admissions@union.edu

ENROLLMENT 
Full-time: 
men 1,052/women 975 
Part-time: 
men 32/women 8 

FRESHMAN ADMISSION 
PROFILE 
Number who applied: 
3,479 
Number accepted: 
1,821 
Number enrolled: 
521 
Average SAT scores: 
V 605 M 630 
Average ACT score: 
27 
Average GPA: 
3.35  
Freshman retention rate: 
93% 

COSTS: 
Tuition: 
$33,608 
Room and Board: 
$10,577 
Fees, books, misc.: 
$1,465 (approx.) 

FINANCIAL AID: 
Freshmen receiving aid: 
55% 
Average financial aid package: 
$18,000

FACULTY: 
Full-time: 
184 
Part-time: 
24 
Ph.D.: 
95% 
Student-faculty ratio: 
11:1 

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Founded in 1795, Union College has the first unified campus plan in America. The 16-sided Nott Memorial is a National Historic Landmark.

College Description / Campus Visit
Union College, founded in 1795, is an independent, coeducational, undergraduate liberal arts college for students of high academic promise and strong personal motivation. One of the oldest nondenominational colleges in the country, it was the first college chartered by the Regents of the State of New York and the first liberal arts college to offer engineering (1845). Union today is committed to maintaining a balance among the humanities, the social sciences, the natural sciences, and engineering. 

Union is located in upstate New York in the small city of Schenectady, which is part of a larger metropolitan area surrounding Albany, the capital of New York. The metropolitan area has a population of more than 800,000, including over 35,000 college and university students. The 100-acre campus includes eight acres of formal gardens and natural woodland. The first architecturally-designed campus in America, it combines classical architecture with modern academic, athletic, and residential facilities. 

Academic Life 
Union offers studies in the humanities, the social sciences, the sciences, and engineering. Major fields of study may be centered in one of the College's twenty academic departments, or a student may choose an interdepartmental major. Dual and student-designed majors are available, as well as accelerated degree programs in medicine (offered jointly with Albany Medical College), and law (six-year B.A./J.D. with Albany Law School), and a five-year bachelor's/M.B.A. program. Union also has an educational studies program in which students can be certified to teach at the secondary school level. The General Education Program ensures exposure to important areas of knowledge, including science, mathematics, and social science and offers strong incentives to study a foreign language or a non-western culture. Many departments offer internships, such as the 10-week term in Washington, D.C. and the legislative internship in Albany, New York. The College vigorously promotes undergraduate research by students in a wide range of disciplines. Union offers formal resident-study programs in 25 foreign countries, and over half the students study abroad during their four-year undergraduate experience. 

Campus Life 
Union has 2,000 full-time undergraduates, 52 percent male and 48 percent female, representing 37 states and 18 countries. Union believes that a student's life outside the classroom is an important part of his or her total education. A variety of student-funded organizations are encouraged (there are approximately 85) and Union makes available to all students a general cultural program of concerts, lectures, and movies. Speakers visit the campus, making formal appearances at lectures and less formal visits to classes and other small groups. The Murray and Ruth Reamer Campus Center provides space for social and community activities and services for the entire campus. Dining facilities, a pub, an auditorium, a radio station, and multiple student activities spaces are important parts of the building. Approximately 80 percent of the students live on campus. The majority of those who reside off campus live in apartments within walking distance. Housing options include residence halls, co-ops, theme housing, and fraternities or sororities. 

Science and Engineering Center

Facilities and Resources / Campus Map
Schaffer Library houses more than 500,000 volumes and approximately 2,000 current periodicals. The Science and Engineering Center contains a number of specialized research tools available for student use and the Humanities Building houses a state-of-the-art language laboratory with expanding capabilities for video-interactive language learning and a powerful satellite dish for receiving foreign news broadcasts. The new Morton and Helen Yulman Theater greatly enhances the art program. Union's computer center provides access to computing resources on campus (including UNIX, Windows NT and Apple Macintosh servers and the Library's DEC Alpha server). There are more than 900 College-owned personal computers (and workstations) and 50 terminals. All College-owned residence hall rooms are connected to the network and 68% of Union's students own their own computers. The 16-sided Nott Memorial, a National Historic Landmark, is the campus centerpiece, and a center for lectures, exhibits, and study. Programs of cross-registration with fourteen colleges and universities and Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) programs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force are available through the Hudson-Mohawk Consortium. Union's calendar consists of three ten-week terms, three courses per term. 

Sports / Varsity Athletics 
Union offers an extensive program of intercollegiate, intramural, club, and recreational sports. Intercollegiate competition for men is offered in baseball, basketball, crew, cross country, football, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, and indoor and outdoor track; and for women in basketball, crew, cross country, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, and volleyball. Union is a member of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association (NYSWCAA), and the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA). Highlights among the athletic facilities are the Alumni Gymnasium with an eight-lane swimming/diving pool and squash and racquetball courts; a 3,000-seat ice rink; an Astroturf field; and an all-weather track. 

Financial Aid 
Union's own total financial aid program for last year was approximately $15 million. Aid is available through grants, loans, and campus jobs, or a package that combines any of the three elements. Scholarships are awarded in recognition of need; Union has no athletic scholarships. CAUSE (Chester Arthur Undergraduate Support for Excellence) provides cancelable loans to students who plan careers in public service. 

Candidates should complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the College Scholarship Service's PROFILE form and mail them directly to the appropriate agencies by February 1. Aid is based upon need and is intended to recognize superior academic performance and personal credentials, as well as to help those who could not attend Union without the financial assistance of the College. 

Admission Requirements / Application 
Four factors are considered in evaluating each application: the record in secondary school including rank in class and quality of courses taken; recommendations of the secondary school; personal qualities and extracurricular record; the candidate's scores on the SAT I or the ACT or three SAT II Subject tests (writing and two electives). Normally, sixteen units of secondary school preparation are the minimum required. These should include certain fundamentals such as English, a foreign language, mathematics, social studies, and science. The Admissions Committee looks favorably on applicants who exceed the minimum number of courses required; honors, advanced, and Advanced Placement courses are strongly encouraged. Interviews are strongly recommended. 

Applications for regular decision should be filed by February 1 of the final year in secondary school. Applications to the accelerated programs must be filed no later than January 1, with the exception of the joint program in medicine, which has a December 15 deadline. The Admissions Committee announces its decisions in early April. Early decision candidates have two options. The application deadline for Option I is November 15, with notification by December 15. Option II has a January 15 deadline with February 1 notification. All supporting credentials are due November 15 for Option I and January 15 for Option II. Union adheres to the Candidates Reply Date of May 1. 

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