Director of Admissions
Carlow University
3333 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
412-578-6059
800-333-CARLOW
E-mail: admissions@carlow.edu
COSTS:
Tuition:
$19,450
Room and Board:
$7,870
Fees, books, misc.:
$900
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Overview
Carlow University was founded in 1929 in response to a local need for a Catholic women’s college. The mission of the University is to involve people, primarily women, in a process of self-directed lifelong learning that frees them to think clearly and creatively, to discover and to challenge or affirm cultural and aesthetic values, to respond reverently to God and others, and to render competent and compassionate service in personal and professional life. While Carlow makes explicit its strong continuing commitment to the education of women, it welcomes men. The University’s mission has been confirmed over the years by the growing number of students who come seeking a solid liberal arts education as well as strong career preparation. In addition to its undergraduate programs, the University offers graduate programs in art education, early childhood education, early childhood supervision, educational leadership, educational Praxis, fine arts, management and technology, nursing (with specializations in family nurse practitioner, home health, nursing case management, and nursing leadership), professional counseling, and professional leadership.
Current enrollment exceeds 2,200 students. Carlow’s students have various backgrounds and come mainly from the Middle Atlantic states; the majority are from western Pennsylvania. About 83 percent of current freshmen are graduates of public high schools, and approximately 65 percent of the freshmen live on campus in the University’s modern dormitory. An active Resident Student Association strives to maintain a climate of responsibility and cooperation among the residents. The Commuter Student Association endeavors to serve the needs of commuting students.
The University has a bookstore, dining facilities, gymnasium, swimming pool, and a wellness center.
Popular campus events include entertainment, film series, carnivals, Homecoming, Founder’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day celebration and parade, the International Festival, Black History Month events, Women’s History Month events, Focus on Women lecture series, and drama productions.
The University’s central location gives students opportunities for internships in various businesses and agencies. Students in health-related fields complete their clinical experiences in the many fine teaching hospitals, clinics, and private health-care facilities in the city of Pittsburgh. City buses stop in front of the campus, and campus parking is available for commuting students.
Location and Community
Carlow University is located on a 15-acre campus in the heart of Oakland, one of the nation’s biggest college towns and the educational, cultural, and medical center of Pittsburgh. Nine other colleges and universities at which students can cross-register at no additional tuition cost are within walking distance or just minutes away by bus. Schenley Park, Carnegie Institute and Museum, Phipps Conservatory, Carnegie Music and Lecture Halls, the Scaife Galleries, and the Oakland shopping district are all a short walk from the campus. Downtown Pittsburgh, one of the nation’s largest corporate-headquarters cities, is only a 10-minute bus ride away. Greater Pittsburgh International Airport is a 30-minute drive from Carlow, and exits from the interstates are about ¼ mile from the campus.
Academic Life
Carlow’s primary concern is the development of the student as a lifelong learner. To this end, members of the Carlow community—students, faculty, and staff—try to help one another recognize the integrity and value of each person in the daily life and work of the University. The academic programs are broad and flexible, including opportunities for double majors, single majors with certification in education, minors, certificate programs, and changes of major. Transfer students are accepted into all programs. Persons already possessing a degree may be admitted to a second degree or certification program. The Carlow curriculum is based in the liberal arts, with significant emphasis on career preparation.
The University curriculum operates on the two-semester system, August to December and January to May. Summer sessions, a variable number of weeks in length, are offered every year. Most courses carry 3 credits (laboratory courses, among others, carry 4 credits). Students normally take five courses each semester. Each student must demonstrate basic competence in English composition, speech and interpersonal communication, reading comprehension, and mathematics. Required of all students is one course each in a lab science, history, literature, mathematics, social/behavioral science (such as psychology or sociology), theology, fine arts, philosophy, women’s studies, and political science or economics, as well as one global perspective course. Students are also required to take an interdisciplinary course, which is selected from a variety of subject areas. Students in nursing, education, social work, psychology, management, and perfusion technology are required to do fieldwork as part of their program. Field placements and internships are guaranteed and encouraged in all areas of study. An honors program is open to eligible students. After the first semester of the freshman year, one course per semester (outside of the major) may be taken on a pass-fail basis. Some courses may be challenged, for credit or exemption, by passing an examination. CLEP general exam credits may be used for this purpose as well.
