ePauw's growing national reputation and top-rate faculty and facilities continue to draw more of America's -- and the world's -- best and brightest students to Greencastle.

To Guidance Counselors

Dear Counselor,

Greetings from DePauw!

We have recently welcomed one of our largest and most geographically and ethnically diverse classes in the University’s 170-year history (689 students moved in August 18 – read more here). I know that many of you have also just opened your doors for another year.  As your students come to you with questions about college, I hope you'll keep DePauw University in mind.

DePauw's increasing national reputation and top-rate faculty and facilities continue to draw more of America's -- and the world's -- best and brightest students to Greencastle for their undergraduate education.   Applications for admission to the University continue to be strong (we received 3700 this year). Applications came from 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 43 countries. Students applied from many high schools around the world. The median unweighted grade point average of those accepted was a  3.64, and they ranked (median) in the 91st percentile of their class.  It is an academically gifted class and the extracurricular achievements of the class of 2011 are noteworthy as well. 

External sources continue to recognize the distinctive programs that DePauw offers its students.  The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) finds that the experiences of students at DePauw are significantly more challenging, stimulating, interactive and dynamic than those provided at peer institutions and the national average of all colleges and universities. The University performs especially well in the areas of level of academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, student-faculty interaction, and offering enriching educational experiences.

“DePauw is a Midwestern match for many more expensive, small, private East Coast Colleges," asserts Barron's Best Buys in College Education. The June issue of Consumers Digest magazine ranked DePauw as the #4 "top value" among America's private liberal arts colleges. America's Best Value Colleges: 2008 Edition, by the Princeton Review, again lists DePauw as one of 165 colleges offering excellent academics, generous financial aid packages and relatively low costs. For a second consecutive year, DePauw's historic East College is pictured on the front cover of the publication. The April edition of Kiplinger's Personal Finance ranks DePauw University among the 50 liberal arts colleges in the United States that represent a "best value."

DePauw University's women's golf program is the best of any NCAA Division III college in the nation for students seeking a "balanced" experience, according to Golf Digest's third annual College Golf Guide. The magazine judges schools in several categories. A "balanced" program is for students who place equal emphasis on school and sport.

DePauw is ranked #4 in the nation in the percentage of full-time undergraduates receiving merit-based financial aid (45%), and #2 in average amount received per student ($12,134), in the Unofficial, Unbiased Guide to the 331 Most Interesting Colleges. The book - published in 2005 by Simon & Schuster and sponsored by the test-preparation company Kaplan, Inc. - also ranks DePauw's fraternity and sorority system as the second strongest in the USA (Washington and Lee University is #1, one percentage point ahead of DePauw). The book's editors write, "DePauw's extensive internship opportunities and attention to marketable knowledge and skills bode well for anyone looking to beat the competition before their careers even begin... The education DePauw offers is specifically designed to hone students' analytical skills, perfect their writing ability, and ensure that they can think and speak effectively". Read more here.

The numbers demonstrate how unusually rich student-faculty interactions are at DePauw. We have 238 full-time professors, the most in the University's history, to teach a student body of 2398. The resulting faculty/student ratio of one to ten ensures that students' academic and personal needs can be met. Our classes are all taught by professors - there are no teaching assistants - and our faculty members are widely published and sought after for quotes by news organizations. On a regular basis DePauw faculty members are quoted in national newspapers such as USA Today and the New York Times and appear on TV programs such as O'Reilly Factor and Hardball.

If you haven't been to the DePauw campus recently, you'd be amazed by the changes. This fall, we will be dedicating two new buildings: the Judson and Joyce Green Center for the Performing Arts, which will offer state-of-the-art space for teaching and performance for the DePauw University School of Music; and the Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics, which will further integrate exploration of ethical issues – historically a tenet of a DePauw education – into classes and programs across the campus. 

The Ethics Institute is located in the DePauw Nature Park, which covers 520-acres and is within walking distance of our buildings (it’s less than a mile west of the main campus). It features trails for walking, jogging, hiking and biking; arboretums; a canoe launch; and outdoor classrooms, a welcome center, lab building, and a reflection center, which is under construction. Read more here.  As our president, Dr. Robert G. Bottoms, noted at the park's dedication, "It's a wonderful asset to the University for teaching and for recreation."

More than $80 million has been spent in the past few years on new and improved buildings. In addition to the aforementioned Green Center and Prindle Institute, a renovation of DePauw's original Carnegie Library has created the William Weston Clarke Emison Museum of Art, a "teaching museum" (read more here). Rector Village -- seven brick, suite-style residence halls with single occupancy rooms, and common living and kitchen spaces – has been a huge hit with our students since the units opened in 2004. We’ve also listened to students’ desire for accommodations that are more like apartments than old-fashioned dormitories and built a number of duplexes around campus, which have also received rave reviews from our undergraduates.

