- Photos
-
-
_
U.S. News Rankings
| Ranking score and category | |||||
|
|||||
Summary
Oberlin College is a private institution that was founded in 1833. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,959, 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 2013 edition of Best Colleges is National Liberal Arts Colleges, 26. Its tuition and fees are $44,905 (2012-13).
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.
| School mission and unique qualities (as provided by the school): | |
|
Oberlin is often celebrated as the 'college of firsts,' having been on the front lines of history since its founding in 1833. It was the first college in America to adopt a policy to admit students regardless of race (1835) and the first to award bachelor degrees to women in a coeducational program (1841). Progressive ideas continue to shape the student experience today. Students, faculty, and alumni pursue a remarkable spectrum of social, political, artistic, scientific, and environmental causes. Oberlin attracts academically and musically talented individuals who care deeply about the world and who are compelled to make it a better place. The Oberlin campus comprises a highly selective liberal arts college, a world-class music conservatory, and the top-ranked Allen Memorial Art Museum. Central to this stimulating learning environment is a faculty focused on teaching undergraduates-scholars who contribute significantly to their fields through writing, research, and performance. Oberlin enrolls about 2,900 students, including 175 students who earn degrees simultaneously from both the Conservatory of Music and the College of Arts and Sciences in the Double Degree Program. Students in both divisions live, eat, and study together on a single campus. Conservatory students can take up to 40 percent of their courses in the college; non-music majors can take classes and private lessons in the conservatory. All enjoy the nearly 500 musical concerts and recitals that take place each year on campus, in addition to performances in popular 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 promotes collaboration across disciplines and among students and faculty mentors. Research labs include a supercomputer, confocal microscope, and 600-MHz NMR spectrometer. Each summer about 100 students receive stipends for research with faculty in science, social science, and humanities. Campus architecture is also distinct, with buildings designed by Cass Gilbert, Minoru Yamasaki, Robert Venturi, and William McDonough. The Environmental Studies Center (2001)-one of the first solar-powered academic buildings in the nation--has photovoltaic arrays totaling 160 Kw and produces most of the energy it consumes on location. In buildings across campus, a resource monitoring system encourages energy conservation with real-time displays of electricity and water usage. Oberlin has four LEED certified buildings: art museum, jazz studies facility, first-year dorm and field house. 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. Students create and participate in more than 160 campus 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. The Creativity & Leadership Project, open to students in any major, offers entrepreneurship courses and grants to help students put innovative ideas into practice. Nearly one-quarter of the student body participates in the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association, which offers alternatives to traditional campus housing and dining. Four residential coops and nine dining coops (including Kosher and vegan) are student-run and provide experiences in shared responsibility and decision-making. Oberlin's rare white squirrels have become an unofficial school mascot, reflecting the value we place on diversity and individual expression. We prize creativity and individuality while upholding high standards of intellectual inquiry, debate, and service to society. |
General Information
| School type | private, coed college |
| Year founded | 1833 |
| Religious affiliation | N/A |
| Academic calendar | 4-1-4 |
| Setting | suburban |
| 2011 Endowment | $738,357,067 |
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 29.6 percent.
For more information about the tests, essays, interviews, and admissions process, visit the Applying to College knowledge center.
| Selectivity | most selective |
| Fall 2011 acceptance rate | 29.6% |
| 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 70.0 percent of its classes with fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors at Oberlin College include: Music Performance, General; Biology, General; English Language and Literature, General; History; and Political Science and Government. The average freshman retention rate, an indicator of student satisfaction, is 93.8 percent.
Student Life
Oberlin College has a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,959, with a gender distribution of 44.9 percent male students and 55.1 percent female students. Oberlin College is part of the NCAA III athletic conference.
See what students are saying about life at Oberlin College.
| Total enrollment | 2,983 |
| Student gender distribution | |
|
|
|
| Undergraduate men who are members of a fraternity | |
|
|
|
| Undergraduate women who are members of a sorority | |
|
|
|
| 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, 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% |
| Health insurance offered | Yes |
| Students required to own/lease a computer | No |
More About Campus Info & Services
Paying for School
At Oberlin College, 54.9 percent of full-time undergraduates receive some kind of need-based financial aid and the average need-based scholarship or grant award is $28,813.
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 | $44,905 (2012-13) |
| Room and board | $12,120 (2012-13) |
| Financial aid statistics | |
|
|
|
* Overview details based on 2011 data