The most valuable resource at the disposal of the Carlow student is a faculty whose primary commitment is to the education of undergraduates. The student-faculty ratio is 12:1, and faculty members are readily available to help plan individualized programs of study, to provide assistance relating to field placements and internships, and to assist in career preparation. The student’s major adviser is normally a faculty member in the department. There are currently 325 faculty members. A number of professional persons from the Pittsburgh area are among the part-time faculty members.
The University gives women and men the opportunity to return to the classroom at various stages of their lives. Adult learners may enroll in full-time and part-time degree programs, noncredit enrichment courses, seminars, and workshops. Scheduling options include day, evening, accelerated, weekend, and online courses.
After the first semester of the freshman year, full-time students may cross-register for one course per semester at any of the nine other area colleges and universities that are members of the Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education. There is no additional tuition cost for cross-registration.
Majors Offered:
Carlow University grants the undergraduate degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and Bachelor of Social Work. Programs include accounting, art, art/art education, art/art history, art/ceramics, art/graphic design, art/interactive media design, art/painting and drawing, art/photography, art with a certificate in art therapy preparation, biology (with concentrations in forensic medical and legal investigations/autopsy specialization, human biology, molecular cell and biotechnology, and organismal/ecological biology), business management, business management/communication, chemistry, communication studies, computer science, creative writing, early childhood education, elementary education, English, forensic accounting, health science (available to students who have previously earned an associate degree), history, human resource management and technology, information systems management, liberal studies, marketing, mathematics, nursing, philosophy, political science, professional writing, professional writing/business, psychology, public policy and leadership, scientific/medical marketing, social work, sociology, sociology/criminal justice, Spanish, special education, and theology. An independent major, designed by the student, may also be arranged. Certification programs are offered in perfusion technology (biology majors only) and secondary education (biology, chemistry, English, general science, mathematics, and social studies). Preprofessional programs include dentistry, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathy, pharmacy, podiatry, and veterinary medicine. The University offers 3-2 programs in engineering in three areas: biology/environmental engineering, chemistry/chemical engineering, and mathematics/engineering. In addition, Carlow offers a 2-2 program in athletic training, 2-3 programs in occupational therapy and physician assistant studies, a 3-2 program in environmental science, a 3-3 program in physical therapy, and a 3-3 B.A./J.D. law program.
Campus Life
The University has a large group of students involved in community service and volunteerism. Spring break service projects have taken students to Jamaica, the Virgin Islands, Arizona, Arkansas, Ireland, and many other locations. Cocurricular organizations include the Student Government Association, the Commuter Student Association, the Critical Point literary magazine, the International Student Association, the Purple Menace newspaper, Yearbook, and United Black Students. Academic- or career-oriented organizations include Alpha Phi Omega (national service/honor society), American Chemical Society, Beta Beta Beta (biology club), Business Leaders of Carlow, the Council for Exceptional Children, Kappa Delta Epsilon (for education majors), Social Work Organization, Student Nurses Association of Pennsylvania, Phi Chi Theta (business fraternity), and the Psychology Club. Special interest groups include Blessed, the Gospel choir; the Environmental Clean-up Organization; Pep Band; Spirit; Student Athlete Association; Theater Group; and Women in Communication (WIC).
All registered students are members of the Student Government Association (SGA). Through the SGA, students act as equal participants with the administration, faculty, and staff in general governance. The SGA promotes the general welfare of the students and is the advocate to ensure that the academic, social, and spiritual needs of students are met. SGA is empowered to charter all student organizations.
