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The University

Eastern Connecticut State University, Connecticuts public liberal arts university, offers thirty-one undergraduate majors and graduate degrees in education and organizational management. Eastern has all the advantages of a private liberal arts college combined with public-university resources and costs. The Universitys liberal arts focus and concern for the individual student, along with its small classes, personalized counseling, and independent-study opportunities, encourage intellectual and personal growth and development. The student body (3,900 full-time undergraduates) is heterogeneous, a mixture of various ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Students attending Eastern come from 164 Connecticut towns and more than thirty states and thirty countries. Eastern is a residential liberal arts campus. Most full-time students, including 90 percent of the freshmen, reside on campus. There are seven residence halls and five apartment complexes on campus. Housing is available to students who have been admitted to the University. Hurley Hall, the Universitys main food courtstyle dining area, offers unlimited dining during operational hours. On-campus parking is available to all students except freshmen living on campus. There are more than sixty special interest clubs and organizations on campus, as well as a student newspaper, a yearbook, and a literary and arts magazine. Extracurricular events include concerts, dances, films, intramural sports, lectures, musical and dramatic productions, and bus trips to Boston and New York City. Varsity sports for men include baseball, basketball, cross-country, lacrosse, soccer, and track. Women participate in intercollegiate basketball, cross-country, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, track, and volleyball. Sports facilities include an athletic center with a 2,800-seat gymnasium for badminton, basketball, tennis, and volleyball; a six-lane swimming pool; handball and squash courts; saunas; a fitness center and rooms for physical conditioning, modern dance, and gymnastics; and an athletic complex that includes a state-of-the-art baseball field with a 1,500-seat grandstand as well as field hockey and multipurpose fields. The Universitys recently renovated Student Center includes ample meeting space, a theater, multipurpose room, game area, expansive food court, and a glass-enclosed exercise room.

Location

Willimantic, Connecticut, a small city of diversified interests and many styles of living, has a population of 22,000. It has convenient shopping centers and a growing community of ambitious and ecology-minded individuals who are concerned with the citys future. The eastern Connecticut region is famous for its rolling hills, forests, state recreational areas, nature trails, clear lakes and streams, and beaches. Skiing areas are nearby. Hartford is 40 minutes away, and New York City and Boston are both less than 2 hours from Willimantic by car.

Majors and Degrees

Eastern offers four undergraduate degrees: the Bachelor of Arts, the Bachelor of General Studies, the Bachelor of Science, and the Associate in Science. The Bachelor of Arts degree is awarded with majors in economics, English, history, history and social sciences, political science, performing arts (academic tracks in music and theater), psychology, social work, sociology and applied social relations, Spanish, and visual arts (academic tracks in art history, graphic design, painting and drawing, printmaking, and sculpture). The Bachelor of Science degree programs include accounting, biochemistry, biology (academic tracks in premedicine, predentistry, preveterinary studies, and ecology), business administration (concentrations in the areas of finance, management, and marketing), business information systems, communication, computer science, early childhood education, elementary education, English, environmental earth science, mathematics, physical education, secondary education, and sport and leisure management. Certification in secondary education is available in biology, English, environmental earth science, history, and mathematics. The associate degree program is available in the arts and sciences. The Bachelor of General Studies is a flexible degree program for adults who are 25 or older. Students may design a program integrating life experience into major or minor concentrations through a learning contract developed with their departmental adviser.

Academic Programs

The graduation requirements for a bachelors degree embrace the Universitys liberal arts mission and require a minimum of 120 hours of credit and completion of a major program of study. All degree candidates must take a freshman English composition course and fulfill specified course requirements in a three-tier liberal arts core. The tier system includes study in methods and concepts, synthesis and application, and independent inquiry. The University operates on a two-semester system. The fall semester usually starts the first week in September and ends in mid-December; the spring semester, which includes a one-week break in March, runs from the third week of January to the middle of May. One 6-week and two 3-week sessions are offered during the summer. An Intersession program is offered in January of each year.

Eastern offers an Honors Program for academically talented students. This highly competitive program emphasizes scholarly activity, independent study, and special courses and offers tuition scholarships. The Contract Admissions Program (CAP) is an educational support service that offers counseling, tutoring, developmental courses, and financial assistance to highly motivated students who might otherwise have been denied admission on the basis of traditional criteria. Cooperative Education (Co-op) is an optional work-study program; students may choose to participate in the program for one or more periods.

