Educated Quest.com

2012-13 Edition

Profile:University of Delaware

1 Introduction to the University of Delaware

Background

Fast Facts

1. The university is located on the site of a “free school” that opened in 1743.

2. In 1923, Delaware was the first university to introduce study abroad.

3. Today the university has approximately 19,500 students, with around 16,000 undergraduates.

4. The large majority—65 percent—of Delaware students come from out of state.

5. UD is the most popular out-of-state destination for New Jersey’s college-bound freshmen.

2

About the University of Delaware

Located on the site of a “free school” that opened in 1743, the University of Delaware (UD) rose from college to university status from 1833 to 1921, when the former Newark College merged with the former Delaware Women’s College. In 1923, Delaware was the first university to introduce study abroad when a group led by Professor Raymond Kirkbride went to France. Following the end of World War II, the university was a very small school with less than 1,000 students. Returning veter-ans, who received money for college through the G.I Bill, more than doubled the enrollment through 1950. Today the university has approximately 19,500 students; around 16,000 are under-graduates.

Chemistry and chemical engineering are noted as strong aca-demic departments; they developed in part, due to DuPont’s in-fluence in the state. The agriculture, biochemistry, business, education, information systems and public policy programs are highly regarded. The university offers one of only four academic programs in art conservation in the country. The university is also a Land Grant, Sea Grant and Space Grant institution. The university has also acquired a former Chrysler Motors plant lo-cated across from the football stadium that will be developed into a research park that will be a setting to study, among other

Background

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subjects, automotive technology. The plant previously pro-duced Dodge Aspen heavy-duty hybrid sport utility vehicles be-fore it was closed.

While Vice President Joseph Biden is one of the most famous graduates of the university, the managers of both 2008 presi-dential campaigns, David Plouffe, who worked for Barack Obama and Steve Schmidt, who worked for John McCain, are also Delaware alumni, aka “Blue Hens.” Three Delaware alumni: Scott Brunner, Rich Gannon and Joe Flacco, have quar-terbacked NFL teams into the playoffs while three others were signees to the Declaration of Independence. New Jersey gover-nor Chris Christie is a graduate as well.

The university was chartered as a private institution. It receives only 13 percent of its operating budget from the state. And, un-like most state universities, the large majority—65 percent—of Delaware students come from out of state.

In 2008, the university was the most popular out-of-state institu-tion chosen by New Jersey college-bound freshmen, according to a task force report commissioned last year by Governor Christie. Given the university’s location in the center of the East Coast as well as its proximity to Interstate 95, Delaware at-tracts applicants from Massachusetts down through Virginia. Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. are all less than two and a half hours from campus. Newark (locally pronounced New-ark) is also served by Amtrak trains to those

cities. The school is a popular choice among students in neigh-boring states not only because of its location but also because of student body size. UD has about half as many undergradu-ates as the University of Maryland-College Park, Rutgers-New Brunswick, Penn State or Virginia Tech. Admissions to Dela-ware are also less competitive than they are to flagships Mary-land, Penn State and the University of Virginia.

Delaware is one of the few public universities that retain 90 per-cent or more of its freshman while graduating at least 75 per-cent of them within six years.

2 What does it take to get in?Who decides to go?What other schools do applicants consider?

Competition

Fast Facts

1. Overall, with in-state and out-of-state applicants, there were just over 23,600 applications to the freshman class entering in Fall 2012.

2. Fewer than 3,000 Delawareans apply for the approximately 1,300 spots that are available for them in the freshman class. However, there were more than 20,000 applications for the remaining 2,600 sports for out-of-state students.

3. Unlike most schools that send financial aid letters separately from offers of admission, Delaware tries to package them together whenever possible.

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What It Takes to Get In

Delaware is less selective for Delawareans than it is for out-of-state stu-dents. Fewer than 3,000 Delawareans apply for the approximately 1,300 spots that are available for them in the freshman class, according to Amy Foley, the university’s senior associate director for admissions. Dela-ware’s student population has the same percentage of in-state students--36 percent-- as Syracuse University, a private institution. About two-thirds are admitted; nearly another quarter will pursue Associate’s de-grees at branch campuses in Dover, Georgetown or Wilmington before transferring to the main campus in Newark. They are taught by faculty who also teach on the main campus.

