Overview
Salem State is the Most Accredited Institution of Higher Education in Massachusetts
Salem State is the only state college accredited by both the National League for Nursing and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. Overall, the college has more accreditations than any other public institution of higher education in Massachusetts.
Salem State is proud to be a recipient of the Commonwealth Honors designation for its honors program, and is in step globally, with an active cultivation of partnerships with academic institutions throughout the world, including colleges and universities in China, Japan, and the Middle East.
Given that the college is part of the leadership program of the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, it is no surprise that Salem State generates millions of dollars in economic spending in Massachusetts and creates jobs for thousands of Massachusetts residents.
Salem State Meets the Needs of Students Eyeing New Challenges
Business administration, nursing, education, criminal justice, psychology, biology, communications, sport and movement science, and English may be the most popular majors on campus, but Salem State is always looking to break new ground and have some fun doing it.
A perfect example of this is the Department of Theater and Speech, which was changed forever in 1974 -- 120 years after the founding of the institution as Salem Normal School -- when the Salem State Theater was just an idea that caught on. A group of talented faculty and students realized it was possible to combine academic excellence with performance and production excellence without sacrificing art.
Today, the Theater Department seeks to instill within students an awareness of theater as a significant educational and spiritual force, and a desire to contribute to the general human condition through the theater arts.
The department engages in the pursuit of excellence through innovation, tradition, and technology and serves as an artistic, cultural, and educational resource for the school, other theater organizations and the community. It accepts over 1,000 transfer students each year, many of whom are drawn to programs such as this to expand and nurture their creativity.
Walk to Class Following in the Footsteps of the Founding Fathers of the United States
Any casual student of American history has an inkling of what contributions the Massachusetts Bay Colony made on the formation of the United States. Salem State's campuses, including the new library which is scheduled to open in 2010, are at the epicenter of the old Massachusetts Bay Colony, and an "earthquake of independence" rumbled through its land to bring about a better world.
Salem itself is home to Nathaniel Hawthorne, the China Trade, witch trials, impressive historic buildings, museums of top quality, and a college with a history department that is dedicated to teaching as well as utilizing this rich historic legacy. Salem State's 17 full-time history faculty members flourish with the college's unique position, sharing their knowledge about what transpired down the street combined with over 250 undergraduate majors in diverse fields, including Asian, African, Latin American, and United States history.
Salem State is a Leader in Educational Technology and Degrees in Information Systems
There was a time when no traveler could find a destination without a map. That had changed a bit in the 21st century, with GPS systems in many cars and many Internet mapping sites. Yet, as can be seen at Salem State with its Bachelor of Science program in cartography and geographic information systems, there is a demand for more and more of these trained graduates.
Engineering firms, utility companies, and municipal and state agencies look to our graduates on an ongoing basis. In fact, Salem State graduates with a B.S. in Cartography and Geographic Information Systems command some of the highest salaries among the college's alumni.
Featuring hands-on training of state-of-the-art geospatial technologies to gain an understanding of the diversity of geographic information systems software and applications, the cartography and geographic information systems program at Salem State draws many international students, including ARAMCO scholars from Saudi Arabia.
