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The University

Founded in 1888, the University of Puget Sound is an independent university committed to the liberal arts and sciences, superb teaching, and the recognition of each student as an individual. A nationally acclaimed teaching faculty, well-planned facilities, and a limited enrollment ensure excellence in education.

Puget Sound, the only national liberal arts college in western Washington, is one of only two independent colleges in Washington State to be granted a chapter by Phi Beta Kappa. A record number of Puget Sound graduates have received undergraduate and postgraduate honors, including Rhodes, National Science Foundation, Fulbright, Rotary, Watson, Phi Kappa Phi, Truman, Goldwater, Hertz, and National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships and scholarships. Equally impressive, among national colleges and universities with fewer than 5,000 undergraduate students, Puget Sound is in the top five for number of alumni currently serving as Peace Corps volunteers worldwide.

The University enrolls 2,600 students, with 75percent coming to Puget Sound from outside the state of Washington. In addition, forty-seven states and fourteen other countries are represented in the student body. Puget Sound is a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week residential community. Students live in eleven residence halls, eight Greek-letter-society residences, and more than fifty University-owned houses on campus. Special theme houses and halls are available for students with common interests. The neighboring residential community provides many facilities for those who wish to live off campus. Approximately 25 percent of students belong to Greek letter organizations. State-of-the-art athletic facilities include Memorial Fieldhouse and Pamplin Fitness Center, Wallace Pool, Peyton Field at Baker Stadium, an indoor climbing wall, and numerous varsity and intramural athletic fields.

Students find that participating in activities sponsored by the student government is an excellent way to learn outside the classroom and improve leadership abilities. Athletics include twenty-three varsity teams, various club teams, and numerous intramural teams. In addition, students are involved in a variety of clubs and associations, such as forensics, theater, music, FM radio station, art and literary magazine, weekly newspaper, yearbook, Student Senate, religious groups, a variety of faculty and trustee committees, Black Student Union, Hui-O-Hawaii, Earth Activists, B-GLAD (Bisexuals, Gays, Lesbians, and Allies for Diversity), Asian Pacific American Student Union, Community for Hispanic Awareness, and Habitat for Humanity. Seventy-five percent of students participate in community service activities, one of the highest participation rates in the country.

Graduate degrees offered at the University of Puget Sound include the Master of Occupational Therapy, Doctor of Physical Therapy, Master of Arts in Teaching, and Master of Education.

Location

The campus is located in a quiet residential neighborhood in the historic North End of Tacoma. Thirty-five miles south of Seattle and easily accessible from Interstate 5, Tacoma is a dynamic city of 200,000 people. It was recently ranked by Money magazine as one of the most livable medium-sized cities in the country. The University occupies thirty-nine buildings on a 97-acre parklike campus. The architecture is Tudor Gothic, with its distinctive red-brick pattern arches and porticoes. Located close to the shores of Puget Sound and a short distance from ski slopes and the Pacific Ocean, the University is also the center of much of Tacomas cultural life. Tacoma also features Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, many parks, a public library system, museums, new convention center, and hospitals.

Majors and Degrees

The University of Puget Sound offers more than forty-five majors leading to the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and Bachelor of Music degrees. Academic programs are art, Asian studies (interdisciplinary emphasis), biochemistry, biology, business, chemistry, classics, communication, comparative sociology, computer science, computer science in business, economics, English, exercise science, foreign languages and literature (majors in French, German, international affairs, and Spanish; course offerings in Chinese, Greek, Japanese, and Latin), geology, history, international political economy, mathematics, molecular and cellular biology, music, natural science, philosophy, physics, politics and government, psychology, religion, and theater arts. Latin American studies, African-American studies, environmental studies, and gender studies are minor-only programs. The introduction of a special interdisciplinary major allows exceptional students the opportunity to pursue a degree in a recognized interdisciplinary or emergent field.

The University offers a dual-degree program in engineering, leading to a joint Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree in engineering. Students in this program complete prerequisites in chemistry, mathematics/computer science, and physics, then transfer to an accredited engineering school for course work in chemical, civil, electrical, environmental, mechanical, or petroleum engineering, among others. Affiliated schools are Washington University in St.Louis, Columbia University, Duke University, and the University of Southern California.

Academic Programs

At the heart of the academic program is the core curriculumeight course groupings around which major and elective studies are arranged over a four-year period. The emphasis throughout a students undergraduate education is on the acquisition of intellectual skills: the ability to express oneself clearly, both orally and in writing; the ability to reason quantitatively; and the ability to think logically, critically, and independently. By mastering the literature and techniques of a specific academic major, the student learns to cultivate the unique power of his or her own mind and to respond vigorously, but humanely, to important social, moral, and intellectual challenges.

A particularly well-designed curriculum for the freshman year and a model program of academic advising and career counseling enable each student to develop his or her own skills and interests in preparation for a lifetime of creative work and leisure. Puget Sounds highly successful and award-winning student orientation processPrelude, Passages and Perspectivesis a nine-day program that allows new students to become involved in writing and thinking seminars, academic workshops, community service, and a three-day excursion to the nearby Olympic Peninsula.

