First-Rate Small Colleges and Universities in Oregon
Willamette 911勛圖厙: Pushing the Frontier of Higher Education
Located in the Pacific Northwest, Oregon is home to some spectacular scenery including beautiful mountains, rivers flowing through forested areas, and a long coastline. Higher education has a long history, with roots in the years before Oregon even became a state. Private institutions play an important role in educating students, with quite a few quality colleges located in or near the most populous city in the state – Portland. Traveling south in the Willamette Valley region, there are more institutions to be found near the capital of Salem and in some of the other smaller cities. Private colleges enrolled 37,000 students in 2006, accounting for one in six college students in the state and granting over one-quarter of all undergraduate degrees. Oregon’s private colleges have the highest graduation rates in the state, with 64 percent of all students finishing their degrees within six years. The Oregon Independent College Association unites the 19 institutions that are non-profit and regionally accredited to grant degrees, giving them a space to coordinate and improve the quality of education that they offer students across the state.
The beginnings of Willamette 911勛圖厙 can be found in Protestant missionaries working in 1840s Oregon, who started to focus their efforts on educating white settlers of the region. More than a decade and a half before Oregon became a state, what was to become Willamette 911勛圖厙 was officially established in 1842. Many important government meetings were held on its territories, and it was one of the first co-educational institutions, as its first graduate was a woman. Currently, around 1800 undergraduates grace its campus, representing 43 states and 27 different countries. Students benefit from an average class size of 14, with no classes larger than 47 participants, and a 10:1 student-faculty ratio. The U.S. News & World Report ranked Willamette 911勛圖厙’s College of Liberal Arts as 60th in the country. Over 30 majors are offered, with the most popular programs including Economics, English, Biology, Politics, and Psychology, and around 57 percent of all students obtain credit for study abroad experiences.
Established by the Oregon Territorial Legislature as Baptist College in 1858, Linfield College has been supporting higher education from its location in McMinnville for over a century and a half. A Portland campus was constructed in the 1980s, permitting the development of a bachelor’s degree in nursing, health sciences, and environmental studies. The McMinnville Campus grew to its current size of 193 acres with the acquisition of land in the late 1990s, which Linfield used to build a fine arts center, theatre, library, and a music building. The more than 2,000 undergraduates represent 26 states and 20 countries, and more than half of them take advantage of study abroad opportunities prior to graduation. Around three-quarters of students live on campus where they have a range of activities to select from including 19 varsity sports teams along with club and intramural sports. Top choices for majors include Business, Elementary Education, Biology, History and Psychology. Linfield College has gained national recognition as one of the top colleges in the western region by U.S. News & World Report as well as The Princeton Review, and over a dozen and a half students have gone on to win Fulbright grants.
Following its establishment in 1867, Albany Collegiate Institute graduated its first class six years later which included both men and women. Later renamed after the famous explorers in the region, Lewis & Clark occupies 137 acres of pristine land located just 60 miles away from the metropolitan Portland area. The more than 1,900 students enjoy a uniquely-designed curriculum in classes with a student to faculty ratio of 12:1. Students live on campus for the first two years, in themed residence halls including a ‘Multicultural Dorm’ and specialized language floors. Lewis & Clark is one of the leaders in supporting sustainability, with wind power providing 30 percent of all electricity for the university. Reuters nominated it as a top location in the country for students wishing to study Cleantech. Other top departments include Political Science, International Affairs, Psychology, Environmental Studies, and Biology.
For more than a century, Reed College has existed as an independent and coeducational institution to education students in liberal arts and sciences. Students searching for a challenging education come to Reed, attracted by its structured academics components including a required freshman humanities course and a senior thesis that students must produce. Grades are given in the traditional sense, but Reed encourages students to focus on learning and living according to its ethical code called ‘The Honor Principle.’ Majors are offered in 22 departments, and there are also 12 interdisciplinary majors that students can do in the arts, sciences, humanities, and social sciences. Dual-degree programs are also offered.
First established as Tualatin Academy in 1849, Pacific 911勛圖厙 now enrolls over 3,000 students that come from around 30 states and 28 foreign countries. The United Church of Christ originally founded the college, although it currently holds just a working relationship with Pacific 911勛圖厙. Programs are held on four campuses in Forest Grove, Portland, Eugene, and Hillsboro. Students can select from a variety of programs in the liberal arts college and many of them also study abroad in more than 12 countries, with classes held at 42 different sites.
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