Learning for life
Wheaton College provides an excellent liberal arts education in a residential, coeducational community, enabling students to develop the knowledge and skills to define and reach their academic, professional and personal goals.
As members of a vigorous educational community, Wheaton's students are committed to the highest standards of scholarship in all areas of the arts, humanities, sciences and social sciences. And as intellectual activists, they are encouraged to pursue learning in and beyond the classroom. Whether it be at our Boston-area campus or in another part of the world, students seek links among their academic explorations and the real-world settings of workplace and community.
Wheaton's high-quality education begins in the classroom, where collaborations with professors challenge and transform students into lifelong learners, equipped with the skills to participate in shaping the multicultural world of which they are a part. Wheaton teaches women and men to live and work as equal partners by linking learning, work and service in a community that values equally the contributions of men and women.
The college, in turn, takes students seriously as important contributors to its intellectual life. The Wheaton Foundation fosters student scholarship through grants for independent research. Other funds support collaborative faculty-student research projects and field-based learning experiences, which may lead to academic credit. Wheaton students may enroll in university courses thanks to a cross-registration program with Brown University and other regional institutions.
The Wheaton Curriculum encourages students to explore their interests fully through connected courses that examine related topics from multiple perspectives. This innovative educational program combines the breadth of the liberal arts with the opportunity to develop a fully dimensional view of the world.
The emphasis on forging connections in learning goes beyond the classroom to include internships, research fellowships and field experiences. With the support of the Filene Center for Work and Learning, students undertake outside-the-classroom learning experiences such as an internship, volunteer activity, work-study job or campus leadership position. This initiative is unique in higher education and builds on more than a decade of pioneering efforts to link work and learning.
Being a responsible citizen of a world made smaller by technology and scarce resources means learning to appreciate differences among people of other countries, within the U.S., and even on the college campus. To increase students' awareness of perspectives beyond their own, Wheaton has made the study of cultural diversity and the non-Western world an integral part of its curriculum, through courses and experiential learning opportunities in the U.S. and abroad. With leadership from the Center for Global Education, the college's study abroad offerings now include more than 33 programs in 20 countries. Students also participate in internship programs in London, Paris, Moscow, Haifa and Sydney, and in summer fellowships at a language camp in Istanbul, Turkey. Likewise, special opportunities exist for faculty to expand their overseas experience; many have gained new insights through work and study in countries such as Egypt, Israel, Korea, Thailand and the Seychelles. This commitment to multiculturalism is also reflected on campus, as the Wheaton community respects and values the diversity of each of its members.
Inside the classroom, Wheaton professors work to create a learning environment that promotes discussion and collaboration--an environment that empowers and enriches every student. This approach is reflected in the composition of Wheaton's faculty, whose equal numbers of men and women make this college unique among coeducational schools. Many of these professors were pioneers in creating the college's gender-balanced curriculum, in which courses include the scholarship and achievements of both sexes. Wheaton classrooms themselves have become important settings in which to explore how the learning styles, expectations and aspirations of men and women may differ. A faculty-student ratio of 11:1 and discussion classes numbering from 8 to 18 students further encourage intellectual discourse among professors and students.
Learning for life, serving a diverse community, aspiring to academic excellence and personal fulfillment: Wheaton values these commitments as it prepares the next generation to contribute to a complex and rapidly changing world. While characteristic of the contemporary Wheaton, these traits are rooted in the college's founding, in 1834, as one of the earliest models of higher education for women. It is this blend of tradition and innovation that has distinguished Wheaton for more than 165 years, and continues to guide the college in its mission.