lot of investment is in the country right now, especially things like AI and cybersecurity. Those are hot topics right now, so I think they’re very much following the trends,” Dwyer said. “STEM has always been popular at universities. It’s also where there’s a lot of money, so it makes sense to follow the money.” 

Johnson believes that the introduction of these majors will be exciting for Xavier, and that the administration will support faculty as they begin to incorporate these new majors. 

“It’s an exciting time with these new programs. We think that there will be great demand. The administration has been supportive of the new program, so I expect that we will get those resources,” Johnson said.