Other recent improvements to our campus include a renovation and expansion of the Julian Science and Mathematics Center, which has transformed the building into a state-of-the art facility for teaching, learning and technology. The new Julian Center serves as a home base for DePauw's technology initiative, 361°, which is providing students with high-tech skills to complement the traditional critical thinking, speaking and writing skills that DePauw has offered its students for generations. The new Peeler Art Center is a technology-enhanced building dedicated to the teaching and exhibition of art. And DePauw's $11 million James A. Hollensteiner Indoor Track was cited by the United States Tennis Association as one of the outstanding public tennis facilities. Students who have visited campus have told me that the track and tennis building is as impressive as anything they've seen at larger state universities that have Division I athletic programs. While DePauw is a small school, our loyal alumni have created an endowment that provides big opportunities for our students.

The success of our alumni speaks to the value of a DePauw degree. The University is 8th among the nation's liberal arts colleges as an undergraduate source of business leaders, 11th among all colleges and universities as a source of Fortune 500 CEOs, and 25th among the nation's undergraduate colleges as a baccalaureate source for Ph.D. degrees in all fields. DePauw alumni include civil rights leader and presidential adviser Vernon Jordan '57; best-selling author Barbara Kingsolver '77; former US Congressman and co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, Lee Hamilton '52; former US vice president Dan Quayle '69; Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist James B. Stewart '73; retired ABC News Correspondent John McWethy '69, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency Karen Koning AbuZayd '63; Angie Hicks ’95, co-founder of Angie’s List; Richard Peck ’57, the acclaimed author of books for young adults; and Jim Alling ’83, president of Starbucks International.

When students come to Greencastle, they're exposed to the world. DePauw University is among the top ten colleges and universities in the United States for sending students to study abroad, according to Open Doors, the annual report on international education published by the Institute of International Education. Most students also complete more than one internship while on campus. A study published in the Chronicle of Higher Education ranks DePauw third among America's liberal arts colleges in the number of students who study off-campus. Our Winter Term, which takes place in January between semesters, allows students to investigate learning in non-traditional ways. Students may choose between internships, off-campus study tours with faculty, service trips, research, independent study, on-campus classes and projects at other universities. The Christian Science Monitor wrote that DePauw's Winter Term opportunities "offer lasting lessons" to students. Read more here.

The world also comes to Greencastle. In the past two years, our Ubben Lecture Series has brought such notable individuals as Mikhail Gorbachev, Mitch Albom and E.O. Wilson to campus. Previous Ubben Lecturers include Paul Bremer, Peyton Manning, Margaret Thatcher, Shimon Peres, John Major, Sam Donaldson, Eric Schlosser, Barbara Bush, Benazhir Bhutto, Spike Lee, ice cream entrepreneurs Ben & Jerry, Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski and General Colin Powell.

When they're not attending lectures or classes, studying or socializing, three quarters of DePauw students are involved in service to the community. In May, the student-led Putnam County Relay for Life raised $218,000 for the American Cancer Society, continuing a tradition that earned the event the National Heart of Relay Award as the best college or university Relay in the USA. Eight out of ten DePauw students play intramural sports. There is a lot to do at DePauw, and our students are very active in the academic and social life of the university.

DePauw had a lot to celebrate this spring, as our women’s basketball team won the NCAA Division III championship.  Liz Bondi, a May graduate, won the Honda Award as the Division III Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.  And DePauw won the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference's "President's Trophy" for a second consecutive year.

69% of DePauw’s students opt to join fraternities or sororities, and the University continues to work with Greek organizations, and the community as a whole, to address an issue that affects life on this campus and every college across America: alcohol abuse and related at-risk behaviors. On March 4, 2003, President Robert G. Bottoms began what he called "a series of conversations" with students, faculty and staff members, and stated his determination to develop a long-term effort to change the ethos of the campus community. The Coalition for a Responsible Community developed a community covenant; working to develop a set of expectations defining the relationship between the University and the Greek community; and examining ways to support leadership among all student groups on campus. More recently, new housing standards for all living units at DePauw -- both Greek and University-owned -- were approved by the University’s Board of Trustees. Subject to Internal Revenue Service approval, members also voted to initiate a voluntary program through which the University will invest up to $6 million to help qualifying living units comply with the new regulations.  Learn more about the initiatives here http://www.depauw.edu/univ/greekfacts/

Thank you for visiting our site. We welcome you to look around, and ask questions. I can be reached at (765) 658-4108 or contact me through our web address admission@depauw.edu. In a place with a number of rich traditions, I can say confidently that today more than ever, uncommon success begins at DePauw University.

Sincerely,

Stefanie Niles
Vice President for Admission and Financial Aid