Rockford College

Statistics

School Says - General Information
Rockford College is a four-year, independent, coeducational institution founded in 1847. With over 70 majors, minors and concentrations to choose from, a return-to-college adult accelerated bachelor's degree completion program, as well as master's programs in business and teaching, we're bound to have the program you are looking for coupled with attentive professors and small classes. The college is one of only 11 colleges in Illinois and 280 in the country with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, the oldest and most prestigious academic honor society. Rockford College has also been named a Best in the Midwest college seven years running, and a College with a Conscience by Princeton Review. Located on Rockford's eastside, the College has a beautiful 130-acre wooded campus.

Like everything else about Rockford College, our academic programs are "hands-on" - faculty members are accessible and often include students in their research studies. With fewer than 20 students per class, you'll have significant one-on-one contact with your professors; in fact, our professors have been known to rearrange entire days just to work individually with a student.

Students at Rockford College don't hesitate to volunteer their time and talents. They teach adults to read, spend spring break building homes for underprivileged families, volunteer in soup kitchens, protest funding cuts, encourage community members to vote in elections, plant trees during Arbor Day, collect canned goods for the homeless, and so much more.

Whether it be in a classroom, on an athletic team, in our theater, as a volunteer for a community service project, or through experiences studying abroad, your time at Rockford College will change your world. Think. Act. Change your world.

School Says - Student Body
Rockford College offers plenty of opportunities to get involved inside and outside of the campus community. Make your voice heard in student government, prepare a dish for the International Food Fair, build houses for Habitat for Humanity, or display your leadership skills in more than a dozen academic clubs and organizations. The opportunity is there to be as active as you want to be!

Be sure to check out the Jane Addams Center for Civic Engagement. The Center is a one-stop-shop for information on volunteer and service-related activities.

What about athletics? Rockford is a Division III college, and we compete regionally and nationally with three goals in mind: to play well, achieve academically and serve others. It is not uncommon for our athletes to receive academic honors, and many participate in Athletes Civically Engaged.

School Says - Academics
Rockford College's unique combination of liberal arts courses and practical, hands-on education provides students with the tools to not only know how to do a job, but to change, grow and succeed in a changing world.

The liberal arts curriculum requires both broad-based learning and concentration in a major area. To graduate, students must complete a minimum of 124 credit hours. Rockford College operates on a two-semester calendar and also offers summer courses. The college admits academically strong students to its Honors Program in Liberal Arts, whose extensive core curriculum and thorough distribution requirements place particular emphasis on the humanities. Students must apply separately for admission to the Honors Program. All students may participate in the Forum Series, which focuses on great ideas, significant scholars and influential artists. Rockford hosts a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa as well as other scholastic honor societies.

School Says - Admissions
The Office of Admission considers each application individually with the goal of assessing candidates' potential for academic success at the college. The school looks primarily at an applicant's record of academic and personal achievement, including class rank, GPA, quality of high school curriculum and standardized test scores (ACT or SAT I). Applicants must demonstrate at least a 2.65 high school GPA, placement in the top half of their class and minimum standardized test scores of 19 for the ACT (with no subscore below 17) or a combined 910 on the SAT I. All application files must include official transcripts and standardized test score reports. Students may submit applications any time after the completion of their junior year in high school. Transfer students are assessed based on their college coursework (once they have completed at least 12 hours of college-level study) and must provide transcripts from all colleges and universities they have attended. Transfer students must show a minimum college GPA of 2.3.

An international admissions representative handles all applications from international students. Applicants must earn a minimum TOEFL score of 550 written or 213 on the computer based test.

Rockford College admits applicants on a rolling basis; however, there is a fall application deadline of August 15.

To receive additional information, please contact:
Office of Admission
Blanche Walker Burpee Center
Rockford College
5050 East State Street
Rockford, IL 61108-2393
Telephone: 815-226-4050 or 800-892-2984 (toll free in the U.S. and Canada)
Fax: 815-226-2822
E-mail: RCAdmissions@rockford.edu
Website: www.rockford.edu

School Says - Campus Life
Rockford is a metro area of 375,000 people and scores of restaurants, theatres, clubs, coffeehouses, museums, gardens and galleries. Rockford also has pro sports: hockey, soccer, minor league baseball and football, and so many fairways that Golf Digest calls this the country's best mid-sized city for golf.

