Elizabethtown College

Colleges You May Like

• Albright College
• Bucknell University
• Juniata College
• Lehigh University
• Muhlenberg College

From the College

Founded in 1899, Elizabethtown College is committed to an academic program of liberal arts and professional training built upon a core curriculum that focuses on teaching students to think, analyze, and communicate. The more than 1,950 students at Elizabethtown come from thirty states and forty countries, providing a diversity of backgrounds that enhances the College as a whole.

Elizabethtown is a residential college, where 85 percent of students live on the 195-acre campus in eight residence halls and senior town houses. Student-run residence hall councils plan programs and provide service and leadership opportunities. A wide variety of campus cultural events and other activities keep 80 percent of the students on campus throughout the weekends. The College maintains an active intramural sports program and fields ten NCAA Division III teams for men (baseball, basketball, cross-country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, and wrestling) and ten for women (basketball, cross-country, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball), several of which contend for national titles each year.

The College offers effective academic, personal, and career counseling services through the Center for Student Success, which encourages students to make use of its office as early as their first year. Ninety-five percent of students who graduate from Elizabethtown are employed or enrolled in graduate school within eight months after graduation.

In addition to its undergraduate degree programs, Elizabethtown also offers a Master of Science degree in occupational therapy.

Elizabethtown is a community of 20,000 people located in southeastern Pennsylvania, within 20 minutes of Harrisburg (the state capital), Hershey, and Lancaster. Philadelphia and Baltimore are within 1½ hours of Elizabethtown; New York and Washington are within 4 hours. Elizabethtown is easily accessible by Amtrak train service from New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, and the Harrisburg International Airport is 15 minutes away.

Bachelor of Arts degrees are awarded in communications, criminal justice, economics, engineering, English, fine art, French, German, history, international business, Japanese, music, philosophy, political philosophy and legal studies, political science, psychology, religious studies, secondary education, social work, sociology-anthropology, Spanish, and theater.

Bachelor of Science degrees are offered in accounting, actuarial science, biochemistry, biology, biotechnology, business administration, chemistry, citizenship education, computer engineering, computer science, elementary education, engineering, environmental science, forestry and environmental management, general science education, health and occupation, industrial engineering management, information systems, mathematics, physics, secondary education, social sciences, and social studies.

Bachelor of Music degrees are offered in music education and music therapy. More than eighty minors and concentrations as well as seven certification programs in secondary education are available.

The College offers joint 3-2 programs with Duke University, leading to a Master of Forestry or Master of Environmental Management. A 3-2 program in engineering with Pennsylvania State University is also offered, leading to a Bachelor of Arts in engineering from Elizabethtown and a Bachelor of Science in engineering from Penn State.

Elizabethtown offers cooperative programs in biology and allied health with Thomas Jefferson University and Widener University. These programs lead to a Bachelor of Science degree from Elizabethtown and a master’s or doctoral degree from the cooperating university. The College also participates in a Cardiovascular Invasive Specialty Program with Lancaster General College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Through articulation agreements, qualified Elizabethtown students may be admitted to the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Program or to Temple University’s School of Dentistry.

Preprofessional majors are also offered in law, medicine, the ministry, and veterinary medicine.

The Primary Care Pre-Admissions Program through the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center provides options for Elizabethtown students who are Pennsylvania residents and are pursuing careers in internal medicine, family practice, and pediatrics.

Through Elizabethtown’s core program of traditional and innovative liberal arts, students develop skills for critical analysis, effective communication, and habits of mind that ensure adaptability in the ever-changing global job market. Independent and directed studies and extensive internship and externship possibilities are available.

The Elizabethtown College Honors Program offers top academic students a highly selective program of study with the opportunity for a stipend to fund professional development, research, or travel-related study.

The College operates on a semester calendar. First-year students arrive in the last week of August, and examinations are given prior to the winter break. The spring semester begins in the middle of January and runs through early May. Intensive summer-session courses are available for students who wish to accelerate their academic program. Students may earn credit toward graduation through Advanced Placement examinations, College-Level Examination Program tests, or tests administered by the individual departments.

