Wesleyan University
Get to know Wesleyan University
School Profile
Suburban campus setting
3,066 undergraduate students
205 graduate students
793 first-year students
13% first-generation students
13% lived in 64 countries outside the U.S.
Admissions
Most recent class profile
Academics
48 majors, 31 minors, and 2 certificate programs
Open-curriculum
Student-to-faculty ratio 7:1
Average class size is 15
Introduction to Wesleyan University
Wesleyan is located in a small New England city of 50,000, and is a diverse, dynamic liberal arts and sciences community where critical thinking and practical idealism go hand in hand. Students benefit from an open curriculum with no core required courses and significant flexibility to customize their academic experiences, with over 1,000 courses, 48 majors, 31 minors, and 2 certificate programs. Wesleyan’s unique housing system fosters increasing independence as students move from dormitories to on-campus apartments and houses over their time at Wesleyan.
Rigorous academic work is tied to real-world issues through a variety of programs, such as the Center for Prison Education and the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship. Wesleyan Math & Science Scholars (WesMaSS) is a highly selective academic program designed to support students from traditionally underrepresented groups pursuing study in mathematics and the natural sciences.
Professors teach every class at Wesleyan while conducting research in their respective fields. This creates many opportunities for undergraduates to engage in faculty research projects. Annually, Wesleyan receives more federal funding for science research than any other small college or university. Wesleyan also offers a BA/MA program in the natural sciences, mathematics, and psychology, through which students may earn a Master’s degree in the two semesters after earning their BA, tuition free.
Campus life is student-driven and vibrant, with more than 300 annual arts events and 275 student-led clubs and organizations, including publications, performance groups in the arts, social justice groups, and identity-based organizations. Wesleyan’s 30 varsity athletic teams compete in the NESCAC conference in NCAA Division III, and many students participate in club and intramural sports.
The Gordon Career Center offers a full array of services to current students and alumni for internships, summer employment and opportunities, and post-Wesleyan employment. Wesleyan students gain access to top graduate programs and experience incredible rates of admission to medical and law schools, with more than 80% admitted to a top choice program annually.
Wesleyan alumni go on to careers in every area of industry, technology, government, business, education, entertainment, politics, and non-profit work. They include Nobel Prize recipients, MacArthur “Genius” Grant winners, Fulbright scholars, Super Bowl champions, Academy Award winners, groundbreaking scientists, innovative entrepreneurs, political trailblazers, and more.
Wesleyan recently launched a new College of Design and Engineering Studies (CoDES), and participates in Dual Degree Programs in engineering through which students earn both a B.A. from Wesleyan and a B.S. in engineering from Columbia, Dartmouth, or Caltech.
Wesleyan maintains an ongoing commitment to fostering diversity and welcoming and supporting low-income students throughout the entirety of their undergraduate career, offering access to the Resource Center, WesMaSS (supporting students with identities historically underrepresented in science and math), FirstThings First (offering first-generation low-income students community and guidance throughout their Wesleyan journey), the Office of Equity and Inclusion, and other resources.
