Ripon College

Ripon College is a private undergraduate liberal arts and sciences college located in the historic city of Ripon, Wisconsin.

Founded in 1851 by Former New York State Legislator David Mapes and townspeople, Ripon College has a long tradition of excellence in facilitating transformational interdisciplinary learning within its beautiful century-old buildings and in communities near and far. The intentionally small residential campus enrolls some 800 bright, high-achieving men and women from nearly every state and from countries around the world.

All courses are taught by faculty members, 97 percent of whom hold a Ph.D. or other terminal degree in their chosen field. Students benefit from intimate class sizes, averaging a student-to-faculty ratio of 12:1. An overwhelming majority of students — 96 percent — indicate they are satisfied or very satisfied with the amount of attention they receive from faculty, who also provide direct academic, career and co-curricular advising and collaborate on serious research pursuits.

The rigorous liberal arts and sciences curriculum and active residential campus prepares students of diverse interests for lives of productive, socially responsible citizenship. Coursework challenges students to examine questions in-depth, identify patterns of logic and reasoning, think critically, consider multiple contexts and pursue independent research and present before real audiences.

We are proud of the national recognition our academic programs receive. Most recently, the ROTC program to which Ripon’s unit belongs was named the top in the north-central United States; and our Department of Communication was named the best in overall excellence in the nation.

Ripon graduates achieve success early in a variety of roles, and have earned acclaim at the highest levels of national and international government, politics, medicine, finance, the arts, business and in a host of other professional fields. An incredible 96 percent of graduates are employed, student teaching or in professional school within six months of graduating and our six-year acceptance rate to medical school is 73 percent – better than the national average.

Ripon College prepares students of diverse interests for lives of productive, socially responsible citizenship. Our liberal arts curriculum and residential campus create an intimate learning community in which students experience a richly personalized education.

Ripon envisions itself as a venerable, prosperous, and widely respected liberal arts college that is proud of its history and confident about the future.

An intense engagement with and concern for academic, artistic, and personal development of students have defined Ripon since its founding on the Wisconsin frontier and will always be enduring characteristics of the college.

Vigorous and healthy growth will place Ripon in a distinctive class of intentionally sized, intellectually vibrant, and civic-minded colleges. Ripon will attract students, faculty, and staff of excellent character, great potential and high quality, and the college will be increasingly appealing to its alumni. Ripon will interact conscientiously with the local community and will extend its reach to the nation and the world at large.

Ripon College will command broad interest, recognition, support and respect. A burgeoning spirit of optimism and opportunity, accessibility and possibility will emanate from the college and will inspire it to imagine – and to do – great things.

As a student at Ripon College, you can take advantage of our four-year graduation guarantee. That means you’ll finish on time, and the classes you need to complete your degree will be available for you when you need them, pending you remain in good academic standing, declare a major course of study by the end of sophomore year, and follow an approved course plan.

Students may choose from a total of 31 majors, 42 minors, or customize a course plan in pursuit of competitive placement in a variety of professional degree programs, including but not limited to: pre-engineering, pre-law and pre-med and health sciences. Every student graduates with a concentration in Applied Innovation upon completing the five-course Catalyst curriculum.

Each incoming student is assigned a faculty mentor based on his or her area of interest. Together, faculty mentors and staff in Career Services work with students throughout their time on campus to help set goals and construct a course plan to reach those goals. The opportunities for internships, networking and learning professional skills are limitless.

The College’s academic year is comprised of two semesters and an optional three-week session, Liberal Arts In Focus, which immediately follows spring commencement. For most In Focus programs, participants will spend a week on campus in intensive study and preparation, followed by two weeks of travel to locations around the U.S. or destinations overseas. Off-campus study is highly encouraged; many Ripon College students elect to spend a semester off-campus on a focused area of study.

Ripon College has been hard at work for its students since 1851. Like our founders, we continue to value the transformative power of education and believe that everyone (you included) deserves the best shot at a Life Well Lived®.

From day one, we encourage our students to embrace all of their interests and pursue all of their passions, no matter how varied they may be. If you’re looking for a school with enormous classes where professors (or their TAs) just read from a lectern, Ripon is not the school for you. When you come to Ripon, you’ll be engaged, you’ll meet your professors face-to-face and you will leave here stronger, smarter and very much ready for the world.

Whether you know exactly what you want to study in college or need more time to figure things out Ripon provides the combination of opportunities and experiences, dedicated attention and mentoring, networks and inspiration you need to reach success. We’re convinced you will find no greater advocate.