Overall, with in-state and out-of-state applicants, there were just over 23,600 applications to the freshman class entering in Fall 2012. This means that there were more than 20,000 out-of-state students vying for one of the 2,600 spots in the class, a very competitive ratio of 8 applica-tions for every spot. Nearly 2,000 applicants were placed on the waiting list; only 285 were later admitted and 105 enrolled.

SAT score range between 1100 and 1300 (out of 1600) on the Critical Reading and Math portions of the test. This range is about the same as it is for Penn State, Rutgers, James Madison and Virginia Tech. Sixty per-cent of accepted students scored over 600 on the Math SAT, forty-eight percent over 600 on the Critical Reading part of the test. Both results are very good for a state university.

Competition

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Delaware does not admit students via an early decision or an early ac-tion plan, though the university uses the Common Application. There is a one-page supplement; those who are interested in the Honors Program must write only one additional essay. Every application gets two reads, says Amy Foley; some are deferred to teams where a senior counselor is a team captain. Applicants are asked to select a major when they ap-ply, although they may also choose University Studies, which means Un-decided.

While SATs are considered ‘important’ for admission, the rigor of the high school transcript and the academic grade point average are ‘very impor-tant’. Delaware, like other leading research universities, expects appli-cants to take their hardest courses during their senior year in high school and continue to perform well. The admissions office also reviews the es-say as well as their recommendations and resume (also required). The office advises against writing about depressing topics on essays as well as an over-abundant number of recommendations beyond those from teachers or guidance counselors.

Any student who is seriously interested in Delaware and believes that they display extraordinary credentials, prowess or talents should apply for the Honors Program. This includes not only honors courses but also honors housing in the Russell Complex, among the nicer residence halls. Students may also apply to the Honors Program in subsequent years, provided that they have at least a 3.4 GPA.

Given Delaware’s location, its main competitors are the flagship universi-ties in the states where the university has the strongest outreach includ-ing Rutgers-New Brunswick, The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), the Uni-versity of Maryland-College Park, Penn State-University Park, Temple, SUNY-Binghamton, SUNY-Stony Brook, the University of Virginia, Univer-

sity of Connecticut, University of Massachusetts, James Madison Univer-sity (VA), Virginia, William and Mary and Virginia Tech.

Applicants to Delaware also consider privately-supported schools in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states including American University (DC), Boston University (MA), Drexel University (PA), George Washington Uni-versity (DC), Northeastern University (MA), Syracuse University and Villa-nova University (PA), among others, as well as Cornell and the Univer-sity of Pennsylvania.

Given the level of competition, students at the top of the applicant pool are aggressively courted. The majority of merit-based aid goes to non-residents. Unlike most schools that send financial aid letters separately from offers of admission, Delaware tries to package them together when-ever possible.

3 Freshman Retention RateGraduation Rates

Completion

Fast Facts

1. Since 2001, UD has maintained excellent freshman retention rates. Most recently, 93 percent of the students who entered in 2010 returned for their sophomore year.

2. More than 60 percent of the freshmen classes that entered UD between 2002 and 2006 graduated within four years. More than two-thirds of the class that entered in 2006 accomplished this feat.

3. Delaware has increased investments in student success as well as in the Honors programs to help boost retention and graduation rates.

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The Path to Graduation

Since 2001, UD has always had very good-to-excellent fresh-man retention rates. In 2001, nearly 89 percent of freshmen re-turned for their sophomore year. By 2010, retention had risen to around 93 percent, an excellent performance for a state univer-sity. According to the university’s Office of Institutional Re-search, a slightly higher percentage of Delaware residents re-turn than non-residents. In 2001, about 90 percent of Delaware-ans returned for their sophomore year versus 88 percent of the out-of-state students. By 2010, these numbers had improved to 94 percent and 92 percent respectively. This is interesting, be-cause Delaware residents were admitted under less stringent standards than non-residents. Also interesting is that 88 percent of African America freshmen and 89 percent of Hispanic fresh-men return as sophomores; this too, is excellent for a state school.

