For the first time ever, the McDonough School of Business was Georgetown’s most selective undergraduate school, accepting only 15.9 percent of its applicants for the Class of 2017, down from 16.8 percent last year. The College, historically the most exclusive of the university’s four schools, had an acceptance rate of 16.3 percent.

The more competitive acceptance rate, which was mirrored by increased selectivity in the School of Nursing & Health Studies, points to the heightened appeal of schools that are perceived to guarantee future career safety through more vocational majors. According to a 2012 study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, business and health majors do, on average, have more success getting jobs out of college than liberal arts students. And with many college graduates taking on enormous debt, more students are prioritizing job safety.

But this trend toward professional majors says as much about the changing character of Georgetown as it does about the changing preferences of a generation cognizant of the recent economic climate. After all, the business school has received a large share of funding and university attention in the past few years. With a recently constructed building and consistently high rankings in business school reviews, Georgetown may simply be attracting more qualified candidates.

To be sure, some members of the Georgetown community lament the business school’s rise and the university’s movement, however gradual, away from the liberal arts foundation on which it was built. But if this past admissions cycle is any indication, it appears Georgetown’s move toward expanding more professional programs in business and health may just be exactly what the future generation of Georgetown students prefers.