Special Opportunities

Museum

Special Opportunities

The intimate size and innovative spirit of our faculty and students combine to create unique opportunities for student achievement.

The Philadelphia Experience (Philly X) is a unique program that allows Ursinus students to live, study, and work in Philadelphia for a semester. “With Philadelphia as their classroom and their home, faculty and students will work closely together in a manner that empowers the intellect, awakens moral sensitivity and challenges students to improve society,” says President Brock Blomberg. This experience will match the culture of Philadelphia with the academics of Collegeville to create a distinct experience for each student.

Students create their own personal “Experience” in Philadelphia by matching Ursinus classes taught in Philadelphia, with internships, independent study, and diverse courses offered by Drexel University. Each Experience will be unique to each student, creating the perfect supplement to their Collegeville-based education. Philadelphia Experience

Parlee Center for Science and the Common Good

Now more than ever, scientists need to understand the ethical, political, and religious context in which science operates in order to judge which scientific endeavors best advance the common good. Funded by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Ursinus College Center for Science and the Common Good fosters that quality of judgment in its science majors by encouraging them to make the most of the liberal education that Ursinus offers. Visit the Center.

U-Imagine! Center for Integrative and Entrepreneurial Studies

U-Imagine! focuses on entrepreneurship and integration as a way of thinking and acting in various contexts. Students learn to approach problems in novel ways, develop comfort with ambiguity, and apply learning in real contexts. The Center provides valuable resources so that ANY student from ANY major feels welcome to use the Center to develop an idea into a product or service that creates value by meeting a social or market need. Visit the Center.

Melrose Center for Global Civic Engagement

Our newest interdisciplinary center honors the late U.S. Ambassador Joseph H. Melrose, Jr. ’66, professor of politics and international relations. He embodied global citizenship as a humanitarian who served many world communities.

The Melrose Center seeks to develop future global leaders through innovative scholarship and unprecedented learning opportunities. This distinctive program will support a cohort of students as global civic fellows who will engage in service-learning or community-based research in locations around the world. Melrose Fellows will take courses emphasizing social and global issues, public policy, economics and international development and have the opportunity to design and implement projects to enhance a variety of for-profit/non-profit businesses, government or other civic organizations through immersive experiences abroad. Visit the Center

Cooperative Programs

At Ursinus you can take advantage of exciting partnership with several universities that offer students seamless access to advanced degree and professional programs.

Ursinus College has an affiliation agreement with the Villanova University M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing that allows our students to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing after graduating from Ursinus.

Through this partnership, Ursinus students can seamlessly transition to Villanova’s Accelerated BSN Program for College Graduates, a 14-month second degree program that incorporates all of the standard components of Villanova’s nursing program in a concentrated timeframe. Ursinus students must first successfully complete their four-year undergraduate degree at Ursinus; undergraduate prerequisite courses (or equivalencies) mutually agreed upon in advance by Ursinus and Villanova; and admission requirements for the Villanova BSN program before entering the program. Learn More

Arrangements have been made with the engineering school of Columbia University to which a student may apply for transfer after completing three years of prescribed work toward a B.A. at Ursinus College. Ursinus will grant the B.A. or B.S. after the student has satisfied the requirements for that degree, usually on satisfactory completion of the fourth year. The engineering school will grant the engineering degree on satisfactory completion of the fifth year. Learn more.

Ursinus College and St. Joseph’s University have expanded its direct-admission partnership to offer more programs to Ursinus students seeking an advanced degree after graduation.

Under a longstanding agreement, Ursinus students could apply for direct admission to St. Joseph’s University’s Erivan K. Haub School of Business to pursue an MBA or other master’s degree in a variety of disciplines. The expanded program builds upon the agreement and presents Ursinus graduates with second-degree and certificate program opportunities at St. Joseph’s College of Arts and Sciences and School of Health Studies and Education.

The Ursinus students must successfully complete a four-year undergraduate degree at Ursinus, as well as undergraduate prerequisites while meeting admission requirements for St. Joseph’s University. The pact also includes a 10 percent tuition discount for all Ursinus graduates who are accepted to St. Joseph’s.

At St. Joseph’s University’s College of Arts and Sciences, Ursinus students can now pursue master’s degrees in

biology
computer science
criminal justice
cybersecurity
psychology
public policy

and at the School of Health Studies and Education:

applied behavior analysis
clinical mental health counseling
health administration
health education
health informatics

The agreement also includes 27 different graduate certificate programs, including those previously offered at the Haub School of Business. Learn more about St. Joseph’s University Graduate Programs and Certificates

Haub School of Business

In addition to the 10% tuition discount described above, through an agreement with St. Joseph’s Haub School of Business, Ursinus graduates have the opportunity to further reduce the cost and time associated with obtaining advanced business degrees and certifications from an AACSB-accredited business school. As a continuation of a partnership that has spanned more than 30 years, Ursinus seniors and recent graduates are eligible for the following benefits from St. Joseph’s:

Waivers for foundational courses that they have already taken at Ursinus, which can reduce costs of obtaining some degrees and certificates by more than $5,000,
Merit scholarships,
Waivers of the GMAT or GRE admission requirements if they obtained a GPA of 3.20 or higher from Ursinus,
Waiver of the application fee.