The university has also had excellent graduation rates. More than 61 percent of each class that entered from 2002 through 2006 graduated within four years. Sixty-seven percent of the Class of 2006 graduated on-time, among the ten best rates among public universities. Fifty-eight percent of the Delaware residents finished on time but so did an impressive 72 percent of the non-residents. In addition, 80 percent of the non-

Completion

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residents who entered in 2006 finished in five years, also very impressive.

Retention is fostered around student engagement from the very start. UD’s First Year Experience program includes, to start, a shared Common Reader, a book assigned to the entire class. The readings are supplemented by discussions through the first semester as well as a guest appearance by the author. Stu-dents also take a first-semester seminar, a credit-bearing course with no more than 25 classmates that is taught by a fac-ulty member and supported by an upper-class peer mentor. The university’s 1743 Welcome Days help students become ac-quainted with the campus, student activities and resources.

Within the University Studies program, which concentrates on on students who are undeclared and at risk, advisors work with students on probation to determine an individualized plan of ac-tion that will restore and maintain a 2.0 or higher G.P.A. The pro-gram includes:

" •" Student Success Workshops

" •" Frequent meetings with advisors to assess progress.

" •" Guided self--reflection and personal assessment.

• Access to campus-wide resources such as tutoring, academic workshops, major & career counseling, and career services.The university has also made significant investments

in its honors programs. UD does more to support honors-level students than most schools. While it offers an Honors learning community, as many flagship state schools do, Delaware also has a Russell Fellows program, in effect students who were honors students as freshmen mentor incoming students as jun-iors or seniors. Fellows live in the Russell halls with Honors students just as resident assistants do in other halls to help new Honors students adjust to college life. This may be a ma-jor selling point for UD versus other highly competitive flagship schools where students who are selected for freshmen honors programs typically move away from the residential end of the program after their freshman or sophomore year. The Russell Fellow not only graduates with honors, s/he also helps to fos-ter an “honors culture” that will live on after graduation.

U.S. News Best Colleges for 2013 reported a proprietary Pre-dicted Six-Year Graduation Rate of 73 percent for the freshman class that entered in 2005. The actual graduation rate was 78 percent. The predicted rate is based, in part, on the socio-economic characteristics of the freshman class. Schools that have programs targeted towards assisting students from eco-nomically disadvantaged backgrounds tend to be marked lower than those that do not. The difference, plus-5, between the ac-tual and predicated rates is an indication that academic advis-ing and other student success programs appear to have a posi-tive impact on retention and graduation rates at UD.

4 Tuition and FeesScholarshipsNet PricesDebt

Costs

Fast Facts

1. In-state tuition and mandatory fees for Delawareans are approximately $11,700 for the 2012-13 school year, on the higher side for a state university.

2. Out of state students pay around $28,800, slightly more than they would pay to attend Maryland or Rutgers.

3. Delaware is not one of the more generous institutions when it comes to need-based or merit-based scholarships.

4. Student borrowers, over average, graduated owing over $31,000 in 2011, about the same as they might have owed from attending some more expensive universities.

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Paying for School

In-state tuition and mandatory fees for Delawareans are approximately $11,700 for the 2012-13 school year, on the higher side for a state univer-sity. Out of state students pay around $28,800, slightly more than they would pay to attend Maryland or Rutgers, but about the same as the would pay to attend the liberal arts college within Penn State. However, it is about $6,000 more than out-of-state students would pay to attend James Madison University, one of UD’s main competitors for students.

The university’s Web site mentions that merit-based scholarships are available, though nothing about the qualifications required to receive them. However, it is safe to say that students whose grades and test scores place themselves in the middle of the applicant pool at James Madison, Rutgers or Penn State will find themselves in the same situa-tion at Delaware. If they qualify for aid it is likely to be on need only.

