What Makes Austin College Distinctive

• Hands-On Education: At Austin College, learning happens in and out of the classroom. Students enhance language studies through an immersive residential program in Jordan Family Language House and team up with faculty on research projects. Since 2003, 24 Austin College math and science students have presented research findings on topics from cell biology and organogels to geophysics and Snell Geometries at national and regional conferences.

• Global Education: More than 75 percent of the Class of 2009 had at least one international experience during college. In the past 10 years, more than 70 percent of graduates have studied abroad, visiting 92 countries all around the world. In 2010, students were on five of the seven continents in January alone, for courses including “A Taste of French Language and Culture,” “Peru, Ecuador, Galapagos: Explorations of the Natural World from Scientific and Cultural Perspectives,” and “Social Change in Post-Apartheid South Africa.”

• Supportive Faculty: With a student to faculty ratio of 13:1, students know—and are known by—Austin College faculty. Chances are students have faculty cell phone numbers—and may be invited to their homes for dinner. All students have a faculty mentor who leads their freshman seminar course and continues that relationship for four years. Rather than academic advisors that students see once each semester to get a perfunctory signature for course registration, at Austin College the student-mentor relationship offers assistance in navigating the academic and intellectual maturation that takes place during college.

• Vibrant Community: Anyone with a zest for learning is welcome at Austin College. Students come to Austin College from 33 states and 21 countries, including Brazil, China, France, Kenya, Korea, Jamaica, Japan, and Mexico. Once you get here, you’re part of the family. Students are required to live on-campus for three years because being together builds the strongest bonds. Even when students can move off-campus as seniors, many choose to stay because they appreciate the convenience and camaraderie of the campus.

• Life-Changing Experiences: Austin College funds summer internships (about 60 per year) that allow for the ultimate career inquiry. The Vocational Internship Program provides students 320 hours of exploration in a selected field—and a follow-up course, led by a faculty member, that allows students to reflect on what they learned in the experience. Students also gain real-world credentials with summer internships through the Community Summer Jobs program or Career Study Off Campus.

• Professional Preparation: Acceptance rates to medical and health professional schools have exceeded 80 percent for more than a decade, and our pre-law students have similar acceptance rates. A survey among five years of recent graduates found that more than 90 percent are working or attending graduate or professional schools. An Austin College liberal arts education is an interdisciplinary platform to success for the future.

• Giving Back: Austin College students logged more than 13,000 hours of service in 2009 through programs like the Great Day of Service and Habitat for Humanity. Students led a campaign to raise money for earthquake victims in Haiti, donating more than $2,000. Students also can travel the world for service through the Global Outreach “GO” Fellowships. Each summer GO Fellows are involved in projects like teaching English in Peru, building homes for low-income families in Costa Rica, providing optometry services in Ghana, and helping women rescued from sex trafficking in Thailand.

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