College of Arts and Sciences

Admitted Students

We applaud the abilities and interests represented in students admitted to the class of 2012 and hope you choose to attend Bucknell. To help you make that decision, we want to answer questions you may have about the College of Arts and Sciences.

Why choose the College of Arts and Sciences at Bucknell?

We are one of the larger colleges of the top national liberal arts schools. Bucknell is the largest of the institutions listed in the top category of the U.S. News & World Report rankings, and our College of Arts and Sciences is among the largest four on this list. Our size creates opportunities for you.

We offer curricular diversity unavailable at smaller institutions.

The College of Arts and Sciences offers 48 majors. In addition to the formal majors, students can construct their own majors through the individualized interdepartmental major program or the broad college major. In addition, 65 minors are available in a wide range of fields and combinations of fields such as American studies and children studies.

Our curriculum maintains traditional strengths in the liberal arts that have been dropped at some institutions and adds new opportunities as faculty and student interests evolve. In recent years, we added interdisciplinary majors in neuroscience, comparative humanities, and several minors, including film, Italian, acting and directing, technology and design, and economics and mathematics.

We have professional programs that are unavailable at other liberal arts colleges.

The College of Arts and Sciences offers a bachelor of arts in music, plus professional bachelor of music degrees in the areas of performance, composition, music history, and music education. Non-majors can take advantage of music courses, lessons for fee, or participate in the vocal and instrumental ensembles.

In addition to a bachelor of arts in education, we offer a bachelor of science in education in early childhood education and elementary education. Students seeking certification to teach at the secondary level enroll in a bachelor of arts or bachelor of science program with a major in the area they want to teach and complete a set of required courses in education.

The bachelor of science in business administration offers students the option of majoring in accounting or management. Students in other majors can select management and accounting courses that complement their interests.

Finally, exposure to engineering and technology is offered to arts and sciences students through the presence of our College of Engineering. Exploring Engineering serves both Engineering and Arts and Sciences students. Other Engineering courses also are accessible to Arts and Sciences students.

Our faculty regards undergraduate students as its top priority.

All courses at Bucknell are taught by faculty and all faculty are engaged in teaching and advising undergraduates. Faculty members in every discipline supervise undergraduate independent studies and research projects. Many professional presentations and papers by Bucknell faculty have undergraduate co-authors. Opportunities for undergraduates to work with faculty members on research are available in the summer as well as during the academic year. At Bucknell, you will have excellent teachers who also are faculty mentors. They will help you to develop your strengths and define your interests.

Mentoring begins with our first-semester Foundation Seminars. Students choose from a variety of topics for these small courses of up to 16 students. Along with an interesting topic, the Foundation Seminar addresses the transition to college learning, and the instructor also serves as the student's academic adviser until a major is chosen.

The Foundation Seminars are the first step in the Common Learning Agenda, our general education program designed by the faculty to ensure that graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences, regardless of their major, have the breadth of education and skills necessary to live and work successfully in the 21st century.

For more information on what makes our education distinctive, visit Arts and Sciences.