Bridgewater State University’s 235-acre campus offers more than 30 undergraduate academic programs in four different schools: the School of Business, the School of Education and Allied Studies, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the School of Science and Mathematics. There is also a School of Graduate Studies for graduate students.
The student-faculty ratio at Bridgewater State University is 22 to 1, and about 39 percent of its classes have with fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors at Bridgewater include business management, marketing, journalism, education, psychology; and security and protective services. The average retention rate for freshmen is 77.8 percent.
Undergraduates can earn a bachelor of arts of bachelor of science degree in majors that include accounting and finance, art, athletic training, biology, chemistry, communication studies, earth sciences, health studies, history, English, music, social work, political science, physics and Spanish. The bachelor of science degree is offered in three areas: early childhood education, elementary education and special education.There are also more than 30 minor areas of study for students.
Among other things, the core curriculum at Bridgewater requires students to take first and second year seminars, both with a strong emphasis on writing skills, and requirements depending on a student’s major.
Yahoo Internet Life has ranked Bridgewater as one of America’s Top 50 Most-Wired Colleges and Universities, due in large part to the extensive wireless network that exists throughout the campus. The university also offers a continuing and distance education program, internships, research programs, honors programs and study abroad programs.
Bridgewater’s study abroad program is extensive. Semester-long programs are also available to students who want to immerse themselves in the cultures of England, Ireland, Canada, Brazil, Hong Kong, China and Japan. Each program differs, but in the China Exchange students attend classes at Shanghai Normal University, where theyl take Mandarin classes at the International College of Chinese Studies and courses about Chinese culture with other international students.
In the Ireland program, students take classes and live at The University of Limerick, Ollscoil Luimnigh. The University of Limerick is an independent university located in a 600-acre National Technological Park on the banks of the river Shannon.
In two Japan programs, just two students are chosen each year to travel to Wakayama, Japan, for 6-7 month spring and summer program that allows them to immerse into Japanese language and culture. Students will take mostly Japanese language courses and other courses of their choice. They live with home-stay families or in dormitories.
The school offers summer study tours in Lithuania, England, Jordan, Tanzania, China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Kenya. Germany, and Italy.
The summer program in England is called the Bridgewater-at-Oxford program, the oldest international study program offered a Bridgewater. Hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students have enjoyed the program, which includes living at Wadham College, a Medieval and Renaissance college in the heart of Oxford University. Students who enroll study English literature (including Jane Austen, Wordsworth and Coleridge), British history, the British Monarchy and Human Rights issues with Oxford faculty, see British theater, visit sites in Wales, Bath and London,
Most Popular Fields of Study
The top 5 fields of study completed at Bridgewater State College.
Bridgewater State University is considered a selective college, and its incoming freshman class in 2010-11 came from 26 different U.S. states and seven countries. The average grade point average of accepted students was 3.6, and the average ACT score was 24.6. Of the applications received by Bridgewater, 80 percent were accepted.
As part of the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, Bridgewater’s minimum admission standards require applicants to have earned a B average for certain required high school classes. The state also uses a sliding scale that includes SAT scores above 920, or an ACT composite score above 19. Admission decisions at Bridgewater are based on the strength of tan applicant’s academic profile compared to the pool of applicants. More than 8,000 applications are reviewed each year at Bridgewater for a freshman class of about 1,500.
Other factors considered in Bridgewater’s admission decisions are leadership skill, participation in extracurricular activities, maturity and special talents. Letters of recommendation and other supporting information is encouraged as well.
Students are encouraged to attend one Bridgewater’s group information sessions throughout the year.
Financial Aid
In addition to federal and state grants, scholarships and loans, Bridgewater offers a number of its own scholarships. The Bridgewater Alumni Association provides scholarships to undergraduate students who meet particular criteria. Application forms are available during February each year. Many of Bridgewater’s academic departments, clubs and campus organizations also sponsor scholarships and monetary awards to deserving students. A complete listing can be found in the Bridgewater handbook.
A limited number of graduate assistantships are offered by the Bridgewater School of Graduate Studies in certain subject areas.
Student Financial Aid Details
How many students use Financial Aid, and how much do they use?
Bridgewater State College 3211th for the average student loan amount.
