Hope College

Hope College is a distinguished and distinctive four-year, liberal arts, undergraduate college, affiliated with the Reformed Church in America. Its great religious heritage is expressed through a dynamic Christian community of students and teachers vitally concerned with a relevant faith that changes lives and transforms society. The curriculum offers a variety of courses in 89 majors leading to a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Science, or Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. The college has long been known for outstanding pre-professional training. Each year many graduates go on to further study in the leading graduate and professional schools in this country and abroad; others directly enter professions. During the 2006-07 school year, Hope had 3,203 students from 44 states and territories and 29 foreign countries.

Hope College is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission* and a member of the North Central Association. Hope is also accredited by the American Chemical Society, the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, the Council on Social Work Education, the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, the National Association of Schools of Dance, the National Association of Schools of Music, the National Association of Schools of Theatre, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, the Engineering Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology for the Bachelor of Science Degree with a major in engineering, and other agencies.

Hope Occupies a special place in the vast array of educational opportunities offered in the United States. It makes its contribution to the vitality and diversity of American higher education through the distinctiveness of its educational philosophy and program. As a liberal arts college offering education within the context of the historic Christian faith, Hope is a place of open inquiry, acceptance of intellectual challenge, rigorous engagement with hard questions, and vigorous but civil discussion of different beliefs and understandings; in the words of the Covenant of Mutual Responsibilities between the Reformed Church in America and its colleges, it is a place characterized by "an atmosphere of search and confrontation that will liberate the minds, enhance the discernment, enlarge the sympathies, and encourage the commitments of all students entrusted to (it)." For more than a century, Hope has cherished the conviction that life is God's trust, a trust which each of us is called to personally activate by an insistent concern for intelligent involvement in the human community and its problems.

Hope's Reason for being is each individual student. It seeks to develop the growth of each student as a competent, creative, and compassionate person. Its design is to provide a complete opportunity for the fulfillment of each individual student, not only for his or her self-gratification, but also for what can be given to others in service to God and humanity.

Hope Believes that a vital faith, which provides both the incentive and dynamic for learning and living, is central to education and life.

Hope Welcomes capable men and women of all social and economic levels. Hope is interested in students who sincerely seek to enlarge their minds, to deepen their commitments, and to develop their capacities for service.

Hope Provides an adventure in learning and living, not only for knowledge and wisdom, but also for understanding, meaning, and purpose. As partners in this seeking fellowship, Hope students find a faculty of professionally distinguished scholars who have a genuine concern for the total development of each student. Hope's finest professors teach introductory as well as advanced courses. Independent work on a self-directed basis is encouraged.

Hope Offers a well-equipped and friendly environment. Campus life pivots around residence halls, which serve as social centers and provide congenial surroundings for students to learn with one another. The diversity of student backgrounds, geographic and ethnic origins, and personal interests adds variety and richness to the group living experience. The campus is 90 percent accessible to students who are mobility impaired. Examples of all housing options (residence hall, apartment and cottage), as well as most major academic buildings, are accessible to mobility-impaired persons. Many co-curricular activities and cultural events provide a variety of rich opportunities for learning and personal development.

Hope Prepares men and women who are persons in their own rights — uncommon men and women who have a personal dignity based on intelligence, a sense of responsibility, and a deeply rooted faith. For more than a century, Hope has prepared alumni to go to the four corners of the world — alumni who have enriched their professions and humanity far out of proportion to their numbers. Hope graduates aim to go beyond specialization toward a synthesis of all learning in life.