Union College

Colleges Union College

Union College

Union College

www.union.edu

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location students adm. int’l. fresh grad GPA ACT SAT TOEFL
Schenectady, NY 2,096 37% 8% 92% 80% 3.4 30 1305 90+

Union College is a private institution that was founded in 1795. Located in “upstate” New York, the school campus sits on 100 acres in the city of Schenectady, and is about 150 miles from New York City. School life is split into three 10 week terms, or trimesters; for the trimester schedule, students take three classes per term and have an extended winter break. All freshmen are randomly assigned to one of seven Minerva Houses, an academic and social community. All students can take classes and participate in extracurricular activities in the houses. Union features more than 100 student clubs and organizations.

Academics

Union College offers a wide range of disciplines and interdisciplinary programs in the liberal arts and engineering. In addition to its undergraduate majors, Union offers accelerated professional degree programs in conjunction with other schools, including a law degree from Albany Law School or medical degree from Albany Medical College. There are additional master’s degree accelerated programs in the business and education fields. Union’s student-faculty ratio is 10:1 and more than 58% of classes have fewer than 20 students. Popular majors include Economics, Mechanical Engineering, and Political Science and Government.

Special Highlights

Union Scholars. This program offers select students (at the time of admission) an opportunity to take additional classes and smaller, more intensive classes. Union Scholars in good standing may take a fourth course at no extra cost in any term except their first term at Union, and are allowed to graduate from Union in less than 12 terms if they meet all the program requirements. The program also offers social and intellectual events throughout the year especially for Union Scholars.

Theme Houses. Are you interested in making art, music or an inspired meal? Learning more about different religions and faiths? Promoting literature, sustainability or social awareness? Union’s 13 theme houses are on-and off-campus residences where like-minded upper-class students live together for the purpose of embracing and promoting a common theme. These unique, self-directed living environments provide campus-wide programs throughout the year. The houses, all co-ed, range from apartments of seven students to houses of 20 students or more.

School Mission & Unique Qualities

The school mascot is a costumed man known as Dutch. More than 60% of students travel abroad before graduation. Union College’s global offerings include year programs, trimester stays and three-week trips known as mini-breaks. Each year, students celebrate the changing seasons at Springfest, a day of concerts by famous performers like Sean Kingston and Matt Nathanson. We were the first liberal arts college in the nation to offer engineering.

Student Reviews…

“Union College provides the serious student everything needed to succeed in the professional world. It taught me to be a better researcher and problem solver and, in the spirit of liberal arts education, broadened my horizons by encouraging study in other disciplines.”