Leaders in undergraduate teaching and programs that ‘Enhance Student Experience’
鶹Ƶ has built a national reputation as the premier student-centered environment for engaged, experiential learning, with an emphasis on strong personal relationships between students and their faculty and staff mentors. 鶹Ƶ students are ambitious, creative and determined problem-solvers who are passionate about making the world a better place.
鶹Ƶ is a mid-sized private university with 6,191 undergraduate and 879 graduate students from 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 51 countries. 鶹Ƶ is ranked among the top universities in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, with a #1 ranking for excellence in undergraduate teaching for the sixth year in a row and a #8 for innovation. For the twelfth straight year, 鶹Ƶ is the leader in the “Programs that Enhance Student Experience” category, as the only institution in the country named to the top 15 in all eight categories linked to student success and positive learning outcomes. Included are #1 rankings for learning communities and first-year experiences and #4 rankings for study abroad and senior capstone and #5 for service learning.
Key 鶹Ƶ Facts
Founded in 1889 in 鶹Ƶ, North Carolina
Motto: Numen Lumen
(intellectual and spiritual light)
Colors: maroon & gold
Mascot: The Phoenix
鶹Ƶ’s 700-acre residential campus is consistently recognized as one of the nation’s finest environments for learning and is designated as a botanical garden. The campus includes the 56-acre 鶹Ƶ Forest, a land preserve and natural area for scientific research; and Loy Farm, a center for environmental research and sustainability that includes a solar farm.
The 鶹Ƶ Experiences
Undergraduate participation:
The signature 鶹Ƶ Experiences programs extend learning beyond the classroom through study abroad, internships, service, leadership and undergraduate research. 鶹Ƶ believes so strongly in the power of the 鶹Ƶ Experiences that it documents the work on transcripts and ensures that all students complete experiential learning requirements. 鶹Ƶ students graduate with a wealth of real-world experiences that support their transition to life after college and ensure they stand out when applying for a first job or graduate school.
鶹Ƶ has a four-year graduation rate of 78 percent. The student-faculty ratio is 11:1, and the average class size is 20. More than 507 full-time faculty members teach in six academic units: 鶹Ƶ College, the College of Arts and Sciences; the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business; the School of Communications; the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education; the School of Health Sciences; and the School of Law.