Centre News

The Washington Post recently listed Centre as one of the top five
institutions in the country for average study time. Writer
Daniel de Vise praised Centre first-years for studying an
average of 20.5 hours a week.

Centre students recently made headlines simply for doing what they do best—and more of than most other college students: studying.

In both an article and a post on his College, Inc., blog, Washington Post writer Daniel de Vise praised Centre as one of the top five institutions for average study time among students. Through the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), given to first-years and seniors across the country, students at Centre and other colleges and universities self-reported on how much time they spend studying per week. At each of the five institutions ranked highest for study time, students reported an average of at least 18 hours spent studying per week—significantly more time than the national average of 15 hours a week.

Other schools included in the list were the University of Wisconsin, Sweet Briar College, Washington and Lee University and Kenyon College.

In his blog post, de Vise applauded Centre as a place of “small classes and a tradition of passing the ‘torch of knowledge’.” He reported, “The Kentucky campus has the highest average for freshman study time (20.5 weekly hours) of any school I found.”

De Vise spoke to Natalie Pope ’13 about her usual daily schedule at Centre, and was impressed that she—like many Centre students—makes time to study but also to participate in numerous campus activities.

“‘I usually get up around 5:30 or 6 and spend an hour doing personal writing,’ said Pope, a junior from Louisville. Then breakfast, library and the gym,” the blog post read. “She’s also president of an interfaith organization, and leader of an Arabic language club, and she’s involved in student government, a member of a sorority, and an oboist in the college orchestra. Those things, Pope said, occupy her afternoons. Then, homework from 9 p.m. until the wee hours.”

In both the Washington Post article and the blog post, de Vise singled Centre out for its emphasis on the importance of scholarship.

“Centre College has a campus culture of intense study,” he wrote.

To read the article on the Washington Post website, click here. To read DeVise’s College, Inc., blog post, click here.

Have comments, suggestions, or story ideas? E-mail elizabeth.trollinger@centre.edu with your feedback.

Centre College, founded in 1819 and chosen to host its second Vice Presidential Debate in 2012, is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges, at 42nd in the nation, and ranks 27th for best value among national liberal arts colleges. Forbes magazine ranks Centre 34th among all the nation’s colleges and universities and has named Centre in the top five among all institutions of higher education in the South for three years in a row. Centre is also ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News for its study abroad program. For more, click here.