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This Is Baylor University
While remaining true to its Christian heritage, Baylor has grown to more than 14,000 students, who come from all 50 states and some 90 countries. Its nationally recognized academic divisions offer 164 baccalaureate degree programs, 72 master's degree programs, 19 doctoral degree programs and 5 professional degree programs. Baylor's 735-acre campus is on the banks of the Brazos River in Waco, Texas, a metropolitan area of 213,000 people. In September 2001, the Baylor University Board of Regents adopted a bold 10-year Vision called Baylor 2012. Within the course of a decade, Baylor intends to enter the top tier of American universities while reaffirming its distinctive Christian mission. Visit www.baylor.edu/vision to discover the progress toward and benefits of the Vision.
Academics The College of Arts and Sciences offers a comprehensive range of programs for Baylor students through its 26 academic departments. Students have the opportunity to pursue a variety of degrees through the College. Most students take courses within the College as part of their core curriculum requirements for degrees from other schools at Baylor. Students in the College routinely qualify for prestigious academic awards. During the past few years, Baylor students have received Fulbright, Goldwater, Truman and Marshall Scholarships and Howard Hughes Predoctoral and National Science Foundation Fellowships. The Hankamer School of Business has prepared its graduates to succeed in the highly competitive climate of the world economy. The School's undergraduate curriculum, which leads to the bachelor of business administration degree, encompasses the liberal arts and sciences, a professional business core and 19 major fields of study. Hankamer also offers a graduate business program with 10 fields of study, including executive education programs and specializations in health care administration, international business and customer relationship management. U.S. News & World Report ranked the School's undergraduate business programs in the top 16 percent in its 2003 guide to "America's Best Colleges," while ranking the graduate entrepreneurship program 23rd in the nation. Entrepreneurship magazine ranks Baylor's entrepreneurship program in the top tier, and The Princeton Review includes Hankamer's MBA program in its "Top 80 Business Schools in America." The School's Executive MBA programs are ranked 21st by U.S. News & World Report. The Executive MBA in Dallas was rated as the top program in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, the 14th in the U.S. and 25th in the world by Financial Times. The programs in the Honors College enrich the University's academic programs. Established as part of Baylor 2012, the College's programs are designed for those with both superior academic qualifications and a high degree of intellectual curiosity and motivation. The Honors, University Scholars, Great Texts and Baylor Interdisciplinary Core programs are found in the College. The School of Education, accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), offers six degrees with more than 60 specializations. State Board for Educator Certification data indicates Baylor students and graduates earn greater than a 97 percent passing rate on state examinations for teachers, counselors and administrators. The School's network of professional development schools and Center for Educational Technology places it as a leader in the use of technology for improving teaching and learning. The Baylor University/Waco Independent School District Partnership Council is implementing 10 professional development schools (PDS) in Texas and establishing a mentoring program which will assist local teachers. In 2001, School of Education Dean Robert Yinger was elected to the board of directors of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), a national association of colleges and universities with programs that prepare professional educators. The School of Engineering and Computer Science combines traditional liberal arts and challenging technical programs to provide its graduates skills including communication, ethics, teamwork and technical competency. The School offers undergraduate degrees in five majors and a master's degree in computer science. In its 2003 guide to "America's Best Colleges," U.S. News & World Report ranked the School's engineering program 20th in the nation among those focused on the needs of undergraduates. For the seventh consecutive year, 100 percent of Baylor's engineering students who have taken the Fundamentals of Engineering examination administered by the Texas State Board of Registration for Engineers have passed the exam. Baylor computer science graduates command top compensation and acclaim from diverse employers. The School's bioinformatics major - a specialization that combines molecular biology and computer science - is one of the first of its kind in the world. The development of a Baylor laboratory housing the database from the human genome project is giving bioinformatics students unparalleled laboratory and research experiences. Opportunities for further enrichment include study abroad programs, engineering design projects, summer intern work experience in computer science, and residence in the Engineering and Computer Science Living-Learning Center within the under-construction North Village Complex. The School of Music offers students a thorough background of music training and high-quality performance experience in its curriculum. Performing groups in the School of Music include the Baylor