CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE
Burlington, Vermont
The College
Champlain College is a coeducational, private, nonprofit college founded in 1878. Its 21-acre campus, home to 1,700 full-time students, is nestled among the stately maple trees of Burlington's historic Hill Section, overlooking Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains of New York to the west. Many of the College's buildings, including most of its dormitories, are restored Victorian-era private homes, which give students a unique atmosphere in which to learn and live. The newest dorm, 381 Main Street, offers suite-style housing and opened in 2003. The new Global Business and Technology Center opened in fall 2004 and showcases Champlain's commitment to technology and to maintaining the architectural integrity of its community.
Champlain College is recognized as one of the leading career-focused colleges in New England, and offers a professional education in a liberal arts environment. For the past nine years, more than 97 percent of those graduates seeking employment found jobs within four months of graduation. Champlain's majors are designed to provide excellent preparation for employment in today's complex world as well as broadening and enriching experiences in the humanities. In addition to its undergraduate programs, the College also offers graduate studies, including an online Master in Innovation and Information Technology program.
Students are assigned three advisers: one each from the faculty, the Advising and Registration Center (Registrar's Office), and the Career Planning Office. Confidential health and counseling services are provided on campus as well.
Champlain College is committed to involving its entire student body in extracurricular and cocurricular activities. The Champlain College Players and Champlain College Music Makers offer theatrical and musical opportunities. Get Real Community Service Connection coordinates community service opportunities. The student-run college newspaper, ChamPlain Truth, produces eight editions a year. Intramural programs are determined by student interest and currently include basketball, dance, golf, ice hockey, indoor soccer, men's lacrosse, skiing/snowboarding, Ultimate Frisbee, and volleyball. Unique partnerships with nearby businesses offer indoor climbing, Nautilus and free-weight facilities, two swimming pools, indoor track, aerobics, and a gym. Organized weekend day trips take advantage of Vermont's four seasons and its numerous recreational and cultural opportunities.
Vermont is known as the ski capital of the East. The challenging slopes of Stowe, Bolton Valley, Mad River Glen, Smuggler's Notch, and Sugarbush are all within an hour's drive. The nearby mountains, lakes, and streams also provide seasonal opportunities for backpacking, hiking, canoeing, and mountain biking. Great in-line skating, jogging, and bicycling are just 10 minutes from campus on the 7-mile-long recreation path that follows the spectacular shoreline of Lake Champlain.
Location
Burlington is a small city of 46,000 people and classic college town of nearly 15,000 students on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain. Covering 435 square miles, Lake Champlain is one of North America's largest lakes. The long ridgeline of the Green Mountains forms the eastern horizon and the Adirondack Mountains frame the western horizon. Montreal, Quebec, is only a 1-hour drive to the north. Burlington is one of the nation's most progressive cities, and it is the cultural center of Vermont. Five colleges are located in the area, along with one of the leading medical centers on the East Coast. There is an international airport; an Amtrak passenger train route with connections to Montreal, New York City, and Washington, D.C.; and a long-distance bus service, Vermont Transit Lines. The Church Street Marketplace, located just a few blocks from the campus, attracts both locals and tourists to its numerous shops, coffee bars, and restaurants. Three television stations, fifteen radio stations, and daily newspapers serve the area. The Arts and Entertainment Channel (A&E) has ranked Burlington as the nation's Best Place to Live. Burlington consistently ranks as one of the best college towns in the country.
Majors and Degrees
Champlain College offers the Bachelor of Science degree with majors in accounting, applied psychology, broadcasting, business, computer and digital forensics, computer information systems, computer networking, criminal justice, electronic game and interactive development (art/animation and game design tracks), education (certification for grades K6, 59, and 712), e-business management, global networks and telecommunications, hotel-restaurant management, international business leadership, management, marketing (advertising and management tracks), mass communication, multimedia and graphic design, paralegal studies, professional writing, public relations, radiography, social work, software development, software engineering, tourism event management, and Web site development and management. Champlain also allows a student to enter as an undeclared/undecided major and offers a Bachelor of Science degree in professional studies, with twelve different career concentrations that combine a practical liberal arts focus in communications, critical thinking, and ethics with career-centered marketable skills and prepare students for the competitive national and international job market. Students interested in prelaw may choose from a variety of majors.
Academic Programs
The upside-down curriculum format offers a four year bachelor's degree and allows students to concentrate on courses in their major in their first two years of college. Internships or on-the-job experiences are offered in 97 percent of the majors, many within the first two years of study, and a majority of students go directly into their chosen career field upon graduation. The mission of Champlain College is to provide motivated students with the opportunity, environment, and tools to achieve their goals for professional success and meaningful involvement in their community.
An Army ROTC program is provided in cooperation with the University of Vermont.
