The new finance minor program, based out of the Simon Center for Economics and Business, will include two core economics courses: “Corporate Finance” and “Financial Accounting & Analysis.”
Lafayette College faculty approved a new finance minor at its last meeting, superseding a certificate that commonly served as a finance department alternative. The new minor will serve students in the Class of 2029 and beyond.
The six-course minor was approved by a 104-18 vote with four abstentions at the Feb. 24 faculty meeting, according to Clerk of the Faculty Joshua Smith. The motion to approve the minor was brought by a faculty education policy committee, after the college’s economics department voted to approve the program at the end of 2025.
“We were meeting on a every other week basis for the better part of a year and a half before we finally had a curriculum and a set of ideals,” said Steven Swidler, a professor of business and finance in the economics department. He teaches “Corporate Finance,” a key course in both the financial policy certificate and the future minor program.
The college’s economics minor will be unimpacted by the finance minor, according to Swidler. The economics department also hopes to hire a tenure-track professor with a concentration in finance in the near future.
The existing financial policy certificate, which focuses on economics, mathematics and computer science courses, will remain the only formal option for students in the Class of 2026, 2027 and 2028.
“Even though our certificate was in many ways comparable to a minor, the outside world didn’t necessarily know that,” Swidler said, adding that the certificate required more courses and often became too time-consuming for students to pursue.
David Stifel, the college’s economics department head, said that the minor’s capstone will not be offered until the 2027-28 academic year. As a result, the Classes of 2026, 2027 and 2028 will not be able to pursue the new minor.(are we still worried about verifying this, because i kind of think we can cut that last sentence especially when we already say it serves class of 2029 and beyond?)
The minor consists of two core economics courses: “Corporate Finance” and “Financial Accounting & Analysis,” in addition to an ethics course, skills course, an applications course and a capstone, according to the college’s website.
To fulfill the program’s ethics course requirement, the college’s website lists classes in philosophy, history and civil engineering departments.
Nisan Basciftci ‘26, an economics and mathematics major who completed the finance certificate, said the change could be a disadvantage for some students because double minors are not offered at the college. However, she said she believed the minor could boost students wanting to pursue finance as a career.
“When you interview for these roles, they ask you, ‘What’s your major? Do you have a minor?’” Basciftci said. “But no one asks you about a certificate.”
Harrison Meyer ‘29 contributed reporting.