Students whose grades and test scores would place them in the upper half of the pool at more competitive schools such as Maryland, William and Mary and Virginia--this would mean Critical Reading and Math scores over 1350 (out of 1600)--are in a very competitive position to re-ceive merit-based aid from UD. However, the average non-need based scholarship, reported on the College Board’s Big Future Web site, was only around $4,000 in 2011, not terribly generous for a state university. Presuming that a student who ranked in first tenth of their class, had SAT scores of 1300 or higher and a GPA of 3.7 or higher would qualify for at least the average, that student, if s/he were a Delawarean, would be working with a reasonable starting price of just over $8,000, quite fair

Costs

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for a state university. However, the out-of-state student would pay just under $25,000. This is approximately $2,200 more than an out-of-state student would pay to attend James Madison with no scholarship at all. It would also be around $5,000 more than sticker price tuition and fees at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, a school which is aggres-sively targeting students who might be at the top of the Delaware appli-cant pool. And would be about $2,300 less than the same student would pay to attend the University of Maryland-College Park. That student would need a reason outside of costs to choose UD over these other schools.

Fifty-nine percent of financial aid was allocated in the form of student loans or jobs. The average need-based grant was slightly more than $8,200, also on the low side for a state university The average indebted-ness of a Delaware student who took out loans was more than $31,000. This is extremely high, considering that the maximum students may bor-row under the Federal Stafford Loan program is $27,000.

However, UD as in institution is quite committed to diversity. Delaware is one of 194 colleges and universities that participate in the McNair Schol-ars Program. It is designed to prepare undergraduate students for doc-toral studies through involvement in research and other scholarly activi-ties. McNair participants are either first-generation college students with financial need, or members of a group that is traditionally underrepre-sented in graduate education and have demonstrated strong academic potential.

Given the high percentage of out-of-state students, it may be more rele-vant to compare Delaware to private schools than other state universi-ties. Applicants already have the option of attending their home state’s university at a much lower rate than Delaware charges for out-of state

students. However, with privately-supported schools, everyone works from the same sticker price. In addition to including private institutions in

the Mid-Atlantic states, we have also included the University of Vermont, a public university that, like Delaware, takes two-thirds of its students from other states. The student data is taken from Big Future, the parent borrower data comes from the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Parent PLUS loan database.

It is interesting to see that UD was less generous than the University of Vermont, a school that charges $10,000 more in tuition and fees. UD’s endowment, according to the National Association of College and Univer-sity Business Officers, was slightly more than $1.1 billion as of June, 2011. By comparison, the University of Vermont had an endowment of around $360 million. This is important to note because the endowment is a primary source of scholarship monies within the university.

School NameAverage Need-

Based Scholarship

Average Loan-Student Borrower

20ll

Average Loan-Parent Borrower 2011

University of Delaware $8,225 $31,002 $17,335

University of Vermont $16.707 $26,941 $16,128

Georgetown University $29,961 $25,315 $23,525

George Washington University

$28,085 $32,714 $20,984

Syracuse University $24,030 $32,663 $19,340

University of Richmond $34,155 $22,915 $17,649

Villanova University $28,383 $38,055 $22,984

5 On-Campus HousingLocal Housing Market

Comforts

Fast Facts

1. Delaware requires all freshmen to live on campus and guarantees that students will have access to on-campus housing for all four years.

2. However, more than half of the student body elects to live off-campus, usually in their junior and senior years.

3. Practically all students who live off campus live less than two miles from campus. The regional transit agency plans routes around student living patterns.

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Settling In

Delaware requires all freshmen to live on campus and guaran-tees that students will have access to on-campus housing for all four years. However, more than half of the student body elects to live off-campus, usually in their junior and senior years. The university owns apartments in only one complex called Christi-ana Towers; these are open year-round for international stu-dents, athletes and others who must live on campus throughout the course of a year.

Delaware operates 15 residence halls. Dorms on the East and West Campuses are freshman-only, although freshmen may live in housing in one dorm on the Central Campus as well. All West Campus dorms have air conditioning, but not all dorms on the East Campus do. There is also one freshman-only dorm on the North Campus which offers suite-style living. All students liv-ing in suite-style dorms are responsible for cleaning their bath-room. The residence halls are currently close to full capacity. A series of planned renovations will lead to a net gain in the num-ber of beds on campus. Nearly all dorms are Wi-fi enabled.

