A college education built around a core curriculum and specific discipline of study is a solid starting point for career success. But at IUP, you may also choose from a variety of special programs that go beyond professional preparation and allow you to develop the leadership, organizational, and other skills you need to make a real difference in the lives of others.
New students in the Robert E. Cook Honors College quickly discover why it was featured in Donald Asher’s Cool Colleges: For the Hyper-Intelligent, Self-Directed, Late Blooming, and Just Plain Different. Asher found the college genuine and unpretentious, two qualities students embody while supporting each other in academic excellence as members of this remarkable community. With only a hundred students per class, the Honors College offers an intimate place for intellectual growth, but it also encourages service to the larger community through local organizations.
ROTC
The IUP Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program focuses on preparing students to lead, ultimately as commissioned officers in the United States Army. The skills ROTC students learn apply directly to any area of life that requires management, leadership, or command.
IUP welcomes students from around the world who want to experience an education beyond their familiar borders. Understanding the challenges that come with a change of place, culture, and language, the staff at IUP’s Office of International Affairs offers a variety of services to help international students adjust to their new life in the United States.
Fifty-six percent of IUP students are female. The Women’s Studies program focuses on providing courses that address the history, roles, contributions, and needs of women across all disciplines. The program gives women in all aspects of higher education—students, faculty members, and staff—the means to develop a richness of perspective that informs their academic and personal growth.
An IUP initiative aimed at getting students to understand, appreciate, and fulfill their responsibilities as responsible citizens of the world, the Citizenship and Civic Engagement initiative holds regular events that address some of the world’s most pressing, challenging problems. Past events included a discussion on the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and a Rock the Vote screening of the film Hotel Rwanda. After each event, students can check a list of actions, both big and small, that can help them make positive changes in the world.
The McNair Scholars Program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania is an exciting academic year-round commitment focusing on first-generation college students who are financially needy, and those from underrepresented groups who have demonstrated strong academic potential for preparation in acquiring requisite skills needed for entry into graduate study and eventually earning a doctoral degree.