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Summary
Lafayette College is a private institution that was founded in 1826. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,478, its setting is city, and the campus size is 340 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Lafayette College's ranking in the 2013 edition of Best Colleges is National Liberal Arts Colleges, 39. Its tuition and fees are $42,280 (2012-13).
Nestled in the College Hill neighborhood of Easton, Pa., is Lafayette College, a liberal arts institution. Easton is a quiet, rural town about 60 miles from Philadelphia and 70 from New York City. One perk of living in rural Pennsylvania: in warm months, students can load up on fresh produce each Saturday at the Easton Farmer’s Market, billed as the nation’s oldest continuous open-air market. In the winter, students can go skiing and snowboarding in the nearby Pocono Mountains. The campus has its own indoor rock-climbing wall and on-campus night club called The Spot for year-round fun. There are about 250 student organizations, including a popular Greek system of close to a dozen fraternities and sororities. Each fraternity and sorority has a house on campus for member students. Freshmen must live on campus at the residential college, and so must sophomores, juniors, and most seniors. About 50 seniors who apply to move off campus will be approved each year. The Lafayette Leopards compete in the NCAA Division I Patriot League, and the football team has a notorious rival with Lehigh University’s squad. Students kick off the year with the President’s Ball, a formal dance, and end the year with All-College Day, a campus-wide celebration with music and food. Students can grab a bite after, too, when faculty members serve them Midnight Breakfast.
The college newspaper, The Lafayette, is the oldest student-run publication in the state. Lafayette students can study abroad for a semester, a year, or even just a month—in January or May. The school’s interim programs, as the monthlong sessions are called, take students to destinations like the Galapagos Islands, Bali, and Egypt over school breaks. In addition, faculty members lead specialty study abroad trips in London and Ghana. Lafayette’s distinguished graduates include Ian Murray, founder of the Vineyard Vines clothing line; and Charles Bergstresser, a founder of Dow Jones & Company.
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Located 70 miles from Manhattan and 60 miles from Center City Philadelphia, Lafayette provides university-sized resources in an exclusively undergraduate college with about 2,400 students. Our rallying cry is the Marquis de Lafayette's family motto, Cur Non (Why not?). It means anything is possible here--with Lafayette's muscle and energy, no dream is too wild or ambitious to make happen. All the experiences students need to create their edge are built into their four years. It's an unparalleled platform from which to find their way forward into a complex, rapidly changing world. While remaining dedicated to programs in which students learn to think critically, to communicate effectively, and to relate seemingly unconnected ideas, Lafayette is also dedicated to providing an education that is valuable in its relevance, in which students cross disciplinary, cultural, and international boundaries to connect in meaningful and valuable ways with faculty, with each other, and with the world. This high-impact education--with a distinctive cross-disciplinary orientation, high-level research, rigorous small-class discussion, field experiences, community-based learning projects, and global studies--attracts active, engaged learners who achieve a career advantage. In recent years, 94 percent or more of Lafayette's graduating classes have been employed, in graduate school, or in an internship within six months of graduation. There are nearly 50 majors to choose from in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. The faculty are accomplished professor-mentors who are dedicated to connecting meaningfully with students on both a professional and a personal level, a connection that is exemplified in the mentoring they provide to students in settings both traditional and far beyond the traditional. The student-faculty ratio is 11 to 1. The College provides more than $600,000 each year for students to work closely with faculty on research projects that expand the boundaries of knowledge. With Lafayette's muscle and energy, no student's dream is too wild or ambitious to make happen. One of the nation's highest endowment-per-student rates means powerful resources to provide distinctive academic opportunities and experiences, outstanding facilities, Division I athletics, and a wealth of clubs and organizations. The College has recently invested more than $200 million in new and renovated academic, residential, and recreational facilities, including new centers for psychology and neuroscience, chemistry and physics, the visual arts, and intramural and recreational sports. Yet another new center--for global studies--will enable the College to add a global perspective to the educational experience of every student. An expansion of Lafayette's downtown arts campus to include new facilities for theater and for film and media studies is under way. Improvements also include a recent expansion and transformation of the main library and a thorough modernization of the engineering complex. Lafayette is committed to helping students of all financial backgrounds afford an active, globally connected education. It awarded more than $35 million in College-funded grants and scholarships in 2011-12 and has budgeted more than $37 million for 2012-13. More than half of the College's students are eligible for financial assistance and receive the aid they need to make a Lafayette education possible through grants, scholarships, loans, and/or work-study. Lafayette recognizes its most outstanding applicants with a Marquis Scholarship. Marquis Scholars receive an annual minimum award of $20,000 ($80,000 over four years). Marquis Scholars seeking financial aid and whose financial need exceeds $20,000 receive a need-based award (inclusive of the scholarship) up to demonstrated need. Marquis Scholars also receive a scholarship of up to $4,000 for one faculty-led, off-campus course during an interim session. |
General Information
| School type | private, coed college |
| Year founded | 1826 |
| Religious affiliation | N/A |
| Academic calendar | semester |
| Setting | city |
| 2011 Endowment | $658,146,309 |
Applying
When applying to Lafayette College, it's important to note the application deadline is January 15, and the early decision deadline is February 1. Scores for either the ACT or SAT test are due February 15. The application fee at Lafayette College is $65. It is more selective, with an acceptance rate of 40.3 percent.
For more information about the tests, essays, interviews, and admissions process, visit the Applying to College knowledge center.
| Selectivity | more selective |
| Fall 2011 acceptance rate | 40.3% |
| Application deadline | January 15 |
| SAT/ACT scores must be received by | February 15 |
Academic Life
The student-faculty ratio at Lafayette College is 11:1, and the school has 56.8 percent of its classes with fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors at Lafayette College include: Social Sciences; Engineering; Biological and Biomedical Sciences; English Language and Literature/Letters; and Psychology. The average freshman retention rate, an indicator of student satisfaction, is 94.5 percent.
Student Life
Lafayette College has a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,478, with a gender distribution of 53.2 percent male students and 46.8 percent female students. At this school, 93.0 percent of the students live in college-owned, -operated, or -affiliated housing and 7.0 percent of students live off campus. Lafayette College is part of the NCAA I athletic conference.
| Total enrollment | 2,478 |
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| Collegiate athletic association | NCAA I |
Campus Info & Services
Lafayette College offers a number of student services including health service. Lafayette College also offers campus safety and security services like 24-hour foot and vehicle patrols, late night transport/escort service, 24-hour emergency telephones, lighted pathways/sidewalks, and controlled dormitory access (key, security card, etc). Of the students at Lafayette College, 40 percent have cars on campus. Alcohol is permitted for students of legal age at Lafayette College.
| Students who have cars on campus | 40% |
| Health insurance offered | No |
| Students required to own/lease a computer | No |
More About Campus Info & Services
Paying for School
At Lafayette College, 43.0 percent of full-time undergraduates receive some kind of need-based financial aid and the average need-based scholarship or grant award is $31,134.
Paying for college doesn't have to be difficult or devastating. Go to the Paying for College knowledge center to get advice on raising cash and reducing costs.
| Tuition and fees | $42,280 (2012-13) |
| Room and board | $12,708 (2012-13) |
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* Overview details based on 2011 data
