independent institution covering more than 230 acres (90 hectares) in St. Paul, Minn., by Lake Valentine. Buildings on campus are connected by skyways and breezeways to make getting around easier, especially in the winter. Bethel College is owned and operated by the Baptist General Conference of America. Its origins trace back to the Bethel Theological Seminary, founded in 1871, but its undergraduate programs did not begin until 1945. The college seeks applicants with a serious interest in evangelical Christianity, and a pastor's reference is a helpful factor in the admission process. Preference is given to applicants from Conference Baptist churches. Total enrollment is roughly 2,000 undergraduates and 100 graduate students. About 70 percent of the students are state residents, and many others are from the North Central area of the United States. Women outnumber men. Freshmen and sophomores who are unmarried and do not live with their parents are required to reside in campus housing. About 60 percent of Bethel's full-time faculty hold doctorates. The college awards associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees. Classes are conducted on a 4-1-4 calendar, which is two full semesters of about four months each and a one-month term in between. Undergraduate fields of study include art, business, education, liberal arts and sciences, music, theater arts, nursing, computer science, international relations, community and family services, and theology. A five-year engineering program is available in conjunction with several other institutions. All students must demonstrate competency in speech, composition, and mathematics. They also must take classes within the general areas of Bible and theology, Western heritage, world citizenship, self-understanding, science and technology, and health and wholeness. Special options for interested students include work-study programs in Washington, D.C., a Latin Studies Program in Costa Rica, the Hollywood Film Studies Program, and study-abroad programs in places such as Jerusalem and Great Britain. Also at the undergraduate level are adult education programs in business management, nursing, and organizational studies. Classes meet one day a week for a period of four hours. Adults must already have two years of previous college experience to be admitted. Bethel's master's programs are in counseling psychology and education. Bethel conducts numerous extracurricular activities, including intramural sports, student government, chorus, a drama group, the student-run newspaper, and the campus radio station. Varsity sports teams compete in Division III of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. For students interested in additional cultural and social opportunities, downtown St. Paul and Minneapolis are both only 15 minutes away from campus. |