By Hannah Egan | Guest Writer
When it comes to declaring a major at the University of Lynchburg, the numbers don’t lie; one of the most popular areas of study amongst students is business administration.
According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), nearly 1 in 5 bachelor degrees conferred in 2022 were business degrees. While the Physician Assistant program has risen in popularity over the past three years, historically, the business administration major has been most popular, especially amongst male students.
Professor Frank Whitehouse, who has been teaching business classes at the University of Lynchburg for 44 years, says that a lot of business majors come to Lynchburg with the hope to pursue a career in the industry or begin their own businesses.
“A lot of people are looking forward to what they’re going to be doing once they leave us and preparing for careers in some aspect of business,” Whitehouse said.
Whitehouse attributes the rise in popularity of the business administration major on campus to Lynchburg’s forward-thinking students, who he says are interested in the diverse career paths they will be able to choose from following graduation. He also sees business administration continuing to maintain their market share of the majors offered at Lynchburg.
Dr. John Angelis, who has been with the university for the past four years but has over 18 years of experience teaching business, says that a majority of students who pursue a degree in business are male.
“A lot of male students in our majors are definitely athletes and the business schedule seems to work for them,” Angelis said. “I know some of our faculty has advised for the athletic teams, so I think those two have been paired together, but there’s no reason for it to just kind of continue as it is.”
Angelis admitted that gender demographics within the major have shifted in recent years.
“I think that there’s better representation than there used to be,” Angelis shared.
According to U.S. News Education, there were more degree-seeking women at Lynchburg in 2023 than degree-seeking men. While women comprised over 60 percent of degree-seekers at Lynchburg, Dr. Gerald Prante, Associate Dean of the School of Professional and Applied Science, says that there are more men in the business major at Lynchburg.
“The split is about 45% women and 55% men in the business major,” Prante revealed.
Dr. Eric Kyper, a professor of business and economics at Lynchburg, shared that he has noticed a shift in his classroom demographics in recent years.
“In my classes, if it’s not 50/50, there’s definitely more women than men,” Kyper noted. “But there’s also more women enrolled here.”
To learn more about the business at the University of Lynchburg, visit Business Administration Major.