Secrets to getting the best Massachusetts scholarships and financial aid
Bridgewater is home to 10 different residence halls, including three large halls reserved for first-year students. Shea and Durgin Halls are both co-ed, five-story residence halls with some single-sex floors, and combined, house approximately 700 students. Rooms at Shea and Durgin are corridor-style, with double, triple, and four-person rooms. The halls are located on East Campus, on Bridgewater’s “Great Hill,” and the closest dining room is about a two-minute walk away at the East Campus Commons. The halls also have a laundry, kitchen, recreation room, and study areas. All rooms are equipped with connections for cable TV, telephone, high speed Internet access, and wireless Internet access.
Woodward Hall is another freshman a co-ed dorm that houses 250 students. Rooms here are also corridor-style with double, triple, and four-person rooms. Woodward Hall also houses Bridgewater’s residential learning communities. Woodward hall is located on West Campus, with the closest dining rooms the Flynn Dining Commons and the Commuter Cafeteria, both about a minute’s walk away. Woodward also features a kitchen, recreation room, a TV lounge, vending machines, and study areas. Rooms are equipped with connections for cable TV, telephone, and wireless Internet access.
Bridgewater also offers its freshmen the optional First Year Residential Experience program, which assists first-year students with the transition from high school to college. Students in the FYRE program are connected to campus resources to help them succeed at Bridgewater.
Twenty-four hour security is provided in Woodward, Shea and Durgin Halls. Other halls have student security officers staffing the entrances to the halls from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. daily. All residence halls are also equipped with a card access system that only allows access to residence halls by students.
There are five dining halls on the Bridgewater campus, and most students use a variety of meal plans offered by the college, or “flex” dollars. The East Campus Commons offers a la carte food stations and deals that include an entree, four side dishes and a beverage. The Bear’s Den is the campus a la carte dining hall with brand names, including Dunkin Donuts, Quixote’s and Panin Grill. The Bridgewater Dining Room is a sit-down style restaurant in the Campus Center that offers a salad bar and traditional menu.
The Flynn Dining Commons is located in Tillinghast Hall and is an all-you-can-eat dining facility. And the Crimson Dining Hall offers food court dining with a grill, an international foods station, a pasta and pizza station, and a coffee/smoothies cafe.
One of the most popular gathering places on campus is the Rondileau Campus Center, also known as the RCC. You can grab a snack at the Bear’s Den cafeteria, check email at the computer lab, or shoot some pool at the Corner Pccket, which has four 9-foot pool table, two ping pong tables, dart boards and a TV lounge.
The 1,433-seat auditorium at the RCC is a proscenium style theater that regularly hosts performances by the theater, dance and music departments, as well as outside performances by groups that have included the New York City Opera, the Vienna Boys Choir, the Martha Graham dance company, Bobby McFerrin, and Tony Bennett.
Bridgewater commuters also have their own commuter lounge in the RCC. Information sessions and movie events are held regularly for commuting students in the lounge.
Bridgewater has 189 student clubs and organizations, including WBIM, a student-run radio station the airs underground music, an African Student Association, the Bridgwater Paintball Organization, a ski and board club, a video and film association, a Student Government Association, the BSU Noteworthy singing group, a GLBTA Pride Center, an ensemble theater group, and many more.
Student Enrollment Demographics
How many students are enrolled at Bridgewater State College?
The Bridgewater State College Bears compete at the NCAA Division III Level, and in 21 intercollegiate sports. The Bears have also been competitive in the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference and have won the Smith Trophy for the best Athletic Department.
The college sponsors men’s intercollegiate teams in basketball, baseball, football, wrestling, cross country, soccer, indoor track, swimming, and tennis. Women’s intercollegiate teams are basketball, softball, lacrosse, indoor track, volleyball, field hockey, soccer, cross country, tennis, and swimming.
Bridgewater also sponsors club sports in men’s ice hockey, women’s rugby, men’s lacrosse, and men’s rugby.
The college recently renovated the state-of-the-art Swanson football field and resurfaced the track. Bridgewater defeated its conference rival, Worcester State University, by a score of 25 to 9 on the Swanson field.