We're just 90 minutes away from Chicago, Madison and Milwaukee. That means triple the job, internship and entertainment opportunities.

School Says - Cost Aid
Tuition for the 2010-2011 academic year is $24,750. Room and board is $6950. Students should expect to spend about $1200 per year on books and about $3,000 on additional expenses (transportation, discretionary spending, and other expenses).Rockford College awards financial aid on the basis of financial need and academic achievement.

Students must enroll for a minimum of 6 credit hours per semester to be eligible for aid. Rockford uses the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to determine need and to award need-based aid, which includes college grants and loans and state and federal aid programs. Students are encouraged to submit aid applications by March 1. Students remain eligible for Rockford aid when they study at Regent's College in London.

Rockford College offers several scholarships to incoming students. The Presidential Scholarship reaches up to $20,000 and is awarded each fall to new first-year and new transfer students who attend full time. The qualifications for this scholarship are, for first-year students: ACT of 27/SAT equivalent or higher and a 3.5 GPA or higher. Transfer students must have a 3.5 or higher college GPA and completed 30 or more college credits. Presidential Scholars must live on campus and participate in campus life. The deadline to apply for the Presidential Scholarship is January 31. The Trustee Scholarship ranges up to $15,000 and is awarded each fall to new first-year and new transfer students who attend full time. The qualifications for this scholarship are, for first-year students: ACT of 25/SAT equivalent or higher and a 3.35 GPA. Transfer students must have a 3.35 or higher college GPA and completed 12 or more college credits. Trustee Scholars must participate in campus life. The deadline to apply for the Trustee Scholarship is January 31. The Dean's, Regent's and Merit awards reach up to $10,000 and are awarded to all new full-time students based upon academic achievement.

Students Say - Academics
""In high school we were fed information and expected to memorize it," explains a freshman. "At Rockford College we discuss things that are important to us and the community and learn about it. The students are the teachers too." The Rockford brand of collaborative learning reflects a liberal arts approach to education that students describe as "fun, exciting, [and] interesting." Located along the northern fringe of Illinois, Rockford boasts a corps of professors who "will all know you by name and treat you like they have known you forever." In fact, many of them "even go as far as to give out their cell phone numbers, home phone numbers, and personal e-mail addresses." Rockford's undergrads tell us that their professors are not only "brilliant, dedicated, engaging, and very accessible," but they're also determined to provide students with "practical experience" that will give them a leg up when they hit the working world. Undergrads are also encouraged to "give back to the community" and "make a difference." As an elementary education major says, "Rockford College not only promotes learning and education, it also promotes humanity, honesty, and a lifelong passion to help others.""

Students Say - Campus Life
""I look forward to getting up every day and going to classes," exclaims a freshman---and she's not alone. The majority of Rockford students report that they "really enjoy" their classes. Outside of the classroom, "This is a school that is huge on community," a senior reminds us. "They do a lot of things to raise funds for a charity or go out into the community. They just had a group go into the Charles Street area to help with clean up from the freak flood [of Labor Day 2006]. Also, they have campus get-togethers with bands or cook-offs." Student organizations accommodate "a large variety of interests," and though the school isn't "your typical party college," that isn't to say that there isn't "a party scene on campus." "

Students Say - Student Body
"The salad bowl at Rockford College includes a healthy mix of students "right out of high school" and "returning students who have decided that a career change was in order." This often means "some are 18, some are 52," and "You can see all walks of life learning together and from each other." The student body is also given texture by "students from far away, all ethnicities and races, and different financial backgrounds." But above all, they're "motivated, intelligent, and socially conscious." Not to mention "friendly," "easygoing," and accepting of everyone. "Everyone is different in their own ways. Everyone is at Rockford College for a reason, which is to reach their goal.""

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