School Spotlight: Transylvania University

There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. And while the media tends to focus on just a handful of schools, we at College Coach encourage students to think outside the box during their college selection process and explore a wide range of colleges. As such, we are highlighting a new college each week in our School Spotlight series. Check out the college below, along with the other posts in our series, and you may just stumble upon your dream school! School Spotlight: Transylvania University Lexington, KY No… we’re not talking about Romania. This is Transylvania University, located in a beautiful college town just two miles away from the University of Kentucky. Transylvania means “across the woods” in Latin, which was an accurate description for the heavily forested area where the school was founded back in 1780. Today the University enrolls just under 1,000 students, and it remains a top choice for KY high school students seeking a challenging liberal arts education. The academic calendar is one of Transylvania’s most unique features. Fall and winter terms are both 14-weeks long, while May term gives students the chance to deeply engage in a single academic course, either on campus or abroad. This spring, students can spend May term studying fine arts in England, world music in Costa Rica, or tropical ecology in Belize! Did you know that students can design their own course of study at Transylvania? Under the guidance of three faculty members, students with interdisciplinary interests can propose a self-designed major that combines elements of at least two different academic departments. Some other fun facts to consider: graduation is guaranteed in 4 years; 90 percent of students participate in some kind of community engagement; and 98 percent of students receive financial aid. In fact, students with strong GPAs and test scores are automatically eligible for merit scholarships worth $7,000 - $18,000! Image Credit: Top, Courtesy Transylvania University