The University grants credit for Advanced Placement Program examination in all the subject areas tested and accepts up to 60 credit hours earned through the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP). Persons with a minimum of five years of successful work experience in areas of specialization taught by the University may qualify for advanced placement through credit for life experience and learning.

U.S. Army and Air Force ROTC programs, which are offered by the University of Connecticut at Storrs, are available to qualified Eastern students.

Off-Campus Programs

Eastern offers a number of opportunities for off-campus study for college credit. These include off-campus internships, study abroad, and consortium arrangements with the University of Connecticut and other institutions in the Connecticut State University System. Internships are available in the academic areas of applied social relations, biology, business administration, communication, computer science, economics, education, environmental earth science, psychology, public policy and government, and Spanish. Biology majors may study in Belize or Bermuda through the tropical biology program. There are also opportunities to join international study groups for one semester, one academic year, or a summer session. Eastern also participates in the National Student Exchange (NSE) program, which allows students to attend other public colleges and universities across the United States while still paying tuition and fees to Eastern.

Academic Facilities

The J. Eugene Smith Library contains more than 500,000 volumes and 127,000 square feet of educational learning space. The Media Building contains a color television studio, a recording studio, an FM radio station, an electronic auditorium, a computer center, darkrooms, and graphic arts areas and serves as the hub of the audiovisual distribution system. The planetarium contains two electron microscopes and a geology laboratory. The Science Building provides modern, well-equipped laboratories for biology, chemistry, and physics. A new state-of-the-art science building opened in spring 2008. A four-story, 72,000-square-foot classroom building and the library and clock tower serve as the main academic areas of the campus. The Childhood and Family Resource Center, with state-of-the-art classroom and teaching space, meeting facilities, and a full-service day-care center, serves as a model facility for its resources. A new Performing Arts Centers is in the planning stages.

Costs

For 200708, tuition and fees for a Connecticut resident were $6961, and nonresident tuition and fees were $15,681 on an annual basis. The fees included a tuition deposit of $200, which is required to secure a place in the University, and a $250 housing deposit. Room was estimated at $4680 and board at $3700 for two semesters. Books and supplies average $900 per year. Tuition and fees are subject to change as warranted and are itemized on the Universitys Web site.

Financial Aid

Financial aid includes grants and scholarships, low-interest loans, student employment opportunities, and special programs for veterans and their families. The University participates in the Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and Federal Work-Study programs. In addition, it provides aid through alumni funds and other resources of its own. Approximately two thirds of all Eastern students receive financial aid. Awards are based primarily on demonstrated financial need. All students who wish to apply for financial assistance are required to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and send it to the processing agency by March15 for the fall semester or by November15 for the spring semester.

Faculty

The friendliness and approachability of the Universitys professors are usually noted by the students enrolled at Eastern. While faculty members are focused primarily on quality teaching and the full development of students enrolled, many write and conduct significant research. Faculty members hold advanced degrees from leading American and international colleges and universities; 95 percent hold terminal degrees. Faculty members serve as academic counselors and mentors for students. Full-time advisers and counseling services are available to assist students in matters of personal and academic concern. The student-faculty ratio at Eastern is 16:1. The average class size is 24.

Student Government

An organized plan of student government and student representation on University committees permits students to be actively involved with important issues and develop basic policies for student life. The Student Senate is the governing body; it supervises and coordinates all student activities and serves as a liaison with the faculty, administration, and Board of Trustees.

Admission Requirements

Eastern is considered to be selective in admission. Applicants are considered on an individual basis, with emphasis placed on the applicants secondary school record, satisfactory SAT or ACT scores, rank in the high school graduating class, personal accomplishments and motivation, and teachers or guidance counselors recommendations. Applicants complete requirements for secondary school graduation or its equivalent should include 16 academic units of college-preparatory work, with the following divisions: English, 4 years; mathematics, 3 years; science, 2 years (including 1 year of laboratory science); social sciences, 2 years (including U.S. history); and foreign language, 2 years (3 years preferred). Students who are admitted without having fulfilled the language requirement must complete one year of a foreign language (6 credits) at Eastern. Deferred admission is also available. A campus visit is strongly suggested, although not required. A limited number of highly motivated students who do not qualify for admission if traditional criteria are used may be admitted to the University by successfully completing the Summer Transition Experience Program/Contract Admission Program or the Summer Proof of Ability Option. Students should contact the Office of Admissions for more information on special admission options.

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