For additional information, contact:
Scott Deacle, sdeacle@ursinus.edu
Jacquie Panto, jpanto@sju.edu

Students on a pre-engineering track at Ursinus College now have an opportunity to enroll at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., to earn a dual degree. The 3-2 program allows students to earn a liberal arts degree at Ursinus and an undergraduate engineering degree from Washington University. Learn More

Ursinus College students have a direct path to pursue a graduate degree at University of the Sciences under a new agreement between the two institutions. The affiliation agreement allows Ursinus students to enter one of 12 graduate programs at USciences upon successful completion of their bachelor’s degree.

Under the agreement, Ursinus students could pursue master’s degrees in the following USciences programs: pharmaceutical and healthcare business; biochemistry (thesis or non-thesis); cell biology and biotechnology (thesis or nonthesis); chemistry (thesis or nonthesis), bioinformatics, and occupational therapy. They can pursue doctoral degrees in occupational therapy, pharmacy and physical therapy. Learn More

The Dual Degree Program at CWRU offers majors in Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Engineering Physics, and Systems and Control Engineering. Learn More.

https://simon.rochester.edu/

Ursinus College students are eligible for the following:

Application fee waiver to apply to MBA or MS program
Guaranteed scholarship support if admitted (minimum of $10,000/year)
Priority in the admissions review process

For additional information, please contact:

Rebekah Lewin
Assistant Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid
rebekah.lewin@simon.rochester.edu

Ursinus College has an opportunity for Environmental Studies graduates with Chatham University. Through a preferred entry agreement, Ursinus graduates with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher will receive admission to one of their programs in the Falk School of Sustainability & Environment (MS in Sustainability, MA in Food Studies, Dual degree in Sustainability and MBA), an automatic tuition scholarship of 20% at the least (students remain eligible for other, competitive scholarships), and a bookstore voucher for $50.

For additional information please contact:

Dr. Peter Walker, Dean, Falk School of Sustainability & Environment, pwalker@chatham.edu

Dr. Patrick Hurley, Associate Professor and Chair of Environmental Studies, phurley@ursinus.edu

Service Programs

Ursinus has joined 97 other colleges nationwide designated to offer students a Peace Corps Preparatory program in which they gain an educational component helpful for Peace Corps and international service.

Ursinus is a member of Project Pericles, a national organization of colleges and universities committed to make socially responsible and participatory citizenship an essential part of our educational program - in the classroom, on the campus, and in the community. Project Pericles, named after the Athenian statesman credited with introducing democracy to the ancient world, was conceived in 1999 by Eugene M. Lang to address a national concern: the growing political cynicism and civic disengagement of young people.

The Bonner Leader Program offers students an opportunity to engage in an intensive service experience. Bonner Leaders are required to complete 300 hours of service in the community each school year. Throughout their tenure as Bonner Leaders, students develop by gaining knowledge, experience, skills and values through their service work with local non-profit organizations. Bonners also enroll in a one-credit course each semester. The focus of this class is leadership development, civic skill-building, reflection on service, vocational exploration, and social justice education.

The Bonner Leader Program is a distinctive offering of our College. Approximately 55 colleges and universities participate in the Bonner network. Schools that participate in Bonner have a unique reputation as institutions dedicated to civic engagement and social change.

International Programs

Since 1991, this exchange program has provided Ursinus students with the opportunity to spend the fall semester at sister school Tohoku Gakuin University in Sendai, Japan. Except for Japanese language, all classes are conducted in English. Admission is competitive and the program is open to majors in any field who have completed at least one year of Japanese language study at the college level. Please note that because of our sister school status, both grades and credits for this program transfer. The program is open to majors in any subject, and students earn 15 credits in EAS-399.

Students at Ursinus College and Hong Kong Baptist University may complete a four-year program of study, upon completion of which they will receive bachelor’s degrees from both institutions. In this program, students spend their first three semesters at their home institution, the following four semesters at the partner institution, and the final semester at their home institution. Summer coursework and internships are required to complete the program in four years. Students receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in Applied Economics from Ursinus and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Hong Kong Baptist.

In addition, for Ursinus students who are interested in a lengthy exposure to Hong Kong without the four-semester commitment of the dual-degree program, there is an option to spend one year studying at Hong Kong Baptist University as part of an Ursinus bachelor’s degree program. For more details about both the dual-degree and intensive-study programs, please visit the dual degree program’s website.