Elizabethtown College students may study abroad in twenty-six different locations on all six continents through one of five affiliate partners: AustraLearn (Australia and New Zealand); Brethren Colleges Abroad (fifteen locations worldwide); Queen’s University International Study Centre at Herstmonceux Castle, United Kingdom; Nihon University, Japan; and School for Field Studies (Costa Rica, Kenya, and Turks and Caicos Islands).

A number of short-term opportunities are available as well, including two- to three-week study tours at England’s Oxford University and in Beijing, China; Costa Rica; Ecuador; and Prague. In addition, students majoring in programs including occupational therapy, music therapy, and social work are required to complete extensive fieldwork in on- and off-campus facilities.

Academic buildings include the High Library; Zug Memorial Hall, home of Hess Gallery and the Department of Fine and Performing Arts; Wenger Center for the Humanities; Steinman Center for the Communications and Art; Nicarry Hall; and the James B. Hoover Center for Business. The Masters Center for Science, Mathematics and Engineering, which includes the new Lyet Wing for Biological Sciences as well as renovations to Musser and Esbenshade Halls, opened in fall 2007. In addition, the student center, Brossman Commons, is the location for the Tempest Theatre and a dance studio.

For 2008–09, tuition is $30,650 and room and board are $7950, for a total comprehensive fee of $38,600. Students should also plan on an additional cost of about $1650 for books, transportation, and personal expenses, for a total cost of $40,250. Financial aid is based on this figure.

Financial aid packages are typically a combination of scholarships, grants, loans, and student employment; 90 percent of the students receive some form of aid. To apply for financial aid, students must file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the Elizabethtown College Verification Form. Estimated data should not be filed. Signed copies of the parent’s (and student’s, if applicable) most recent federal income tax form, including all schedules, must also be submitted to the financial aid office.

More than one third of Elizabethtown’s first-year students with the strongest academic credentials receive merit-based scholarships, which are awarded on a competitive basis and without regard to need.

Elizabethtown’s deadline for financial consideration is March 15.

Elizabethtown has a teaching faculty of 131 full-time professors. The student-faculty ratio is 11:1. More than 90 percent of the full-time faculty members hold a Ph.D. or the highest earned degree in their field. In addition to being assigned a faculty adviser through the First-Year Seminar program, when students declare a major, they are assigned a new faculty adviser within that department.

Students play an active role in campus governance through the Student Senate, the Campus Residence Association, and other organizations. Members of the Student Senate are elected from each class to advocate for students, coordinate special events, and allocate funds for student activities and more than ninety student-run clubs and organizations. Students Working to Entertain E-town (SWEET) allocates funding for weekend programs, campus social activities, and entertainment for the College community.

Decisions about admission to Elizabethtown are made without regard to sex, sexual orientation, race, religion, physical handicap, or place of residence. Fewer than 60 percent of all applicants are accepted. Students should have followed an academic curriculum, with the completion of at least 18 college-preparatory units recommended. The middle 50 percent of enrolled students scored between 1040 and 1240 on the critical reading and mathematics sections of the SAT, and 36 percent were in the top 10 percent of their high school class.

The College seeks diversity, and students who display leadership abilities or special talents are considered highly desirable. Campus interviews are highly recommended but not required for most students, although the College reserves the right to require interviews in special cases. Students applying to the Honors Program are required to interview, as are occupational therapy students. Auditions are required for music students.

Early admission is available for highly qualified high school juniors.

The College operates on a rolling admission basis–applications are processed as they are received–and the application deadline is March 1. Students can apply using the Common Application or online at the College’s Web site. Applicants must submit a high school transcript, first-quarter grades, SAT or ACT scores, two letters of recommendation, and a personal statement, essay, or graded paper. Early application is strongly recommended. Accepted students should notify the College of their decision to attend by May 1; matriculation after that date is on a space-available basis. Students who are interested in the Elizabethtown College Honors Program must submit a completed application by January 15.

For more information, students should contact: