Drexel University
College Detail
Drexel University
| Type: | Private Higher Education Institution |
| Total campus enrollment: | No Data Available |
| Religious affiliation: | Non-denominational |
| Setting: | Urban Setting |
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The University
Drexel, a private, nonsectarian, coeducational university, has maintained a reputation for academic excellence since its founding in 1891. Its technologically focused academic programs prepare undergraduates for graduate school and a variety of careers. Full-time professional experience through Drexels cooperative education program is a vital part of a Drexel education. Students gain professional experience in jobs related to their career interests by alternating classroom study with periods of professional experience.
Drexel University grants bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees. Last years undergraduate enrollment numbered 12,906 full-time students representing forty states and fifty-three countries.
In 2006, Drexel admitted 181 students to the new College of Law. The College of Law is the first law school to be founded by a major research university in thirty years. Traditionally, Drexel University has great strength in the areas of engineering, science, business, and health care. The J.D. program has been designed around these innovative fields to prepare law students for the challenges of twenty-first-century practice.
Eight residential halls house more than 2,600 students on campus. In conjunction with Drexels fourteen fraternities and ten sororities, the Campus Activities Board sponsors events such as dances, lectures, excursions, and films. Students take part in a variety of extracurricular activities, including musical groups, a recording studio, Mad Dragon Records, a dance ensemble, theatrical productions, a student-run newspaper, a radio station, and a cable TV station. Drexel offers sixteen NCAA Division I varsity athletic programs, competes in the Colonial Athletic Association Conference, and produces some of the nations top student athletes in both the academic and athletic arenas. The University sponsors intramural and club sports.
Location
Drexel sits at the heart of the nations fifth-largest metropolitan area. Philadelphia offers history, culture, nightlife, major-league sports, and great food. The region is also a huge college town, with the highest concentration of universities and colleges in the country. Drexels immediate neighbor is the University of Pennsylvania, and the neighborhood they share is called University City. With thousands of student residents, University City is a great place for students to spend their college years. The whole region is accessible. Public transportation runs right through the campus. A short walk takes students to Amtraks 30th Street Station to catch a commuter train to the suburbs; New York City; Washington, D.C.; or beyond.
Majors and Degrees
From computer engineering to media arts and design and from health sciences to business administration, whatever their major, students at Drexel are at the forefront of their field. Offering seventy-three undergraduate programs, Drexel University comprises thirteen colleges and schools, including the Pennoni Honors College. Drexels academic majors and concentrations include accounting, anthropology, applied engineering technology, appropriate technology, architectural engineering, architecture, behavioral health counseling, biological sciences, biomedical engineering, business, business administration, cardiovascular perfusion technology, chemical engineering, chemistry, civil engineering, commerce and engineering, communication, computer engineering, computer science, construction management, criminal justice, culinary arts, design and merchandising, digital media, economics, education, electrical engineering, engineering for still-deciding students, English, entertainment and arts management, entrepreneurship, environmental engineering, environmental science, fashion design, film and video, finance, general business for still-deciding students, general humanities and social sciences for still-deciding students, graphic design, health services administration, history and politics, hospitality management, information systems, information technology, interior design, international area studies, international business, management information systems, marketing, materials engineering, mathematics, mechanical engineering, music industry, nursing, nutrition and food science, operations management, pathway to health professions, photography, physics, psychology, radiologic technology, science for still-deciding students, screenwriting and playwriting, sociology, software engineering, sport management, and urban environmental studies.
Qualified Drexel applicants can also choose from fifteen accelerated degree programs, including B.A./B.S./J.D. in law; B.S./D.P.T. in physical therapy; B.S./M.B.A. in business, design and merchandising, and music industry; B.S./M.D. in medicine; B.S./M.H.S. for physician assistant studies; B.S./M.S. programs in biomedical engineering, engineering, higher education, information systems, psychology, and science of instruction; B.S.N./M.S.N. in nursing; or B.S./Ph.D. in engineering.
Academic Programs
Students with high ability can apply to the Pennoni Honors College, which is open to students in every major. Honors sections of general and required courses and honors colloquia and seminars are available. Special living communities designed for the exceptional student and independent projects characterize the program.
At Drexel, students have opportunities to conduct research. Students Tackling Advanced Research (STAR) allows students to participate in research projects in their field as early as the freshman year. Students who take part in these research opportunities may be eligible for stipends or academic credit for their work.