The academic year is divided into two semesters, beginning in late August and mid-January, and a thirteen-week summer session (two miniterms). A normal academic load is 4units (typically four courses) per semester. Each unit of credit is equivalent to 6quarter hours or 4semester hours. Thirty-two units are required for graduation.

Off-Campus Programs

The University of Puget Sound offers an outstanding selection of international opportunities for its students and operates or offers programs in more than fifty countries, including Australia, England, Scotland, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, China, Japan, Taiwan, Argentina, and Chile, among others. The Pacific Rim/Asia Study-Travel Program offers students an intense year of study and travel in six to eight Asian countries. A summer archaeological excavation in Greece rounds out the international opportunities at Puget Sound.

Puget Sounds location in one of the fastest-growing regions of the country places its internship program at the forefront of national liberal arts colleges. In fact, Tacoma was named the number one midsized city in the nation for entrepreneurship by Entrepreneur magazine. Opportunities for student research abound, as students may apply for summer research grants in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the arts.

Academic Facilities

Collins Memorial Library contains more than 550,000 volumes of books and periodicals plus a sizable collection of federal and Washington State government publications, maps, microforms, videotapes, cassettes, compact discs, and other media materials. These resources are strengthened through participation in the Orbis Cascade Alliance, a consortium of twenty-seven public and private institutions of higher education in Oregon and Washington, with combined holdings of more than 22 million volumes. Other major academic facilities include Thompson Science Complex, Kittredge Art Gallery, Schneebeck Concert Hall, Norton Clapp Theatre, Gordon D. Alcorn Arboretum, Lowry Wyatt Hall, and Slater Museum of Natural History. Harned Hall, a 51,000-square-foot addition to the newly remodeled Thompson Science Complex, opened in 2006.

Puget Sound, as a natural resource, provides students of environmental science and marine biology with a superb outdoor laboratory. A working relationship with Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, just minutes north of the campus, offers teaching and research opportunities in marine and biological sciences. Equipment and facilities in the Thompson Science Complex include a modern greenhouse; an observatory; an aquarium with a tidal cycle; a state-of-the-art genetics laboratory; a scanning electron microscope and a transmission electron microscope; ultraviolet, visible, fluorescence, infrared, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrophotometric equipment; and a seismograph. Students also have access to human cadavers as learning tools. The University has special facilities for students of occupational and physical therapy, education, counseling, foreign languages, and psychology. The music building has twenty-two individual practice rooms.

All University residence halls and Greek houses are wired to provide students with instant access to the Internet and e-mail accounts. In addition, numerous wireless hotspots and on-campus computer labs offer 24-hour access to these services.

Costs

Tuition and required student fees were $31,700 and $360, respectively, for the 200708 academic year. Room and board were $8265. It is estimated that an additional $3300 per year is adequate for books, laundry, and other essentials, including travel to and from home.

Financial Aid

Ninety percent of the Universitys students receive financial aid in one or a combination of the following forms: scholarships, grants, low-interest loans, and part-time employment. Most financial aid is awarded on the basis of demonstrated financial need, as determined through analysis of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In addition, the Universitys Financial Aid Office administers a scholarship program based solely on academic merit: the Trustee ($12,000), Presidents ($9000), and Deans ($3000) Scholarships. Each award is renewable annually. In November 2007, the University announced the Lillis Scholarship, a renewable award that covers tuition, room, and board for 2 selected students. Twenty-five students from the University applicant pool will be invited to apply. Many other talent awards are available in the arts, selected academic areas, forensics, and leadership. Admission decisions are made independent of financial need, and all students, regardless of family income, are encouraged to apply for financial aid.

Faculty

Members of the faculty work closely with individual students both in the classroom and in student-originated research projects within and across the disciplines. Ninety-three percent of the faculty members teach full-time; 98 percent of tenured faculty members hold a Ph.D. or an equivalent terminal degree. In agreement with Ted Taranovski, Professor of History, faculty members feel that the University of Puget Sound is an institution geared to human beingssmall enough to give one a sense of community and yet large enough to provide an excellent academic curriculum; it is not an impersonal machine where people become cogs. In recent years, professors at the University have been recognized for their academic and teaching achievements through awards and distinctions, including the Graves Award in the Humanities and fellowships from various organizations, including the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Danforth Foundation. In 2007, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching named history professor Nancy Bristow the Washington State Professor of the Year.

Admission Requirements

Each applicant to the University of Puget Sound is considered individually and is admitted on the basis of his or her qualifications and achievements. In considering applicants for freshman admission, the Admission Committee evaluates the following: high school course selection, high school grade point average, rank in graduating class (if available), SAT or ACT scores, a counselors and an academic teachers recommendations, an essay, a recommended interview, and extracurricular activities. College credit is awarded to students who have earned scores of 4 or higher on Advanced Placement examinations. Credit for a score of3 is available for selected examinations only. Credit is also available for a score of5, 6, or 7 on the International Baccalaureate higher-level examinations.

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