A new mathematics major will be available for Loyola students beginning in fall 2013.

Maria Calzada, interim dean of the College of Humanities and Natural Sciences, said that the new liberal arts mathematics major will give Loyola students, who are interested in math, an opportunity to incorporate the subject into their curriculum.

Currently, there is a math major with pure mathematics and a computational mathematics major with applied mathematics. Calzada considers these majors very strong, but are focused for those students who want to go graduate school.

Calzada estimated that now there are only 25 students majoring in math at Loyola, and hopes this major, which has three less requirements and more electives, will attract more students.

“This new major is much more flexible than the other majors and is directed towards students who have an interest in mathematics or may possibly want to combine math with another major, but who don’t want to go graduate school,” Calzada said.

This change stems from the recommendations of an external review board.

“The reviewers said based on the size of our university, we do not have as many math majors as we could have. They suggested that it was possibly because we have the focus on graduate school. They recommended we have a major with a more generic focus like the one we have proposed.” she said.

Jorge Rodas, music composition junior, said that the additional major is necessary and “sounds phenomenal.”

“I feel the school needs to push mathematics a lot more in general. It’s a misunderstood discipline. The school promoting more math classes and giving students more opportunities to promote the subject would ultimately benefit the community as a whole,” he said.

Jennie Gutierrez can be reached at [email protected]