Athletes have their pick of facilities at Bridgewater, including the John J. Kelley Gymnasium, which houses a large and small gym, weight room, and Olympic-sized swimming pool. The Edward C. Swenson Athletic Complex is home to the college’s track and soccer fields, and Alumni Park is the location of a 500-seat softball field, with a natural grass outfield and a skinned infield.
The Andrew Tinsley Center, built in 2002 for $17 million, is the college’s NCAA basketball and volleyball venue, seating 1,000 spectators, and featuring wireless Internet access and a state of the art sound system. Surrounding Tinsley are the campus soccer fields, tennis courts, baseball and softball fields, and football field. The Tinsley Center also houses the campus’s Thornburg Fitness Center, which offers students use of lockers, treadmills, ellipticals, Stairmasters, upright and recumbent bikes, free weights, and other equipment.
Bridgewater also has three miles of recreation trails around the campus, used by students for walking, running, mountain biking, snowshoeing and back-country skiing.
Bibliography
“Bridgewater State College | Bridgewater State University | Best College | US News.” US News & World Report | News & Rankings | Best Colleges, Best Hospitals, and More. US New & World Report. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.
Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Bridgewater State University. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.
Bryan College Lions. Byran College. Web. 20 Apr. 2011.
Peterson’s – Your Comprehensive Guide to College Information. Peterson’s. Web. 20 Apr. 2011.
Feel free to add comments or additional information regarding Bridgewater State College, or discuss this school in the University Discussion Forum
about 1 year agoTOM
CAMPUS POLICE THERE ARE UNREAL, THERE BIG THING IS EVRYBODY SMELLS OF WEED, ONLY FOR THEM ITS A CAUSE TO SEARCH EVERYTHING THEY OWN. NO PROTECTION FROM THEM BY ANY OF THE STAFF, THER WORD IS GOD.KEEP YOUR CHILDREN AWAY FROM THIS PLACE AT ALL COST.
over 1 year agokaren
I would just like to know how this college has the right to pretty much strip search your child when entering the dorms. Going through laundry, pockets etc. That too me is an invasion of privacy. This is not a prison that is down the street. Students should fight for their rights to be respected and to be trusted in this is college.
almost 2 years agowould not like to leave my name
I regret that I have criticism for this college because I remember meeting some very nice people during my time there. However, the bad far outweigh the good. The biggest idiot that I have ever met in my life attended this school and other people liked this person way too much for me to have any respect for the college. I can assure you that I am being completely honest about my opinion of this person. If a loser like her can be elevated to queen status but someone like me can be harrassed and forced off campus, there is something very, very wrong about the college. Also, I had to go to a psychiatric unit for help because I was forced out of the house by my family members (they themselves have issues with me because I'm different from them, but it's them and not me). While I was there, there was someone that I remembered from BSC that was there. I recently went over my medical records, and they blatantly lied about things that I said and did. They exaggerated and turned insecurities into paranoia. I was abused by many people and that was something that I had to deal with. Instead, they tried to make me look like the one with the problem. They also would like to say that I have negative views on others which in my opinion, is there way of getting me to lower my standards. I'm not interested in being bullied into being the loser that she so clearly is. Too many dowdy, boring, losers go to school here. It's worth a little extra money to have a higher quality of life somewhere else, because these people are (expletive). Remember the original loser that I told you about? They were all obsessed with this singer that changed her name to my nickname so they wanted to make me look crazy. She was a psychology major and you never know who else was involved in all of this. I was also better at drawing realistically than she was and had a better taste in clothing. For many reasons, they did not want me to have a normal life purely out of jealousy. This is what happens when you go to school with white or black trash. I believe wholeheartedly in upscale, private education. When you go to school at a place like this, you have to wade through the sewerage and if you run into a crazy loser like the one I mentioned, you risk permanent damage to your life.
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CAMPUS POLICE THERE ARE UNREAL, THERE BIG THING IS EVRYBODY SMELLS OF WEED, ONLY FOR THEM ITS A CAUSE TO SEARCH EVERYTHING THEY OWN. NO PROTECTION FROM THEM BY ANY OF THE STAFF, THER WORD IS GOD.KEEP YOUR CHILDREN AWAY FROM THIS PLACE AT ALL COST.