Lehigh has placed the master’s in financial engineering program on hold for re-evaluation, with the fall 2026 cohort being the last group of students admitted to the program.
The decision ends the 4+1 program for most undergraduate students and follows years of declining enrollment, which allowed students to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in five years.
Some students also said they received limited and conflicting information about the program’s future.
The master’s in financial engineering, which combined courses in finance, mathematics and industrial engineering, was an interdisciplinary program through the college of business, the college of arts and sciences and the college of engineering.
Daniel Conus, assistant professor in the mathematics department and co-director representing the college of arts and sciences in the master’s in financial engineering program, said around three-quarters of the program’s participants have historically been international students.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, more universities began offering online master’s programs. Highly ranked programs at universities such as University of California, Berkeley, Cornell University and New York University increased in capacity as the programs moved online.
Conus said as a result, Lehigh lost some international student enrollment, which ultimately contributed to the general decline. The program enrolled about 40 to 60 students annually in the previous decade, but in recent years has enrolled only about 15 students per year.
He also said the three colleges attempted to restructure the program, but failed to reach an agreement.
Conus said the administration ultimately decided the program wasn’t viable at its current size and the interdisciplinary structure should end, with the college of business taking the lead.
Richard Kish, a professor in the Perella department of finance and co-director from the college of the master’s in financial engineering program, said students currently enrolled in the master’s program will be able to complete their degrees.
He said the program can only be completed by seniors with a 3.0 GPA and the necessary prerequisites, and others in the fall 2026 cohort.
Conus said undergraduate students who’ve already completed courses that count toward the program may be able to apply those credits toward their majors or use them as electives to graduate sooner.
Talan Harakal, ‘28, was in the 4+1 program and said he first learned it was being restructured in an email sent to students during the spring 2026 semester. He said the email didn’t clearly explain what the changes would mean for students.
He also said after about six months without additional information, Harakal and another student in the program contacted program supervisors for clarification. They were then redirected to other faculty members and received conflicting information about whether they would still be able to enter the program.
The students eventually received an email announcing the program’s discontinuation. The email suggested that juniors and younger students consider other master’s programs at Lehigh, such as applied mathematics.
Harakal said the email didn’t provide a process for students who wanted to continue pursuing financial engineering. He also said he would have preferred Lehigh either to communicate more clearly about the restructuring process or make the decision sooner.
Although Harakal is a junior, he said he’s still able to continue with the program because he has senior academic status.
“It definitely makes you lose confidence in the program that already exists,” Harakal said.
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