Symphony Orchestra, Golden Wave Marching Band, A Cappella Choir, Opera Theater, Baylor ShowTime! and numerous other ensembles. These groups have performed at prestigious conventions, including the American Choral Directors Association, the American Bandmasters Association and the American Guild of Organists. The School presents more than 300 programs each year by students, faculty and guest artists. Annual highlights include the President's Concert and the Dean's Honor Concert. The School's weekly radio program, "Music at Baylor," is broadcast on National Public Radio affiliate KWBU-FM. The School's students also will be highlighted in "Christmas at Baylor," a television special to air on PBS stations across the country during the 2003 holiday season. Students of the School have achieved national recognition, including fellowships to the Blossom Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and Tanglewood Festival. The most significant national event in the field of church music, the Hearn Symposium, is held biannually at Baylor. The Louise Herrington School of Nursing offers upper division (junior and senior) baccalaureate and master's programs on the Dallas campus at the Baylor University Medical Center. Undergraduate nursing students pursue the bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree and prepare for the registered nurse (RN) licensure. The School also offers the master of science in nursing (MSN) degree in three areas: nursing administration and management, family nurse practitioner (FNP) and neonatal nurse practitioner (NNP), as well as a joint BSN/MSN program for RNs. U.S. News & World Report ranked the School's master's programs as 58th in the nation in its 2003 "Best Graduate Schools" listing. Nearly 100 percent of Baylor nursing graduates who seek employment upon graduation find a position within one month and most are employed upon graduation. Many of the programs in Baylor's Graduate School consistently receive high national rankings, including entrepreneurship, music, religion, clinical psychology, speech pathology, physical therapy, health care administration and nursing. With more than 1,200 graduate students on campuses in Waco, Dallas, San Antonio and West Point, Baylor awards more than 600 master's degrees and 60 doctoral degrees each year. The clinical psychology program at Baylor, the oldest and longest accredited university PsyD program in the country, has a national reputation for producing outstanding practicing clinical psychologists. Baylor has the only PhD programs in the nation in church-state studies and applied sociology. Doctoral programs include biology, biomedical studies, chemistry, church-state studies, education (administration, curriculum and instruction, psychology), English, geology, mathematics, neuroscience, philosophy, physical therapy, physics, religion, sociology and statistics. Baylor Law School, the oldest law school in Texas, draws its students from across the nation. Entering credential levels for students are in the top 15th to 20th percentile nationally. In a recent edition of The Princeton Review, Baylor is described as "the Marine Corps of law schools." The publication notes that "the Baylor University School of Law is very small, very affordable, and very difficult to get into. For students lucky enough to gain admissions, Baylor's unique, ultra-intense, and 'tough' Practice Court Program is arguably the best training ground in the nation for practical lawyering." The school's mock trial and moot court teams are perennially successful in interscholastic competition on state, regional and national levels. Baylor Law School also has an unparalleled record of success on the Texas Bar Exam and an enviable placement rate. About 82 percent of the approximately 400 students at the Law School come from undergraduate study at a nationwide array of colleges and universities other than Baylor. In 2001 the Law School moved into the $30 million Sheila and Walter Umphrey Law Center on the banks of the Brazos River. One of the nation's fastest growing theological schools, George W. Truett Theological Seminary is an accredited member of the Association of Theological Schools. Since welcoming its first class in fall 1994 with one Master of Divinity program, Truett Seminary now offers an MDiv in three concentrations, plus an MDiv/Master of Social Work, an MDiv/Master of Music, an MDiv/MSEd and a Doctor of Ministry. Truett has joined with the College of Arts and Sciences' School of Social Work as a co-founder of the Baylor Center for Family and Community Ministries with the goal of strengthening the capacity of families and communities to nurture faith through the ministry of congregations. In spring 2002, the first classes were held in Truett's Baugh-Reynolds Campus, an $18 million Seminary complex on the Baylor campus, which features classrooms, a student life suite, a prayer room, community spaces, the Paul and Katy Piper Great Hall, the Robert B. Sloan Jr. Teaching Chapel and the Paul Powell Chapel. More than 270 Truett graduates are serving in churches and mission fields throughout the world. U.S. News & World Report ranked Baylor in the top 130 national universities in its 2003 college guide. And, Baylor is one of 43 public and private colleges and universities nationwide listed as a "Best Buy" in the 2003 edition of The Fiske Guide to Colleges. Baylor's costs remain below the average tuition for private institutions in Texas and well below the national average of private peer institutions in the first and second tiers of the U.S. News & World Report guide.
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