Penn announced five new master’s degree offerings during the University Board of Trustees Spring Full Board Meeting in June.
The meetings took place on June 12 and 13 at the Inn at Penn. During a presentation to the Budget and Finance Committee meeting on June 12, Vice President for Budget Planning and Analysis Trevor Lewis outlined a number of “proactive financial measures” being taken at the school and center levels, including the introduction of new degree programs to expand academic offerings.
At the Academic Policy Committee meeting later that day, trustees passed resolutions approving the creation of five new graduate programs.
Annenberg School for Communication Dean Sarah Banet-Weiser presented a one-year master’s program in Communication and Media Industries, marking the first non-doctoral degree offered by the school. Banet-Weiser said at the meeting that the school aims to enroll a cohort of 15 students in its inaugural semester in fall 2026.
“Our goal with the MCMI program is to cultivate leaders who are not only prepared to navigate today’s dynamic media industries, but who also think expansively, ethically, and globally about their future,” Banet-Weiser said in a statement announcing the program. “By bridging theoretical inquiry with professional practice, we are shaping the future of media leadership.”
Professors Ram Cnaan and Chao Guo from the School of Social Policy and Practice proposed a Doctorate in Nonprofit Administration program to train “interdisciplinary” industry leaders with the specific needs of mission-driven nonprofit and philanthropic organizations.
Wharton School Senior Vice Dean for Teaching and Learning and Accounting professor Brian Bushee introduced a “4+1” Master of Science in Quantitative Finance program that enables undergraduate students to earn a postgraduate degree by completing coursework during their senior year and one additional year at Wharton. The program will aim to prepare students for careers in quantitative finance, including data analysis and coding.
The degree — supported by a record $60 million gift from Bruce Jacobs, a 1979 School of Arts and Sciences graduate, 1986 Wharton Ph.D. graduate, and former Wharton faculty member — was officially announced on Sept. 15. Its inaugural cohort will enroll in fall 2026.
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“Wharton is the world’s top business school because it consistently leads at the forefront of fields like quantitative finance,” Penn President Larry Jameson said in a press release announcing the gift. “Dr. Jacobs has long been a champion for Wharton’s preeminence in this essential area, and we are deeply grateful for his historic gift.”
The Perelman School of Medicine also proposed two new master’s degrees, splitting the existing Master of Biomedical Informatics into two programs: one for practice-based training and one for research-based training. The Clinical Informatics program aims to train clinical practitioners in health care engineering, while the Biomedical Informatics program aims to train scientists and researchers for academic and research roles.
