Centre News

With remarkable new grants, new and improved facilities (such
as Crounse Hall, renovated in 2005) and more, Centre College's
value is continually improving.

Centre has long been recognized for its excellent academics. The
Centre College Class of 2013 is both the most diverse and most
academically talented in Centre history.

Enjoying the benefits of Centre's extraordinary study abroad
programs, students like Michael Henry '09 are able to travel
around the world and visit sites such as the Great Wall of China.

Centre College is widely recognized as a “best value college.” From Consumers Digest to U.S. News & World Report to Forbes magazine to The Princeton Review, national publications consistently list the College among the country’s best educational buys.

And Centre’s value is continually improving. With new grants to expand the curriculum and study abroad offerings, remarkable new facilities and the most diverse and academically talented first-year class in the College’s history, Centre is now a better educational bang for the buck than ever.

The most academically talented study body in Centre history

The academic makeup of Centre students continues to improve. Last fall, the 333 members of the class of 2013 arrived on campus as the most diverse in Centre history, as well as the most academically talented.

Fifty-nine percent of these students were in the top 10 percent of their graduating high school class, and the average ACT score for the class was 28.6, the highest in Centre history.

Thirteen full-time international students are among the 333 students in this year's freshman class. These 13, along with the class's 41 minority students, make up 16 percent of the Class of 2013—making it the most diverse freshman class in the College's history.

An increasingly remarkable study abroad program

Last fall, the College received two extraordinary grants to further its global citizenship initiatives, a key goal in Centre’s strategic plan.

In October, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation gave Centre a $452,000 grant, which will be used to establish a Mellon Global Fellows program. Centre also received a $250,000 grant from The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations in October to advance the goal of educating students for global citizenship.

“The resources from the Mellon Foundation will have a broad impact on our campus—both in terms of the curricular development and in providing more opportunities for our faculty members to engage in interdisciplinary study and dialogue,” says Dr. Stephanie Fabritius, vice president for academic affairs, dean of the College and professor of biology.

The Mellon Global Fellows program is a three-year initiative that will establish five faculty “learning circles,” whose goal will be to create successful academic minors in areas related to global citizenship.

These minors may include any five from among the options of African studies, Asian studies, global commerce, global development and sustainability, global public health, Latin American studies and Middle Eastern studies.

The grant from The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations will allow Centre to hire a postdoctoral fellow to teach Mandarin, provide students with grants to pursue study and internships in Asia, provide faculty members with development grants to encourage globalization and provide administrative support for the director of the College's Center for Global Citizenship.

Other improvements to Centre’s study abroad program include an expanded Early Summer Abroad Program. The new additions include the Early Summer Merida Program in Merida, Mexico (summer 2010) and a study abroad course in Israel, where students will help excavate Cana of Galilee with Centre religion professor Dr. Tom McCollough (summer 2011).

For several years, Centre’s study abroad program has been recognized as one of the top programs in the country, and the list of full-term study abroad options has recently been expanded. In 2008, the Centre-in-China program debuted and has become a very popular study abroad location. Centre-in-Japan, another recent addition to the College’s program, has also continued to gain popularity.

Centre’s campus transformation

Centre’s campus itself continues to improve as well.

Last October, the 50,000 square foot Campus Center opened its doors. The facility is home to the new Cowan, a grille/snack bar, the Student Life Office, conference rooms, a game room (complete with flat-screen, high-definition televisions, Wii systems, pool and ping-pong tables and more), socializing spaces, fireplaces and much more.

Other construction projects completed last fall include the renovation and refurbishment of the College’s Norton Center for the Arts; the installation of Tiger Turf in Farris Stadium, home of Centre’s football team; the installation of a new red polyethylene track, pole vault, long jump pit, triple jump pit and javelin pads for track and field events.

Scheduled to open later this year, Young Hall is currently being expanded and renovated. A two-story addition will add 40,000 square feet to the facility, which will house the psychology, psychobiology, biology and biochemistry and molecular biology programs, as well as the synthetic (organic and inorganic) chemists.

The best way to discover the value of Centre, of course, is to visit. For more information about scheduling tours, overnight stays, interviews and more, click here.