History and Mission
Chartered in 1783 (the first college chartered in the newly recognized United States), Dickinson is a highly selective, private liberal-arts college known for its innovative curriculum. Founded by Benjamin Rush and named for John Dickinson, the college offers students a useful education in the arts and sciences that will prepare them for lives as engaged citizens and leaders.
Degrees Granted
Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science
Campus, Facilities and Services
180-acre campus; 61 separate general and special-interest housing facilities; three LEED gold-certified buildings; dining options include gluten-free, kosher, organic, vegan, vegetarian, and local fruit and fresh vegetables from the certified-organic College Farm.
Enrollment
2,341 full-time students representing 41 states and territories and 48 foreign countries; 14 percent students of color and 7 percent international.
Academic Features
42 majors plus minors and certificate cate programs, self-developed majors, independent research, internships and Army ROTC.
Faculty
253 faculty members, 93 percent of whom hold Ph.D.s or the highest degree in their field.
Student-Faculty Ratio
10:1
Average Class Size
17
Extracurriculars
More than 100 student-run clubs, including music and drama, publications, fraternities and sororities and religious, political, special-interest and community-service organizations.
Athletics
Member of the Centennial Conference (NCAA Division III); 11 men's and 12 women's varsity sports, plus club and intramural sports. Men's and women's squash coming in 2014-15. To date, 173 student-athletes have been named All-American.
Sustainability
Dickinson is recognized as a leader among educational institutions committed to environmental, political and economic sustainability and green initiatives. The Center for Sustainability Education provides assistance as Dickinson integrates sustainability into its academics, facilities, operations and campus culture. Dickinson has received the highest awards from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, Sierra Club, Sustainable Endowments Institute, Princeton Review and Second Nature.
Global Education
Dickinson offers one of the most respected off-campus study programs, and more than half of students study in more than 40 programs on six continents in 24 countries. Dickinson also is one of the nation’s top institutions for foreign-language study with 13 languages offered.
Recent Initiatives
Sharing its Carlisle location with other educational institutions, Dickinson has partnerships with the U.S. Army War College and Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute and the world-renowned Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.
Admission
Applicants are expected to have pursued a college-preparatory course of study, including substantial sequences in math, foreign languages and the physical sciences. SAT and ACT scores are optional, but may prove helpful. Interviews and campus visits are strongly recommended.
Tuition and Financial Aid
2012-13 tuition is $44,101. Room and board is $11,178 and a $450 student-activities fee is required. Dickinson awarded almost $38 million in grants in the 2011-12 academic year, and 63 percent of students received merit or need-based aid. Dickinson offers scholarships not based on need to about 12 percent of its entering class.
Awards
Prestigious awards for postgraduate study include Fulbright, Udall, Goldwater, George J. Mitchell, Rotary Ambassadorial, Kathryn Wasserman Davis Projects for Peace and the Carnegie Junior Fellowship. Dickinson is a leading producer of Fulbright scholars.
Postgraduate Plans
95 percent of Dickinsonians are either employed or accepted into a graduate program five years after graduation. Graduate school acceptance rates are strong: 80 percent for law school and 88 percent (of those recommended) for medical school. Recent alumni have been admitted to prestigious graduate and professional schools at universities such as Boston, Columbia, Duke, Emory, George Washington, Georgetown, Harvard, New York, Northwestern, Princeton, Stanford and Yale as well as Boston and Dartmouth colleges and the University of California-Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania and University of Virginia.
Prominent Alumni
U.S. president, Supreme Court justice, second secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, retired chairman and CEO of Wyeth, first editor of USA Today and chairman and CEO of Gannett Co. Inc., chief executive of wealth and investment management & executive chairman of Barclay’s Americas, assistant general manager of the New York Jets, agents for professional athletes, Tony and Jeff award winners, Lemelson-MIT Prize winner, several U.S. representatives and other elected officials, award-winning poets, novelists and photographers, three elected members of the National Academy of Sciences, member of Time magazine’s 2006 list of 100 most influential people and several college presidents.