Every Tuesday morning at 9:40, members of the Elon University community gather on campus for College Coffee, a 40-minute celebration and school tradition dating back to 1984. No classes are scheduled during that time, so students can catch up with professors and peers while they enjoy beverages, food and conversation. Community spirit is woven into the fabric of life at the private university about 20 miles east of Greensboro, students say.
In addition to a traditional liberal arts and sciences core curriculum, the school’s 6,000 undergraduates are required to complete at least two experiential learning opportunities, which can include service learning, study abroad, internships, research or a leadership experience before they graduate.
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Before she completed her degree in marketing in May, Caralea Prentice, of Vienna, Virginia, studied abroad in Cuba, France and Ireland and did service learning on behalf of the Elon town government. So many students here want to “save the world” in their own way, she says, and Elon works to help them build that into their academic experience. Many undergrads participate in community service projects, and overall, about 79 percent study abroad at least once.
In another nod to building global awareness, students need to complete a foreign language requirement, and all freshmen take a seminar on the global experience, for which professors choose their own topics; recent examples include human migration and immigration and the worldwide reach of soccer.
With a student-faculty ratio of 12-to-1, students can expect generally small classes and close contact with professors. At the end of one of his first-year courses, notes Tommy Hamzik, a 2017 journalism grad from Cleveland, the prof invited students home for dinner.
There are more than 60 undergraduate majors offered in the College of Arts and Sciences and the schools of business, communications and education. About 700 graduate students also attend Elon.
Along with the liberal arts foundation, all students can benefit from a range of preprofessional skills programs. Most of those majoring in the business and communications schools are required to complete an internship, and these schools have dedicated offices to help students find opportunities.
All undergrads have access to career services at the Student Professional Development Center, through which they are encouraged to complete a four-year career action plan that gets them thinking early about their path. After taking advantage of these opportunities, “I felt 100 times more confident going into an interview,” says Prentice, who interned with a strategic communications firm in Washington, D.C., and the Coca-Cola Co. in Atlanta.
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When they are not thinking about their future, Elon students can get involved with more than 250 campus organizations and programs. Elon fields 17 NCAA Division I sports teams that play in the Colonial Athletic Association. About 31 percent of undergraduates participate in Greek life, which drives a big part of the social scene but is not the only way for people to build connections or have fun, students say.
First- and second-year students are required to live on campus, while many upperclassmen choose to live in the quaint community of Elon, home to about 10,000 residents. The downtown area has a number of shops, restaurants and bars, including the Oak House, a popular coffeehouse and bar co-founded by an Elon grad. Some professors even host office hours there, says Hamzik.
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This story is excerpted from the U.S. News “Best Colleges 2018” guidebook, which features in-depth articles, rankings and data.
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North Carolina College Road Trip: Elon University originally appeared on usnews.com
