What’s so unique about Wilkes?
If you’ve been looking at colleges, you’ve seen the pictures on all the websites.
Beautiful buildings on a well-kept campus. Students chatting in the cafeteria. Professors
sharing their knowledge in a classroom. Crowd shots at commencement. After a while,
all those websites and all those colleges start to look the same. So what makes Wilkes
unique?
- Wilkes is a small university. We have fewer than 2,500 undergraduate students on campus, so you’ll get to know
your classmates by name. And you’ll receive personalized attention from your professors,
not a glance from a graduate student in a 500-seat lecture hall.
- We offer big opportunities. Wilkes is the only university of our size to offer the broad mix of professional
and liberal arts programs we do. You’ll have the opportunity to choose from 41 majors
across six different schools. If you can’t pick just one, you can double major or
combine a major and a minor. Double major in engineering and digital media. Major
in accounting and minor in Spanish. With so many different programs, you’ll have a
wide range of options. (If you’re a math major, you can figure out exactly how many.) In
addition to 42 bachelor degree programs, Wilkes offers 25 master's degree programs
and four doctoral/terminal degree programs including the doctor of nursing practice,
doctor of education, doctor of pharmacy, and master of fine arts in creative writing.
- A Wilkes education is worth it.The Economist ranked Wilkes University 25th in the nation for economic value by comparing what our graduates earn to what they
might have earned if they had studied elsewhere. The Brookings Institution, Money magazine and technology company Smart Asset have also recognized the value of a Wilkes
education. We know that our commitment to academic success pays off for our students,
but it’s great to see others catching on.
- We believe in hands-on learning. Lectures and study groups are vital parts of the college experience, but Wilkes faculty
wants you to put that book learning to good use. Students have worked with Dr. Abas
Sabouni on technology that could revolutionize breast cancer screening, and others
summered north of the Arctic Circle with Dr. Ned Fetcher researching the effects of
climate change on plants. Dr. Jane Elmes-Crahall and the staff of Zebra Communications,
our student-run public relations agency, have conducted fundraising campaigns for
the Salvation Army. At Wilkes, you’ll have the opportunity to work side by side with
your professors, gaining research experience as an undergraduate that students at
other schools can’t even think about until grad school.
- You won’t spend all your time studying. But that doesn’t mean you’re not learning. As an NCAA Division III school, Wilkes
gives you the opportunity to be a true student-athlete. You can choose from 20 sports,
competing for the love of the game rather than the requirements of an athletic scholarship.
We encourage a balance of academic and athletic excellence, while the Division III
season also gives you the time to participate in other cocurricular and extracurricular
opportunities. Speaking of other activities, Wilkes has more than 70 clubs and organizations
on campus. So whether you’re an all-star forward or a comic book aficionado (maybe
both), you’ll have plenty of opportunities when you’re not hitting the books.
- We’ll help you jump-start your future. At Wilkes, your future as a business leader can start right now. As a freshman business
major, you’ll take a class where you build a company from the ground up. No matter
your major, you can work with our business incubator. The incubator provides encouragement
and support for student-run businesses, from idea to product development to marketing.
One of those businesses, Kraken Boardsports, started as a mechanical engineering
assignment. While still students, the Kraken team manufactured a winch that allows
athletes to snowboard without a hill and wakeboard without a boat. Kraken has caught
waves, business accolades and the attention of board sports enthusiasts, launching
a business well before the team donned their graduation caps.
- Your success is our job, and we love our job. One of our greatest assets at Wilkes is the quality of our people. Our faculty and
staff are committed to student success both in and out of the classroom. Need to get
in touch with your professor? You’re likely to have her cell phone number. Looking
for an internship? The director of cooperative education will strive to make the internship
experience a perfect fit. Stressing about finals? Tony in the cafeteria is sure to
notice and is more than willing to help with a smile and some words of encouragement.
At Wilkes, we’re committed to you, and that commitment doesn’t stop when the workday
ends.
- We’re proud of our past and excited about our possibilities. You’ll see the statue of our namesake, John Wilkes, in the center of campus (sometimes he even dresses for special occasions). We love showing off our stately mansions, which are the former homes of business leaders and coal barons. Our history is important to us. But we’re always looking to the future. In just the last few years, we’ve made significant investments in the Cohen Science Center, the Sidhu School of Business and Leadership, the Passan School of Nursing and the campus gateway project. The near future will bring improvements to our engineering and communications facilities as well as the Sordoni Art Gallery. We invest in our campus because we’re dedicated to your future.
What’s so special about Wilkes? It’s the size, the program mix, the value, the people, the opportunities, the past, the future. All of these factors combine to make Wilkes one of the most unique universities in the county. Wilkes offers the programs and activities of a large university in the caring, mentoring culture of a small university. Now the only thing missing is you.
Policy Statement of Nondiscrimination:
Wilkes University does not discriminate on the basis race, color, national or ethnic
origin, age, religion, disability, pregnancy, gender, gender identity and/or expression,
sexual orientation, marital or family status, military or veteran status, or genetic
information in its programs and activities. For more information, contact Samantha
Hart, Title IX Coordinator, 10 East South St., Wilkes-Barre (570) 408-3842 or the
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights for more information.
