President’s Welcome
Centre College offers its students a world of opportunities, and one that might best be characterized as an adventure, highlighted by one of the nation’s premier study-abroad programs and a record of postgraduate success.
Over the last decade, an average 85 percent of students studied abroad at least once during their four years at Centre. And over the last five years, an average 96 percent of graduates are employed or pursuing advanced degrees within a year of graduation.
Prestigious fellowships are also won on a regular basis. Eight Rhodes Scholars, 12 Goldwater winners, three Gates Cambridge recipients, and the College's first Boren scholar highlight Centre’s stellar academic achievements. Five Rotary awards for international postgraduate study have also been won since the award's inception in 2014, and Centre is consistently among the nation’s top Fulbright producers.
I’m quick to add, however, that all of Centre’s graduates are accomplished people positioned to be citizen-leaders in whatever work they might choose, given our strong commitment to career and professional readiness.
For educational adventure, we offer 15 permanent, semester-long residential study-abroad programs in Bhutan, China, England (three options), France (two options), Germany, Japan (two options), Mexico (two options), Northern Ireland (several options), Scotland, and Spain. Shorter three-week programs in January, or summer study, explore an ever-increasing number of countries: Argentina, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Borneo, Cameroon, Czech Republic, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, England, France, Ghana, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Rwanda, Spain, Thailand, and Uganda.
A semester-long study-away program in Washington, D.C. includes internship components. We also have a new study-away program in New York City.
International study, undergraduate research, and internships are so integral to a Centre education that together they comprise the “Centre Commitment,” which guarantees study abroad, an internship or research opportunity, and graduation in four years, or Centre will provide up to one more year of tuition for free. Centre was among the very first colleges to make such a “commitment,” now over 20 years ago, and it is one on which we deliver.
Experiential learning is an integral part of a Centre education, and an impressive 89 percent of recent graduates participated in either an internship and/or an undergraduate research experience, opportunities that have helped students find their first post-graduation jobs or entrance into an ideal graduate program, law school, or medical school.
These opportunities take place during the academic year and in the summer. In a recent summer, for instance, many of our students were off campus for internships (traveling to 18 states and Washington, D.C., as well as to 12 countries), while others were on campus for local internships, collaborative research projects, or service programs. Those abroad interned in China, Czech Republic, England, France, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Japan, Myanmar, South Africa, and Thailand.
Those on campus conducted internships here in Danville in areas such as banking and finance, medicine, law, business, nonprofits, and the arts. Others conducted collaborative research with faculty in many different areas, including art history, behavioral neuroscience, biology, chemistry, Chinese, economics, environmental studies, music, and religion, just to name a few.
Of course, cost is a very serious consideration, but I would insist that a college education is the best and most important investment in your future.
A place of high achievement as well as high opportunity, Centre’s exceptional commitment to remaining affordable is made possible in part by legions of devoted alumni. For over three decades, more than half of living alumni have made an annual gift to the College. Parent and senior class gifts have consistently exceeded the 40 percent mark.
Centre’s three premier scholarships (Brown, Grissom, and Lincoln) all cover full tuition or better, and the College’s current annual institutional aid budget was just over $41 million. This includes support for two cohorts of Posse Scholars, 60 Bonner Scholars and Leaders, and New Horizon Scholars, programs all focused on Centre's commitment to inclusive excellence.
Finally, I would say that Centre is also a place where important conversations take place in and out of the classroom. In 2012, for the second time in a dozen years, Centre’s Norton Center for the Arts was the setting for the nation’s only Vice Presidential Debate. The Norton Center and Weisiger Theatre have also featured visits by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, the Blue Man Group, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed, New York Times columnist David Brooks, and the late Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, to name a few.
As you can see, learning at Centre takes place in and outside of the classroom, involves experiential and community-based opportunities, and encourages the pushing of boundaries. That’s because Centre College is committed to educating global citizens who are prepared to contribute meaningfully in a diverse marketplace of ideas where innovation and creativity are influenced by a broad array of perspectives.
We want our graduates not just to be able to thrive in such a setting; we want them to be prepared to assume leadership roles because of what they’ve experienced on our campus, in their classes, in their everyday interactions with our faculty and staff, and when they study abroad.
Our trustees, faculty, staff, and current students are all committed to a campus culture characterized by hard work, play, accomplishment, and kindness. Come join us for this educational adventure we call the Centre Experience.
My best,
Milton C. Moreland
President