There are living-learning communities as well as an all-female dorm, Warner Hall, which is located on The Green, that wel-come students from all classes and substance-free housing in

Comforts

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Squire Hall, which is on the Central Campus. Living learning communities, according to the Residence Life Web pages in-clude:

• Eco-house Community • PROUD community • Martin Luther King Jr. Humanities Community • Music Community • Film and Performing Arts Community • Crew Community• Cuisine Community • Healthy Living Community • H. Norman Schwarzkopf Leadership Community • Crafts Community

Each meal plan is a combination of meals and points. The points may be used to purchase food at the student center stores and restaurants. Every student has one free chance to change their plan during the semester. Students have 16 places they can go to get food on their meal plan; they are not limited to campus dining halls, and each dining hall serves different meals at the same time.

All students are allowed to have cars, but freshmen are given the lowest priority for parking passes. However, a car is really

not necessary expect for trips to the supermarket. Anyone who lives near campus can walk to practically anything downtown.

Off-campus rents in Newark range from $300 per person per month to share a house to $550 per person per month to share a luxury townhome. Practically all students who live off campus live less than two miles from campus. The regional transit agency plans routes around student living patterns.

6 CampusEnvironsSchool Spirit

Community

Fast Facts

1. The 750 acre campus is bicycle and pedestrian friendly.

2. UD is one of the best-connected campuses in the country by highway, airports, train and bus transit.

3. There are 50 fraternities and sororities at Delaware, quite high for a mid-sized state school.

4. More than 2,000 Delaware students participate in a musical activity with approximately 350 being in the marching band.

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Life On and Off CampusThe main quad of the Central Campus, one of the university’s main selling features, is the academic center of the university. It is dominated by Georgian-style architecture that has its roots in the late 19th century. The Green, the main quad is well-maintained although smaller sections are chained off from pedestrians, presumably to keep them from walking across the grass. The campus has an abundance of bike racks, though with only 750 acres between residence halls, the downtown and academic buildings, it is quite pedestrian friendly. The university uses an unattractive 70s-style brown-on-brown signage in front of every building, regardless of age; it clashes rather than blends with the buildings.

UD has two student centers. One, Perkins, was also the campus book store until the current academic year. The other, Trabant, has a student-run res-taurant called Vita Nova, an offshoot of the hotel and hospitality manage-ment curriculum. Perkins is closer to the residence halls and academic buildings on the Central Campus and houses the offices of The Review, the campus newspaper as well as the university’s radio and television stations. Trabant is closer to the Morris Library, the largest library on campus as well as the School of Business classrooms, and it is larger multi-purpose rooms and theatre spaces. Trabant is also closer to the newer residence halls, the Dickinson Complex and the Rodney Complex, on the West Campus. Both student centers offer the choices of food one would find on any other col-lege campus, though Trabant, being the newer center, has a greater variety of food stores in the food court. One observation: the interior décor of both buildings is somewhat outdated compared to the student centers at Penn State and Rutgers. (Full disclosure: the author has visited and spent consid-erable time on both of these campuses)

Community

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Incidents of alcohol-related crimes have gone down over the last three years, according to the university’s 2012 Clery Report. In 2009 there were 150 arrests related to liquor law violations; this dropped to 107 two years later. Disciplinary referrals related to alcohol declined, too, from 903 to 839, on the high side for a college community. However, drug-related arrests rose from 38 to 73 while drug-related disciplinary referrals stayed about the same, rising from 107 to 113. There have been only three forcible sex of-fenses in the campus community, low considering the size and location of the school but burglaries went up from eight to 15.

UD has one of the best-connected campuses in the country due not only to its location, but also to its access to mass transit as well as airports. Both Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor Service and SEPTA train lines to Philadelphia stop in Newark. Airports in Baltimore, Wilmington and Philadelphia are less than an hour and a half away. However, the mass transit access also makes it very easy for students to leave campus.