Off-Campus Programs
Ninety-seven percent of the College's majors require an internship experience, which may be done locally, nationally, or internationally. These interships give students practical job experience in a professional environment, often leading directly to permanent positions after graduation. The criminal justice major offers two options for the second semester of the fourth year. Students may apply to spend the term at the Vermont Police Academy or at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia. Hotel-restaurant management and tourism event management majors may do a fourth-year internship with Topnotch Resort and Spa in Stowe, Vermont, or at an international resort. Champlain students may also participate in the Walt Disney World College semester. Champlain has established international exchange programs with English-speaking universities in England, France, and Sweden but students may arrange through the Study Abroad Office to spend a semester studying in any country of their choice.
The College also offers a 4-plus-1 B.S./M.B.A. option with Clarkson and Southern New Hampshire Universities, allowing Champlain graduates to earn a Master in Business Administration degree after only one year of graduate study.
Academic Facilities
The Global Business and Technology Center, which opened in fall 2004, offers state-of-the-art technology and facilities and includes fully-wired, glass-walled classrooms, market research rooms, video conferencing capabilities, an international business resource room, and an electronic lobby with global and financial news. The Student Life Center opened in fall 2004 with the new dining complex, and the gymnasium, locker rooms, and student lounges are scheduled to open in fall 2005. All buildings used primarily by students are now wireless, including the library, all classrooms, and dorms.
The Holly D. and Robert E. Miller Information Commons incorporates the features of a traditional library but showcases advanced technologies such as multimedia laboratories, integrated wireless computer networks, specialized electronic classrooms, and online distance learning systems to enhance a student's ability to conduct research. The William R. Hauke Family Campus Center houses labs for the communications/public relations and hotel-restaurant management majors, accounting and math labs, multimedia labs, telecommunications facilities, the student life center, classrooms, and faculty offices. Alumni Auditorium/Theater is attached to Hauke. Freeman Hall includes science labs, a student teaching classroom for education majors, and faculty offices. Joyce Learning Center has multiuse classrooms, the Statler Hotel-Restaurant/Tourism Teaching Lab online front desk simulator, and the education majors' lab. Cushing Hall houses the networking lab and classrooms for computer majors. Foster Hall includes the Mac lab for multimedia/graphic design majors and two other computer labs, plus the computer center and help desk. The radiography simulator is located in the Gallery.
The Office of Career Planning and Placement offers career planning and placement assistance to students before and after graduation.
Costs
Tuition for 200405 was $13,700; room and board were $9315. Total tuition, fees, and room and board were $23,165.
Financial Aid
The financial aid program at Champlain College includes loans, grants, scholarships, and work-study awards. The College participates in the Federal Perkins Loan Program, Federal Work-Study, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program, Federal Pell Grant Program, Federal Stafford Student Loan Program, Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, and state loan and grant programs. The College has budgeted more than $1 million of institutional money for financial aid.
Students interested in financial aid must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the Champlain College Financial Aid application forms.
Faculty
Champlain's faculty members bring the requisite academic credentials to the classroom but also have built their careers in the workplace, bringing practical professional experience to provide what students need to know to in order to succeed professionally. In addition to the core of 74 full-time professors, the College seeks adjunct faculty who are actively employed in their profession and have an interest in teaching as well. Currently, there are 141 adjunct professors who bring their professional expertise and academic training to benefit Champlain's student body. The student-teacher ratio is 17:1. Champlain faculty members are noted for their accessibility and willingness to act as mentors for their students.
Admission Requirements
The College requires an official high school transcript, SAT I or ACT scores, and a completed application form in order to be considered for admission. Graduation from a recognized secondary school is required (or an equivalency certificate/GED) as a condition of acceptance. Letters of recommendation from the high school guidance counselor and current teachers are optional but strongly encouraged. A personal interview is highly recommended for all candidates, and may be required of applicants to certain majors. Students may earn advanced standing by submitting appropriate scores on AP, IB and CLEP exams. Champlain offers rolling admission, with no set application deadline. Students may apply for admission for the fall or the January term.
All completed applications for admission received before January15 are reviewed by the Admissions Committee for consideration for Champlain College scholarships. No separate scholarship application is required. Scholarship recipients are notified in March.
All candidates for transfer admission are required to submit an official high school transcript with SAT or ACT scores, official college transcript(s), and a completed application form in order to be considered for admission with advanced standing. Transfer credit is given for academic courses from an accredited college completed with a grade of C or better.
Champlain College admits students without regard to race, creed, color, national and ethnic origin, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, or qualified disability and does not discriminate in the administration of its educational and admission policies, scholarships and loan programs, or other College-administered programs. Champlain College makes reasonable accommodations to the disabilities of otherwise-qualified students, applicants, or employees. For additional information, interested parties should contact Dolly Shaw, Affirmative Action Officer.
Application and Information
Applicants should fill out the application form and forward it with the application fee of $40 to the Admission Office. Applications may be downloaded from the College Web site. Champlain College operates on a rolling admissions basis for its degree programs, processing applications as soon as they are received; notification of an admission decision is usually made within four weeks of receiving a complete application.
For more information, students should contact:
