Our core curriculum is interdisciplinary and courses are designed to provide students an essential foundation in the liberal arts and sciences. Students are encouraged to tailor their education to specific interests, and are assigned an academic advisor to help them shape schedules to meet their needs and individual requirements. Freshman seminars put students side-by-side with professors from the first days of their arrival. Exciting out-of-class opportunities push back the classroom walls to include community projects, arts and history expeditions, and small group salons.
"When students say that their 'professors tend to rival gods' and think they're 'like manna from heaven—smart, sweet, sharp, challenging,' one might suspect exaggeration," reported the Princeton Review's Best 357 Colleges edition in its review of Seattle University. "But students here will tell you that their high opinions of the professors are right on the money."
This quote illustrates the success of Seattle University's focus on individual attention. Classes are small, typically no more than 25 students, allowing faculty to really get to know you and answer your questions. Students and professors work on projects and conduct research together—a distinctive team approach to learning that is central to instruction at Seattle University. Teamwork also lets students get to know each other, exchange ideas, and actively participate in a hands-on approach to learning that often leads to students having their research published before graduation.
Princeton Review's Best 357 Colleges edition gave Seattle University high marks for professor accessibility and personal attention. Our mentor programs are one reason why. A mentor is someone with whom you can talk, a trusted counselor who spends time with you, listens, answers your questions and shares their knowledge and experience. Students find that our mentors give their time generously and share useful information about college studies and career planning.
The Albers School of Business and Economics, College of Arts and Sciences, and College of Science and Engineering's Project Center match students with professional or faculty mentors in their field of study. One program assigns teams of senior science and engineering students to year-long research projects with professionals from leading science and engineering companies. These sophisticated design and science projects provide hands-on experience solving real-world problems while making important contacts in the field. Students across all disciplines can also work with faculty mentors by joining the Undergraduate Students Research Association.
Opportunities to collaborate on faculty research add another important element to your Seattle University education. Completing research as an undergraduate provides invaluable experience in your chosen academic field and makes for an impressive addition to your résumé. Plus, it's fun.
Students involved in research come to appreciate how knowledge is created. History majors learn to prove theories with research and think like historians. Business majors generate their own ideas for business ventures and witness firsthand how corporations reach pivotal marketing decisions. Students planning nursing careers experience the real-life challenges and rewards of daily service to others.
Seattle University also participates at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, where students from all over the nation present original research. Students may also present research at Seattle University's annual scholarship celebration. This event offers students a confidence-building experience, whether they're headed for graduate school, the business world, or anywhere professional demeanor is essential to success.
