4e05 Southwestern University: : Southwestern University: About: Southwestern at a Glance

Southwestern

Engaging Minds, Transforming Lives

About Southwestern


At A Glance

Southwestern is a selective & independent four-year undergraduate national liberal arts college consisting of The Brown College of Arts and Sciences and The Sarofim School of Fine Arts. It was the first institution of higher learning in Texas, chartered by the Republic of Texas in 1840. Southwestern is affiliated with The United Methodist Church.

Southwestern is located in historic Georgetown, Texas, just north of Austin, the state capital. Austin is known for its vibrant culture, live music, theatre, film, and art - an “intellectual capital” and one of the country’s best places to live.

Southwestern’s 701-acre campus features tree-lined 100-acre central grounds and a lush, green academic mall. Our facilities include two live-performance theaters, spacious sports/ recreational areas, a human performance laboratory, an aquatic animal research laboratory, an observatory and a teaching greenhouse. More than eighty-four percent of Southwestern students live in spacious on-campus apartments or residential halls, which provide wireless internet, cable TV and voice-mail.

Our Community

At Southwestern, we are grounded by our core purpose, to foster a liberal arts community whose values and actions encourage contributions toward the well-being of humanity. Our core values guide us as an institution of higher learning. The 2012-13 student body profile:

  • 1,394 men and women
  • Minority students constitute 28.6 percent of the student body.
  • Sixty-one percent of applicants were admitted for Fall 2012
  • Of 357 entering first-year students in Fall 2012, 41 percent ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school classes.
  • SAT average score: 1203 (** writing section not included).
  • Eighty-nine percent of students from Texas and eleven percent from other states and nations.
  • Thirty-three states and eleven countries are represented.

Southwestern has a student/faculty ratio of 11:1, with an average class size of 14 students. Ninety-nine percent of tenured or tenure-track faculty hold doctorate or highest degree in their respective fields. More than 95 percent of classes offered have 29 or fewer students. Collaborative research and publication with students is common.

Majors & Opportunities

Students can choose from 27 majors, and participate in pre-professional & certification programs in Medicine, law, education, engineering, theology. Southwestern confers: Bachelors of Arts, Science, Music, and Fine Arts. We offer no graduate degrees or programs. Our $241 million endowment is one of the highest endowments per student in the nation (as of June 30, 2010).

Southwestern’s nationally recognized Paideia Program helps students make connections between what they are learning in the classroom and the world around them. In addition to a rigorous academic curriculum, program participants fulfill requirements in civic engagement, intercultural and diversity experiences, and undergraduate research and creative works.

Over fifty percent of Southwestern’s students study abroad or participate in an off-campus program, with opportunities including New York Arts, Washington, D.C. politics, and London semesters; summer biology research; department and professional internships, both domestic and abroad; summer programs in Germany, Mexico, England, Jamaica, and Turkey; access to universities around the world through several major international study abroad organizations.

Civic Engagement

More than 70 percent of Southwestern students volunteer on campus or in the community-–a rate that is twice the national average, including community-based learning, activism, and community service. Students give more than 23,000 service hours annually at more than 100 local non-profits and agencies.

Organizational Leadership

More than 100 student organizations: scholastic and honorary (Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Chi honor society chapters), government, special interest and departmental. Nationally-chartered Greek organizations include Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Xi Delta, Delta Delta Delta, and Zeta Tau Alpha for women; Kappa Alpha, Kappa Sigma, Phi Delta Theta, and Pi Kappa Alpha for men.

Athletics

We are a member of the NCAA Division III competition in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, and track and field for men and women; men’s baseball and lacrosse, and women’s softball and volleyball. We are also a member of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) with Austin College, Birmingham-Southern, Centre College, Colorado College, DePauw, Hendrix, Millsaps, Oglethorpe, Rhodes, Trinity and the University of the South. Southwestern’s school colors are Black and Gold. Our mascot is the Pirate.

Twenty-two intramural sports and four club sports include: SU Cheerleaders, SU Dancers, Handball and Women’s Lacrosse. More than 80 percent of students participate annually in some form of organized physical activity.

Sustainability

Southwestern was the second university in Texas to sign the Talloires Declaration, a formal commitment to sustainability in higher education. In 2009, Southwestern also signed the College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. Campus housing options include a “Green/Civic Engagement Hall.” The new Wilhelmina Cullen Admission Center has received Gold LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Success After Southwestern

Of the 312 graduates of the Class of 2011, more than 95 percent had obtained employment or been accepted into graduate or professional school within 10 months. Five percent said they were still seeking employment, not seeking employment, volunteering or traveling.

Consortium & Accreditation

We are a member of the Associated Colleges of the South with Birmingham-Southern College, Centenary College, Centre College, Furman University, Hendrix College, Millsaps College, Morehouse College, Rhodes College, Rollins College, Trinity University, the University of the South, and the University of Richmond. Also member of the Annapolis Group, a consortium of the nation’s leading liberal arts institutions, and the Council of Independent Colleges. Southwestern is accredited by The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the National Association of Schools of Music, the University Senate of the United Methodist Church, and the Texas Education Agency.

Southwestern University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate degrees. Contact the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Southwestern University.

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