KeyFacts
Founded: 1853
Type of Institution: Coeducational, private, comprehensive university in suburban Philadelphia
Enrollment: More than 3,200 students, including 1,570 undergraduates, more than 300 part-time undergraduates, and 1,472 graduate students.
Faculty: 306 faculty members. Eighty-five percent of full-time assistant, associate, and full professors hold doctoral or terminal degrees.
Student/Faculty Ratio: 12-1
Degrees Offered: B.A., B.F.A., B.S., M.A., M.S., and doctoral degrees in more than 40 majors.
Study Abroad: Students can study abroad in Argentina, Australia, England, Equatorial Guinea, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Spain, or Wales.
Residence Halls: Six residence halls and apartment units in four local complexes house more than 1,050 students and offer a variety of housing options.
Arcadia Begins Landmark Freshman Abroad Experience
In May 2003, Arcadia found itself with a challenge any university would envy. As freshmen deposits were rolling in at a record clip from a wider geographic area and student retention was at an all-time high, Arcadia administrators contemplated how they would house the largest class in the university's 150-year history.
It was decided that Arcadia—one of the largest international study providers in the United States—would offer its students, including freshmen and transfer students, incentives to study abroad in the fall. "We have been saying that the world is our campus," says Dr. David Larsen, Vice President and Director of the Center for Education Abroad, "so it is our responsibility to help students experience it in any way we can. This was a natural solution for us."
Dr. Larsen expected about a dozen new students and a dozen returning students to accept the offer. He was pleasantly surprised that more than 60 freshman and 22 new upperclassmen decided to spend the fall semester abroad through the university's London partnership with the City University. This was in addition to the nearly 50 upperclassmen who had already committed to spending the semester overseas. Arcadia's Center for Education Abroad provides international experiences for more than 2,000 students every year, but no Arcadia first-year student had ever studied anywhere except the Glenside campus. Dr. Larsen says the new endeavor is part of the university's mission.
"This is very consistent with what we're doing in the classroom and abroad," he says. "We have always extolled the value of international experience for higher education."
Freshmen in the program spent three days on the Glenside campus with their class for orientation before flying to London for two weeks of orientation and special programs. Joining the group in London were Arcadia faculty members Dr. Leif Gustavson and Bill Meiers, who each taught two sections of English composition, an Arcadia first-semester requirement, and counseled the students on everything from course selection for the spring semester to living away from home, since many were doing so for the first time. In addition, several full-time members of Arcadia's Student Affairs staffs—including Dr. Jan Walbert, Vice President for Student Affairs—spent two to three weeks at a time with the students.
"We are very happy that so many students took advantage of this exciting opportunity," says Stephanie Evans, Program Coordinator of the center's programs in England, Wales, and Spain. Evans, who says that less than half of the new students have had any international experience prior to this opportunity, predicts that this will not be the last international study experience for these students, and many will study abroad again before graduation.
Arcadia University is a coeducational, comprehensive university in suburban Philadelphia, offering undergraduate and graduate study to 3,000 students annually. The Arcadia University Center for Education Abroad, ranked second in the nation by U.S. News & World Report and one of the largest campus-based international study programs in the United States, serves an additional 2,000 students each year from nearly 300 American colleges and universities. Barron's has named Arcadia a "best buy" for the past ten years, and the college has ranked among the top colleges or universities in the north region by the U.S. News & World Report's America's Best College Guide. Arcadia's alumni take great pride in their university, with 40 percent of undergraduate alumni donating to their alma mater yearly. For more information, go to www.arcadia.edu.