Off-Campus Programs
Drexel has an active study-abroad program that allows students to spend a term or several terms studying abroad, earning credits toward their degree and gaining valuable international experience. Since this is a Drexel-sponsored program, students pay their regular Drexel tuition and receive their regular Drexel financial aid while they are abroad.
Classroom study is essential, challenging, and inspiring. But experience makes all of the difference. Drexel Co-op allows students to alternate periods of full-time work experience with periods of classroom study. With Drexel Co-op, students have the opportunity to explore how they will use their degree in a professional setting. Fortune 500 companies, major pharmaceutical companies, and top design firms are among the workplaces where students can gain up to eighteen months of experience before graduation. More than 2,800 employers from forty-one states and fifteen other countries participate in this program.
Academic Facilities
Drexel comprises three campuses: University City Main, Hahnemann Center City, and the Queen Lane Medical Campus. Buildings contain dozens of state-of-the-art laboratories for classes and research. Drexel Universitys library system comprises a main library (W.W. Hagerty Library) on the University City Main Campus site as well as three health sciences libraries to serve the needs of students and faculty and staff members. The W.W. Hagerty Library, the Universitys central library, houses 1.4million volumes and maintains subscriptions to nearly 12,000 electronic journals. The library provides access via its Web site to these journals and 200 databases from library computers or remotely through the Internet. The library circulates laptops for use with its wireless network. The additional libraries on the health sciences campuses provide study space, 75,000 books, and network access to the same set of online journals and databases.
As early as 1983, Drexel required incoming freshmen to have personal access to a microcomputer. By 2000, the University had created one of the nations first fully wireless campuses, including all health sciences campuses. The University has most recently launched a new high-performance parallel computing facility available for faculty and student research. The parallel machine, an IBM RS/6000 S-80 Enterprise Server, offers high-speed performance and scalability. This server provides a shared memory computing environment with low latency, high bandwidth communication between processors.
The Edmund D. Bossone Research Enterprise Center, a $37-million, 155,000-square-foot, multistory facility, strengthens the research capabilities of faculty members and students in the engineering and biomedical engineering fields. Recently opened is the new College of Law building, a four-story facility in the heart of Drexels campus.
Costs
Depending on the course of study, a student at Drexel may enroll in a four- or five-year degree program. Typically, students enroll in a five-year program, spending eighteen months of that time on co-op gaining valuable work experience; the income earned during co-op can help make the cost of education more affordable for Drexel students. The full-time undergraduate tuition for the 200607 academic year was $26,000 for a student in the five-year program and $32,000 for a student in the four-year program. On-campus housing cost $6555, and the campus meal plan was $4455 per year. Fees are approximately $1670 per year, depending on the degree program.
Financial Aid
Approximately 90 percent of all freshmen receive financial aid. The aid package may contain academic, athletic, or performing arts scholarships; grants; loans; or part-time employment. Federal programs are also included. All students applying for aid must submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by March1. Notification to incoming freshmen and transfer students begins mid-March. Drexel offers a unique achievement-based award, the A.J. Drexel Scholarship, to all qualified incoming freshmen and transfer students. With an annual award value of up to $26,000, the A.J. Drexel Scholarship is renewable on a yearly basis, provided the student maintains at least a 3.0 GPA and full-time status. Criteria include a strong academic record and involvement in extracurricular and community service activities.
Faculty
Approximately 94 percent of Drexels full-time faculty members hold a Ph.D. or the highest degree in their field. Many of the engineering faculty members are registered professional engineers. As a matter of policy, faculty members engaged in research and graduate teaching are also required to teach at the undergraduate level. Thus, the undergraduate student benefits from the research activities of the faculty. Specially selected faculty members serve as advisers for freshmen. The student-faculty ratio is 10:1.
Admission Requirements
All colleges within the University require completion of a college-preparatory program in high school that includes at least 3 years of mathematics and 1 year of laboratory science. Students applying to major in engineering, the sciences, and business and engineering are required to take 4 years of mathematics (through trigonometry) and 2 years of laboratory science. Engineering requires four years of mathematics (through trigonometry and precalculus), chemistry, and physics. The quality of academic performance is more important than merely meeting minimum requirements. The strength of preparation is judged primarily by rank in class or relative grade point average, by the degree of improvement in the quality of the academic record, and by the comments and recommendations from principals, guidance counselors, or teachers. Freshman applicants are required to take the SAT or the ACT. Transfer applicants must have a minimum 2.5 cumulative average (2.75 for engineering, information systems, information technology, and nursing) for consideration and generally are expected to complete at least 24 credits at a regionally accredited four-year college or two-year community college in a program of study comparable to the one being sought at Drexel.
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