Facilities and Resources
Grace Library, a five-level multipurpose learning center in the heart of the campus, currently contains more than 100,000 books, subscribes to over 350 print journals, and offers access to more than 4,500 online journals. The library houses the offices of the President, Provost, and Vice President for Academic Affairs. The Media Center, the Center for Academic Achievement, mail room, bookstore, Academic Affairs, Center for Career Enrichment, Copy Center, the International Poetry Forum, University Archives, and computer laboratories are also located here. Kresge Theatre, a 300-seat lecture/demonstration hall, and the Mellon Galleries—where students, faculty members, and local artists display their works—are located on the fifth level. Curran Hall is a facility for the School of Nursing and includes specially designed nursing skills labs and conference and seminar rooms. Frances Warde Hall houses the School of Education, art labs, student affairs offices, and the campus café. Antonian Hall houses the 1,000-seat Sister Rosemary Heyl Theatre, the School for Social Change, fine arts department, and classrooms, as well as administrative offices for admissions, financial aid, advising, registrar, and student accounts. The cafeteria and the Carlow Campus School (grades nursery through 8) are located in Tiernan Hall. St. Joseph Hall contains the gymnasium, fitness center, and swimming pool, and Aquinas Hall houses classrooms, the humanities division, the International Student Center, faculty and staff offices, and the Carlow Campus Montessori School. Carlow’s A. J. Palumbo Hall for Science and Technology is home to the Dr. William A. Urrichio Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. This complex contains state-of-the-art teaching/research laboratories in physics, organic and advanced chemistry, genetics, cell biology, and gross anatomy; a herbarium to store dry plant specimens; a greenhouse; an amphitheater for scientific presentations; and the Bayer Children’s Science Learning Laboratory.
Carlow University’s campus computer network features Internet accounts and e-mail addresses, network and Internet access from any location on campus, remote e-mail and Internet access for home users, and one network port per pillow in the residence hall. Carlow also offers a comprehensive e-portfolio to all undergraduate students to record their personal, academic, and professional development goals.
Student support services are organized under a leadership model. Placement and career counseling, free professional and peer tutorial services, the Center for Academic Achievement, the Disabilities Service Office, student health, personal counseling programs, and campus ministry are support services available to students.
Sports / Varsity Athletics
The athletic program includes women’s intercollegiate basketball, soccer, softball, tennis, and volleyball as well as a selection of physical education courses, including aerobics, fitness and weight control, martial arts/self-defense, modern dance, water aerobics, weight training, and yoga. Wellness and fitness services include individual health assessment, fitness programming, and nutrition counseling.
Expenses
Tuition and fees are $19,450 for full-time students. Room and board charges for the year were $6870 for double occupancy.
Financial Aid / Scholarships
Financial aid in the form of grants, scholarships, loans, and student employment is available to eligible applicants. More than 90 percent of all full-time students receive some type of financial assistance. Academic and/or leadership scholarships ranging from $1000 to full tuition are available for qualified students. The University expects that most aid recipients assume a portion of their expenses through loans and/or part-time employment. Job opportunities are available on campus in a wide variety of positions, and students are placed, whenever possible, in positions that coincide with their skills and interests. Basketball, soccer, softball, tennis, and volleyball scholarships are also available.
Admission Requirements / Application
Generally, Carlow seeks applicants who rank in the upper 40 percent of their graduating class, have attained at least a B average, and have followed an academic or college-preparatory curriculum. Applicants are evaluated on the basis of their secondary school record, class rank, and scores on the SAT or ACT. The Committee on Admissions recognizes that school curricula vary greatly and always gives careful consideration to the application of an able student whose course work or grading scale is more challenging or whose preparation differs from the traditional program. A personal interview is strongly recommended but not required. Overnight visits, a day of classes, campus tours, and meals, are available and are strongly encouraged. Throughout the year, the University sponsors programs that give candidates the opportunity to tour the campus and meet faculty and staff members and Carlow students.
Although Carlow subscribes to the rolling admission plan, high school students are encouraged to submit an application early in the first semester of the senior year. Students interested in early notification should apply by September 30. Notification of the admission decision for early notification candidates is made by October 30.
 |
 |