University of New Haven (UNH) Introduction and Academics

Introduction

University of New Haven (UNH) has a history stretching back almost a century. It was founded in 1924 and was then known as the New Haven YMCA Junior College. The junior college used that name until 1970 when it acquired the current name.

The move from junior college to university was necessitated by a number of things. First, the institution had expanded the scope of its program offerings substantially. At inception, the junior college was mainly serving the educational needs of the local community and its programs were limited to only business and engineering. For a long time also, the college stood in the shadow of Yale University on which it depended for crucial facilities.

By 1960, the junior college had increased the numbers of degree courses and acquired new buildings and the building of new structures was accelerated in the 1960s. The West Haven, Connecticut, campus as it stands today actually took shape as a result of the aggressive building plan of the 1960s.

Today, UNH is built on an 84-acre campus and enrolls over 5,000 students.

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Information Summary

Ranks 14th in Connecticut and 968th overall. See the entire top 2,000 colleges and universities list
Overall Score (about)	80.6
Total Cost On-Campus Attendance	$58,306
Admission Success rate	N/A
ACT / SAT 75%ile scores	26 / 1220
Student Ratio Students-to-Faculty	22 : 1
Retention (full-time / part-time)	76% / 60%
Enrollment Total (all students)	6,867

Academics

UNH offers a very comprehensive variety of undergraduate and graduate programs in five different schools – the College of Arts and Sciences, the Tagliatela College of Engineering, the College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences, the College of Business and the Graduate School.

The university’s College of Arts and Sciences is amongst the oldest and offers over twenty undergraduate programs. The college awards B.A., B.S., and A.S. degrees in very diverse areas including theater arts, English, global studies, history, environmental science, music, political science, psychology, chemistry and interior design. The college also offers a certificate program in mass communication.

The College of Arts and Sciences also offers eight graduate programs in community psychology, cellular and molecular biology, education, environmental science and industrial psychology among others.

The university’s College of Business offers various B.S. degrees, associate degrees, master’s degrees and a myriad of graduate certificates. Bachelor of Science degrees offered by the college cover several professional areas including accounting, business management, finance, sports management and tourism. Graduate degrees offered by the college include Master of Business Administration (MBA), Executive MBA, MBA for Emerging Leaders and Master of Science (taxation and sports management).

From its very beginning, UNH had a special place for engineering and this was one of the first programs offered. Today, engineering programs at the university are offered through the Tagliatela College of Engineering which has several undergraduate and graduate programs. Various B.S. degrees are offered by the college in diverse areas including chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, information technology, system engineering and computer science. Graduate programs offered by the college include electrical engineering, environmental engineering and engineering management.

The college of criminal justice and forensic sciences offers several graduate and undergraduate degrees covering areas such as criminal justice, forensic science, fire protection engineering and legal studies.

To serve the educational needs of adult learners and those of the corporate entities in its community, UNH uses its University College to offer various custom-mode educational programs. For adult learners, the university runs various credit and non-credit certificate programs.

UNH is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

Most Popular Fields of Study

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Admissions

Undergraduate students seeking admission to UNH are required to submit their applications by specific dates for certain programs. The university has 4 admission programs and applications have to be received by specific dates.

The university’s Early Action I admission program requires that applications be received by November 15th. The Early Action II admission program requires that admissions be received by January 15th. Applications received after January 15th fall into the Regular Admission program while Spring Admission applications have to be received by early January.

The admission program chosen by an applicant is influenced by the program the student intends to enroll in. For some programs, especially those with heavy applications, (marine biology, dental hygiene and forensic science), it is highly recommended that an applicant makes an early application. Early application also increases the possibility of the applicant obtaining housing at the university.

Undergraduates applying to join UNH are required to submit official copies of their high school transcripts to the Undergraduate Admissions Office. In the absence of transcripts, the university will accept a satisfactory General Equivalency Diploma (GED).

The applicants are also required to submit official ACT or SAT scores and a personal essay. The essay, which is used by the university to understand the applicant further, should be between 250 and 500 words. Applicants should also submit academic letters of recommendation (ideally from former teachers or guidance counselors).

