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Summary
Oberlin College is a private institution that was founded in 1833. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,948, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 440 acres. It utilizes a 4-1-4-based academic calendar. Oberlin College's ranking in the 2012 edition of Best Colleges is National Liberal Arts Colleges, 24. Its tuition and fees are $43,210 (2011-12).
Oberlin College is located in Oberlin, Ohio, 35 miles southwest of Cleveland. Among the 150 or so student organizations are the Student Senate, Oberlin Film Series, and Swing Dance. Athletics play a big role in student life, as well, and Oberlin fields more than 20 NCAA Division III athletic teams, known as the Yeomen. Intramural sports include bowling, 4-on-4 basketball, frisbee, and squash. All students are required to live either in College housing or an Oberlin Student Cooperative Association (OSCA) co-op. OSCA, Oberlin’s largest student organization, offers an alternative to College-run housing and dining.
Oberlin is comprised of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Conservatory of Music, which offers bachelor of music degrees and a number of master’s programs and is regarded as one of the best undergraduate music schools in the country. The four-week winter term in January enables students to pursue a specific topic through an individual or group project; past projects have included traveling to India to study Gandhi and an intensive group course on electronic music. Oberlin also has the Experimental College, which offers for-credit courses taught by students, administrators, townspeople, and faculty that tend to focus on nontraditional subjects like the fundamentals of rock climbing or community organizing. For $5 each, students can rent up to two works of art for a semester by artists such as Picasso and Toulouse-Lautrec through the Art Rental program.
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At Oberlin, the confluence of a leading liberal arts college and a world-class music conservatory yields an unparalleled learning environment. One of the nation's most selective liberal arts colleges, Oberlin is committed to rigorous academics, artistic excellence, and social justice. Oberlin College was the first in America to adopt a policy to admit students regardless of race (1835) and the first to award bachelor's degrees to women in a coed program (1841). The college's history of challenging intellectual and social conventions continues to shape the student experience today. Oberlin students and faculty prize creativity and individuality while upholding high standards of intellectual inquiry, debate, and service to society. Professors focus on teaching undergraduates while also making significant contributions to their fields through writing, research, and performance. Students create and participate in more than 160 of their own organizations. Each year more than 1,200 participate in community service. Nearly 75 percent enjoy learning experiences abroad during their college careers. Since 1920, more Oberlin graduates have earned PhDs than have graduates of any other primarily undergraduate institution. During the January Winter Term, students explore the value of self-education. They devise and pursue programs of independent study or research on or off campus. In the Business Scholars Program, for example, students interact with alumni to learn about careers in finance and consulting. The Creativity & Leadership Project, open to students in any major, offers entrepreneurship courses and grants to help students put innovative ideas into practice. Oberlin enrolls more than 2,800 students; about 170 are in a five-year, Double Degree Program that results in degrees from both the conservatory and the College of Arts and Sciences. Students in both divisions share residence and dining halls, joined in their commitment to pushing the boundaries of their determination, intellect, and creativity. Conservatory students broaden their education with classes in the college, and share their talents on campus in nearly 500 performances annually. In 2010, President Obama presented the conservatory with the National Medal of Arts, the highest U.S. award given to artists and patrons. Oberlin's commitment to artistic expression includes an abundance of performances in music, theater, dance, opera, poetry, and comedy. The Allen Memorial Art Museum collection ranks among the top five of any academic museum in the country. The Science Center (2002) is designed to promote collaboration across disciplines and among students and faculty mentors. Research labs include a supercomputer, confocal microscope, and 600-MHz NMR spectrometer. Each summer approximately 100 students receive stipends for research with faculty in science, social science, and the humanities. Campus architecture is also distinct, with buildings designed by Cass Gilbert, Minoru Yamasaki, Robert Venturi, and William McDonough. The Environmental Studies Center (2001) has photovoltaic arrays totaling 160 Kw and is one the largest solar-powered academic buildings in the country. In buildings across campus, a resource monitoring system encourages energy conservation with real-time displays of electricity and water usage. In 2010, Oberlin opened a jazz studies facility, the first music building in the world designed to achieve a LEED rating for environmental efficiency.About 90 percent of Oberlin students live on campus. Students may opt to live in one of nine program houses, including Afrikan Heritage House, Asia House, German House, and Third World House. The 600-plus-member cooperative housing organization is the largest on any US campus, in terms of the percentage of students who participate. Four residential coops and nine dining coops (including Kosher and vegan) are student-run and provide experiences in shared responsibility and decision-making. |
General Information
| School type | private, coed college |
| Year founded | 1833 |
| Religious affiliation | N/A |
| Academic calendar | 4-1-4 |
| Setting | suburban |
| 2010 Endowment | $645,175,092 |
Applying
When applying to Oberlin College, it's important to note the application deadline is January 15, and the early decision deadline is November 15. Scores for either the ACT or SAT test are due February 1. The application fee at Oberlin College is $35. It is most selective, with an acceptance rate of 30.6 percent.
For more information about the tests, essays, interviews, and admissions process, visit the Applying to College knowledge center.
| Selectivity | most selective |
| Fall 2010 acceptance rate | 31% |
| Application deadline | January 15 |
| SAT/ACT scores must be received by | February 1 |
Academic Life
The student-faculty ratio at Oberlin College is 9:1, and the school has 72.7 percent of its classes with fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors at Oberlin College include: Music Performance, General; English Language and Literature, General; Biology, General; History; and Natural Resources Conservation and Research. The average freshman retention rate, an indicator of student satisfaction, is 94.0 percent.
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| Student-faculty ratio | 9:1 | ||||||||||
| 4-year graduation rate | 73% - High | ||||||||||
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Student Life
Oberlin College has a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,948, with a gender distribution of 44.9 percent male students and 55.1 percent female students. 87.0 percent of the students live in college-owned, -operated, or -affiliated housing and 13.0 percent of students live off campus. Oberlin College is part of the NCAA III athletic conference.
See what students are saying about life at Oberlin College.
| Total enrollment | 2,974 |
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| Collegiate athletic association | NCAA III |
Campus Info & Services
Oberlin College offers a number of student services including nonremedial tutoring, women's center, placement service, health service, and health insurance. Oberlin 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, student patrols, and controlled dormitory access (key, security card, etc). Of the students at Oberlin College, 18 percent have cars on campus. Alcohol is permitted for students of legal age at Oberlin College.
| Students who have cars on campus | 18% - Low |
| Health insurance offered | Yes |
| Students required to own/lease a computer | No |
More About Campus Info & Services
Paying for School
At Oberlin College, 56.6 percent of full-time undergraduates receive some kind of need-based financial aid and the average need-based scholarship or grant award is $28,044.
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 | $43,210 (2011-12) |
| Room and board | $11,550 (2011-12) - High |
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* Overview details based on 2010 data
