DePauw has considerably different academic expectations from those of high school and it is important that students adjust to these new expectations early in their college careers.

1. College is not the end of the educational process but a foundation for a lifetime of continued learning and growth. Therefore, one of the central goals of college is to help students develop a sense of responsibility for their own learning and the ability to learn on their own.
2. Accordingly, college students spend much less time in class than they did in high school but are correspondingly expected to do much more work outside class than they did in high school.
3. Students should expect to spend between forty and fifty hours a week (or more) on their academics, the equivalent of a full-time job.
4. Students are responsible for learning a great deal of the material on their own outside of the classroom.
5. Students should expect that course material will be covered at a much more rapid pace than they have experienced before. This expectation is partially based on the assumption that students are preparing carefully for class so that more material can be covered in class.
6. Students are expected to come to class prepared and ready to participate actively in the class session. They are expected to have read the texts and used other required materials carefully and comprehensively before the class session.

(adopted by the Faculty April 1997; revised February 2004)