America's Best Colleges for B Students. Tamra B. Orr
Center, the nation’s first and only class of undergraduate wireless engineers, dozens of CEOs, world-famous architects, and several authors and journalists. AU emphasizes international education, is at the forefront of engineering, transportation technology and veterinary medicine, achieves global impact through modern agricultural, extension and forestry/wildlife programs and fulfills critical research and national shortages through pharmaceutical, sciences, mathematics, education, nursing and human sciences offerings.”
Campus Setting
Auburn is a multipurpose, land-grant university. It was founded as a private, liberal arts institution in 1856 and came under state control in 1872. Its 1,871-acre campus is located in Auburn. A four-year public institution, Auburn University has an enrollment of 27,287 students. Although not originally a co-educational college, Auburn University has been co-ed since 1892. Campus facilities include: art museum · herbarium · research center · research institute · flight simulators · animal clinics · special centers · laboratories. Auburn University provides on-campus housing that can accommodate 4,702 students. Housing options include: coed dorms · women’s dorms · sorority housing · fraternity housing · single-student apartments · special housing for disabled students. Recreation and sports facilities include: aquatic center · coliseum · fitness and weight rooms · golf course · track · racquetball and tennis courts.
Student Life and Activities
Most students (78 percent) live off campus. Popular campus gathering spots include the Student Center, concourse, downtown cafes and restaurants, main library, cafeteria and residence halls. Popular campus events include A-Day, Freshman Convocation, freshmen leadership programs, Greek Recruitment, Greek Sing, Greek Week, Splash Into Spring, University Program Council-sponsored entertainment, Holiday Tree Lighting, Tiger Nights, Burn the (Georgia) Bulldogs, Homecoming Week, student government elections, outdoor and international movies, Rolling Toomer’s Corner, athletics events, Step Shows & Tiger-Stomp, service opportunities/events, Welcome Week, Beat Bama Parade, Beat Bama Food Drive and Black History Month. Auburn University has 476 official student organizations. The most popular are: G.A.N.G. Student Ministries · Gay Straight Alliance · Historic Preservation Guild · Agriculture Ambassadors · American Institute of Chemical Engineers · Association of Certified Fraud Examiners · Mock Trial Competition Team · Public Relations Council of Alabama. For those interested in sports, there are intramural teams such as: badminton · cycling · lacrosse · rowing · rugby · sailing · soccer · table tennis · tennis · volleyball · water polo · water skiing · wrestling. Auburn University is a member of the Southeastern Conference (Division I, Football I-A).
AUBURN UNIVERSITY
Highlights
Auburn University
Auburn, AL (Pop. 58,582)
Location: Large town
Four-year public
Founded: 1856
Website: http://www.auburn.edu
Students
Total enrollment: 27,287
Undergrads: 21,786
Freshmen: 6,076
Part-time students: 9%
From out-of-state: 40%
From public schools: 88%
Male/Female: 51%/49%
Live on-campus: 22%
In fraternities: 28%
In sororities: 43%
Off-campus employment rating: Excellent
Caucasian: 83%
African American: 7%
Hispanic: 3%
Asian: 2%
Hawaiian or Pacific Islander: 0%
Native American: 1%
Mixed (2+ ethnicities): 1%
International: 2%
Academics
Calendar: Semester
Student/faculty ratio: 19:1
Class size 9 or fewer: 9%
Class size 10-29: 56%
Class size 30-49: 21%
Class size 50-99: 9%
Class size 100 or more: 6%
Returning freshmen: 90%
Six-year graduation rate: 73%
Most Popular Majors
Biomedical sciences
Finance
Psychology
Academics and Learning Environment
Auburn University has 1,216 full-time and 183 part-time faculty members, offering a student-to-faculty ratio of 19:1. The most common course size is 20 to 29 students. Auburn University offers 300 majors with the most popular being finance, biomedical sciences and psychology, and least popular being business/marketing education, music and economics. The school has a general core requirement. Cooperative education is available. All first-year students must maintain a 1.5 GPA or higher to avoid academic probation and a minimum overall GPA of 2.0 is required to graduate. Other special academic programs that would appeal to a B student: independent study · double majors · dual degrees · accelerated study · honors program · Phi Beta Kappa · internships · distance learning certificate programs.
B Student Support and Success
Auburn’s network of academic advisors is by department or major. Advisors assist students with selecting classes and career planning, and they also give general advice. Some department heads provide information about their departments to prospective applicants as well. Learning Communities bring together first-year students in the same major to take certain required classes as a group. This enables students to easily form study groups and to navigate classes cooperatively. Departments also offer help that is basic to a student’s field of study. For example, the Auburn Office of Engineering Student Services provides tutoring for freshmen and transfer engineering students who need assistance in entry-level math, chemistry and physics classes. The tutoring is done by volunteer upperclassmen in group or one-on-one sessions.
Auburn University provides a variety of support programs including dedicated guidance for: academic · career · personal · psychological · minority students · military · veterans · non-traditional students · family planning. Additional counseling services include: sexual assault. The average freshman year GPA is 3.0, and 90 percent of freshmen students return for their sophomore year. Among students who enter the workforce, approximately 83 percent enter a field related to their major within six months of graduation. Companies that most frequently hire graduates from Auburn University include: Alabama Power · AmSouth Bank · Baptist Health System · Cargill Steel Corporation · Chevron · Colonial Bank · DMJM Harris · Ernst & Young · Exxon Mobil · Georgia Pacific · Honeywell · IBM · Kimley-Horn & Associates · KMPG · Lockheed Martin · Lennar Homes · Merrill Lynch · Michelin North America · Milliken & Company · Northrop Grumman · Pepsico · PricewaterhouseCoopers · Proctor & Gamble · Regions Bank · Sony · Southern Company · Weyerhaeuser.
Support for Students with Learning Disabilities
Students with learning disabilities may take advantage of specific support programs offered by Auburn University. If necessary, the college will grant additional time to students with learning disabilities to complete their degree. Also, a lightened course load may be granted to LD students. Students with learning disabilities will find support through the following programs at Auburn University: testing