Signage welcoming travelers into downtown Newark calls the commercial center the Great American Main Street. In one case, it’s true. Practically every chain eatery has a restaurant here, although there are plenty of local establishments, too. While Delaware is a much smaller school than Mary-land, Rutgers or Penn State the downtown is as college-oriented as Col-lege Park, New Brunswick or University Park. However, outside of bars, more of the entertainment opportunities are on campus. A recent decision by the university to partner with Barnes and Noble on a downtown book store will only help to increase foot traffic. However, the access roads into downtown Newark can best be described as “urban outskirts,” dominated by lower-priced retail shopping.

There are 50 fraternities and sororities at Delaware, quite high for a mid-sized state school, and fifteen percent of the student body goes Greek. With tighter policing in the downtown—the university and the city have

taken on more shared responsibilities—the fraternities become a more im-portant social center on the weekends than they might be at other schools.

One very popular extracurricular activity is music. According to the admis-sion office’s marketing video, more than 2,000 Delaware students partici-pate in a musical activity with approximately 350 being in the marching band. The Del Tones, an a capella group have performed on Sing-Off, and are one of the best-known groups of their kind in the country.

Athletics at Delaware do not have a high media profile as they do at the flag-ship state schools in neighboring states. However, the quality of play in the leagues where their teams play is very high, with the greatest success com-ing in football. The university competes in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). CAA teams participate in a play-off system in football where the higher seeded team (presuming the stadium has adequate seating) hosts the lower seeded team. Delaware is the only school at this level, called the “playoff-subdivision,” to average more than 20,000 fans per home game at its stadium for the past twelve years. The Fightin’ Blue Hens won their last national championship in 2003 and were runners-up in 2007 and 2010. Only Delaware and Georgia Tech have had three consecutive head coaches inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. And while the Lady Hens have not won a women’s basketball conference title, their team has one of the most prominent athletes on campus, Elena Del Donne, a Delawarean who backed out of a scholarship to U-Conn and decided to stay home. Del Donne was so intent on coming to Delaware that she played volleyball during her freshman year instead of basketball, so that U-Conn would release her from her commitment. In addition to football and women’s basketball success, Delaware has won conference champion-ships in women’s field hockey, women’s volleyball and men’s lacrosse since 2001.

7 AcademicsHonors ProgramsExperiential Learning

Curriculum

Fast Facts

1. Each student must take advantage of at least one “discovery” option before they graduate, including internships, fieldwork programs and service learning.

2. Forty-five percent of Delaware students study abroad at least one during their undergraduate education while nearly 700 participate in research projects with the faculty.

3. Unique to Delaware is a seven-week Winter Session which runs from the beginning of December through the beginning of February.

4. UD has an innovative pre-med/medical school program in partnership with Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University.

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Academic Opportunities and Options

Like most flagship state universities, UD has a set of core requirements, courses that all students must take in order to earn a degree. All stu-dents must complete a semester of English composition as well as these General Education Requirements:

• Creative Arts and Humanities: 9 credits

• History and Cultural Change: 6 credits

• Social and Behavioral Sciences: 6 credits

• Math, Natural Science and Technology: 10 credits

In 2008 the university embarked on a new strategic plan called the Path to Prominence. This included expansion of “discovery learning” opportuni-ties including internships, fieldwork programs and service learning. Each student must take advantage of at least one discovery option before they can graduate. This is a more common practice at small liberal arts schools than a state university with more than 16,000 undergraduates. Forty-five percent of Delaware students study abroad at least one during their undergraduate education while nearly 700 participate in research projects with the faculty. Many academic departments have their own in-ternship programs as well.

Also unique to Delaware is a seven-week Winter Session which runs from the beginning of December through the beginning of February where students may take courses, study abroad or work in service pro-

Curriculum

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jects. This is also a popular time for students to fulfill the discovery re-quirement.

According to a university Fact Book, interest in the business, engineering and health science programs increased by nearly 1,900 students from 2007 through 2011, while the university added just over 1,000 students to its total undergraduate enrollment. Enrollment in the College of Earth, Ocean and Environment rose from just over 150 students to more than 400. But education enrollments have declined from around 1,850 stu-dents in 2007 to over 1,000 in 2011. Arts and Science programs have his-torically attracted more than 6,000 undergraduates. The shift in interest to the benefit of the science and engineering majors may turn out to have a positive impact on the university’s funding picture as well as the academic quality of these programs.

