KeyFacts
Founded: 1853
Type of Institution: Coeducational, private, comprehensive university in suburban Philadelphia
Enrollment: Over 3,000 students, including 1,400 full-time undergraduates, more than 400 part-time undergraduates and more than 1,200 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 Australia, England, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Spain, or Wales.
Residence Halls: Seven residence halls house more than 950 students and offer a variety of housing options.
ARCADIA BEGINS LANDMARK
FRESHMAN ABROAD EXPERIENCE
GLENSIDE, Pa.—In May, 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.
The solution was that Arcadia, one of the largest international study providers in the United States, would offer its students, including freshmen and transfers, incentives to study abroad in the fall. "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 program was a natural solution for us."
Dr. Larsen expected about a dozen new students and a dozen returning students to accept the offer. He is pleasantly surprised that more than 60 freshmen and 22 new upperclassmen have decided to spend the fall semester abroad through the university's London partnership with the City University there. This is in addition to the nearly 50 upperclassmen who had already committed to spending the upcoming 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 this new endeavor highlights 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."
As an incentive, freshmen were offered $1,500 grants and airfare if they met certain academic criteria. Upperclassmen were given $2,000 grants. Freshmen going abroad spend three days on the Glenside campus with their class for orientation before flying to London for two weeks of orientation and special programming there. Joining the group in London for the semester are Arcadia faculty Dr. Leif Gustavson, assistant professor of education, and Bill Meiers, adjunct professor of English and a member of Arcadia's Board of Trustees. Dr. Gustavson and Mr. Meiers each teach two sections of English composition, a first-semester requirement, and counsel the students on everything from course selection for the spring semester to living away from home. In addition, several full-time members of Arcadia's Student Affairs staff, including Dr. Jan Walbert, vice president for Student Affairs, will spend two to three weeks at a time with the students.
"We are very happy that so many students are taking advantage of this exciting opportunity," says Stephanie Evans, program coordinator of the center's programs in England, Wales and Spain. "We are ready to support them in any way we can." Evans, who says that fewer 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 that offers 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 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.