Students seeking admission to the university’s graduate programs are required to submit official transcripts verifying that a bachelor’s degree has already been earned. Where the applicant has not yet completed undergraduate work, the university will consider the application on receipt of transcripts acquired to date. Applicants should also submit two recommendations, a resume and standardized test scores where necessary. Some programs, for example MBA, require the submission of GMAT or GRE scores.

International students seeking to join UNH have to submit the same documents as local students. Where the applicant’s documents are in a language other than English, the applicant has to make sure that certified English translations are submitted.

International students should also submit the Financial Statement for International Students Form (FSIS) which should be accompanied by a bank statement showing adequate funds to cater for the student’s needs. Non-native speakers of English are also required to demonstrate their competence in the language by providing Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores of 75 for the internet based TOEFL test.

Financial Aid

More than 80% of students attending UNH use some form of financial aid to help them pay through college. The sources of financial aid are many and include both internal and external sources.

The college has several scholarships that are awarded to gifted but financially challenged students. The Presidential Scholarship is awarded to students who have achieved academic success in high school and who continue to excel (by maintaining a GPA of 3.0 and above) on admission to the university. Amounts disbursed under this scholarship range between $16,000 and $20,000 per year.

The Distinguished Scholar Award is awarded to students who have excelled in high school but who have lower SAT scores than the recipients of the Presidential Scholarship. Amounts awarded vary between $12,000 and $15,000 per year.

Lower in rank but also providing a substantial source of aid is the Charger Award. Winners of this award are students who exhibit strong performance consistently and amounts awarded range between $6,000 and $11,000 per academic year.

Winners of the three UNH awards above could still qualify for the Writing Award. This is awarded to students who post great grades in the writing component of the ACT or SAT test and amounts awarded range between $1,000 and $3,000 per academic year.

UNH also rewards students enrolled at the institution who demonstrate excellence in community service with the Leadership Award (amounts range between $1,000 and $3,000 per academic year) while the Dean’s Scholarship (awarded by the deans of the university’s colleges) awards amounts as high as $2,000 per year.

State grants available for students attending UNH include the Connecticut Independent College Student Grant (CICSG) which is awarded by the State’s General Assembly to residents of the State who demonstrate financial need. The State also runs the Capitol Scholarship Program which awards students who have finished high school in the top 20% of their class. Other recipients of this scholarship are students who achieved a score of 1800 on their combined SAT test and amounts awarded could be as high as $3,000.

Athletic students at UNH could also benefit from the university’s Athletic Grant-in-Aid.

Additional grants available for students attending UNH include Federal Pell Grants and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG).

Loan programs that students could apply for include the Federal Perkins Loans, the Federal Subsidized and Unsubsidized Student Loans and the Federal Direct Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students (PLUS).

Student Financial Aid Details

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Students

At UNH, over 80 student clubs and organizations are represented making it possible for any student to find a suitable organization to join. Some of the Greek fraternities represented at the university include Delta Chi, Sigma Lambda Beta, Sigma Chi and Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

The university is also home to many sports clubs including the bowling club, the field hockey club, the tennis club, ice hockey club and the martial arts club among others.

Cultural clubs are also represented with the Asian student association, the black student union and the international student association all actively engaged in cultural activities at the university.

Professional clubs include the accounting society, the American institute of chemical engineers, the American society of interior designers and the legal society.

Student Enrollment Demographics

Student Graduation Demographics

Athletics

UNH offers a very broad range of athletic activities which include baseball, basketball, cross country, lacrosse, football, soccer, volleyball, and track and field.

In total, the university has 17 sports teams and is a member of the NCAA. The university’s teams are known as the Chargers and compete in the Northeast-10 Conference.

Bibliography

“About UNH”. University of New Haven. 23rd May 2011 http://www.newhaven.edu/about/

“University of New Haven”. The Princeton Review. 23rd May 2011 http://www.princetonreview.com/schools/college/CollegeBasics.aspx?iid=1022974

“University of New Haven”. U.S. News & World Report. 23rd May 2011 http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/university-of-new-haven-1397

University of New Haven