Delaware has a student-faculty ratio of 13 to 1 among only undergradu-ates and 15 to 1 counting graduate students, both low for a university of this size. This is calculated by counting all of the full-time faculty as well as one-third of those who teach part-time. Delaware’s location is attrac-tive to part-time instructors who live and/or work closer to Baltimore, Philadelphia or Wilmington. While Delaware is a smaller university than the flagships in neighboring states, the ratio is slightly lower than it is at Rutgers-New Brunswick (30,000 undergraduates and a student-faculty ratio of 14 to 1) as well as Penn State-University Park (38,000 under-graduates and a student-faculty ratio of 17 to 1) and the University of Maryland-College Park (26,000 undergraduates and student-faculty ratio of 18 to 1).

Students who have chosen Delaware over flagships in neighboring states might have done so because it may appear less intimidating in terms of student body size. Granted the university has a student body

that is significantly smaller than Maryland, Penn State, Rutgers or Vir-ginia Tech. However, according to data the university submitted to the 2013 U.S. News Best Colleges guide, fifteen percent of UD classes have more than 50 students. This compares to 16 percent at Maryland, 15 per-cent at Penn State, 20 percent at Rutgers and 20 percent at Virginia Tech. However, compared to Miami University of Ohio (12 percent), James Madison University (12 percent) and Syracuse (9 percent), three schools with undergraduate student bodies of similar size, Delaware may feel larger.

In addition, while Delaware does not have a medical school, it has an in-novative eight-year pre-med and medical school program in partnership with the Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. The curriculum not only includes the traditional courses in the life/physical sciences but also the opportunity to specialize in one of three areas related to medicine dealing with bioethics, administration and pub-lic policy, or translational research. Like other education partnerships be-tween undergraduate schools and medical schools, this program lays out a direct pathway from college to medical from the freshman year on-ward. However, it does not reduce the time by which a student would complete their bachelor’s degree and their MD degree.

UD students gave their faculty a rating of 3.74 out a possible 5 on RateMyProfessors.com. This rating was higher than students at Rutgers-New Brunswick (3.72), Penn State (3.71), the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (3.70) and gave their faculty but lower than students at James Madison (3.81) rated theirs. When compared with private schools, Delaware students rated their faculty higher than students at Boston University (3.70) but lower than students at Georgetown (3.79) and Villanova (3.85).

8 Alumni RelationsCareer Services

Connections

Fast Facts

1. The University of Delaware has approximately 155,000 living alumni.

2. About 100,000 live in six Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states: Delaware, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

3. The alumni association has 15 official clubs across the country, organized on the East Coast, California and Texas.

4. The university’s career center is very aggressive at forming partnerships with employers as well as hosting events.

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Building a Network

The University of Delaware has approximately 155,000 living alumni. About 100,000 live in six Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states: Delaware, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylva-nia and Virginia.

But unlike state universities that have longer histories as four-year post-secondary institutions, UD has few traditions that have bound students and alumni over generations. Homecoming is still popular, given the success of the football program. Other traditions include the Kissing Arches, located on the Green, once symbolized a divid-ing line between the former men’s and women’s colleges. Suppos-edly a couple who kiss under the arches is destined to marry. Two other traditions are to rub the nose of Judge Morris, for whom the main library is named, for good luck on exams and to flip the vet-eran’s page at Memorial Hall, the dominant and round-topped build-ing on the Green.

The alumni relations office has started a class banner program; the banner designed and finished by freshmen is hung at graduation. Banners for all of the classes are hung in the student center during the school year. Banners were started as a new tradition, in part, because so many students move off campus as upperclassmen; campus-based traditions would have little staying power. However, Alumni Weekends have increased in attendance from 1,900 in 2009 to around 3,000 in 2011.

Connections

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Like most large universities, the vast majority of Delaware gradu-ates received their degree during the 1970s and later, and more are living outside of the East Coast, including more who live outside of the United States. The alumni association has 15 official clubs across the country, organized on the East Coast, California and Texas. Each hosts an event each month; some host sending events for incoming freshmen. The alumni association has also advanced their online community called UDConnection.com , a searchable contact database as well as all alumni news and opportunities to sign up for events. The Messenger, the print alumni magazine, is published four times a year.

Eighty percent of Delaware seniors use the Bank of America Career Services Center, according to Matthew Brink, the university’s direc-tor of career services. The center operates two offices, one on the Central Campus, the other within the business school’s main build-ing. The center has a long list of employer partners as well partner-ships with professional associations; the number expects to grow as the economy improves. As two examples, JP Morgan hired 72 graduates from the 2011 graduating class and Macy’s hired 32 stu-dents for full-time positions and internships.

The career center runs eight career fairs as well as a graduate school fair and a law school fair. Most are not tied to a single set of majors . In addition, the College of Education hosts their own educa-tion fair, most recently providing interview and networking opportuni-ties with over 100 school districts across the country. Altogether, says Brink, 964 employers participated in job fairs and/or conducted on-campus interviews in 2010-11. Over 27,000 employment opportu-

nities were posted and more than 41,000 students and alumni at-tended on-campus events.

While academic departments often manage their own internship or practicum programs—77 percent of the 2010 senior class com-pleted at least one internship beyond the Discovery Learning re-quirements—the career center engages first semester freshmen on a monthly basis. Staff liaisons are assigned to work with students at a given college or a given group of majors. Staff members try to connect freshmen to two or three career-related activities, though student participation is voluntary. Online alumni student assess-ments and a Career Map program are also available; these are done though packages that produce a PDF for the jobseeker and counselor while dialogue takes place using Skype. This fall, the ca-reer center is also launching an updated online Alumni-Student Net-working program, with over 1,000 participating mentors. This is a very good start for a newly-launched networking effort.

9 Summing up

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One can argue that Delaware is like a private university, only the students get a $12,000 discount off the bat. But their indebt-edness is about the same, sometimes higher, when compared against other public and private options.

UD is a very good least-cost option for Delawareans. But the university is also a popular choice for students who do not want to attend the flagship state university in their home state. This is understandable since UD’s undergraduate student body is slightly more than half the size of the undergraduate population at Maryland or Rutgers -New Brunswick and about a third the size of Penn State’s. The admissions standards as not as high as those at Maryland or Penn State, though they are about the same as those for Rutgers-New Brunswick or Virginia Tech. UD also faces tougher competition from schools such as James Madison and the University of Maryland-Baltimore County which have emerging academic reputations while charging far less in tuition and fees.

Delaware is a very good school for a student who would feel in-timidated by a larger state university, but also wants to maxi-mize their opportunities to work in the New York or Philadelphia metro areas or around the Baltimore-Washington Corridor. UD students get to live in a pleasant college town setting near all of these cities, while not paying the high costs to live in any one of them. Highway and mass transit access, and also access to ma-jor airports, is excellent. The campus and the location are UD’s

Conclusions

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strongest selling points for students in any major. The academ-ics are likely to be equal to schools such as American Univer-sity, Boston University or George Washington University. In some cases, especially the sciences and engineering, they are likely to be better. Delaware is more invested in these programs than most private research universities. However, a university with only 16,000 undergraduates and an endowment in excess of $1 billion could consider loosening the spigot on scholarship aid to attract and assist more students.

Ed Quest’s Report Card

University of Delaware

Four-Year/Six-Year

Grad Rates

Freshman Retention

Costs Comforts Community Curriculum Connections

A A B B+ B+ A A

Strengths Weaknesses

Livable, reasonably-priced college town Out-of-state charges are high; cheaper options are out there.

Excellent access to major cities via highways and mass transit

Not a sports school like larger flagship state universities

Reasonable sticker price versus private schools in Philadelphia area and Baltimore-Washington Corridor

Limited scholarship aid for a school with such a large endowment

Half as many undergraduates as flagship state universities in neighboring

states; less intimidating than most big schools

Not a school with many traditions

Excellent career servicesOther “less intimidating” state schools

such as Miami and James Madison are less expensive.

Discovery requirement

Pre-Med/Medical School Program in partnership with Thomas Jefferson

University

Seven-week Winter Session

10 To receive notices about new and updated profiles visit www.EducatedQuest.com

The End