We’re continuing our series on understanding the world of college this week by exploring colleges and universities with selected academic specialties.
NYCollegeChat is now available on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, and TuneIn!
Colleges and Universities with Selected Academic Specialties
Regardless of the wide range of subjects most students study in high school, for some students one particular subject is the only reason to come to school. That is one reason that it is so important for high schools to offer a full array of subjects and a broad schedule of after-school activities.
Some students are ready to specialize when it comes to college. What those students have to decide is whether to attend a university—which offers the field of study they are interested in, along with many, many others—or a college that is entirely dedicated to the field of study they are interested in. As we said in an earlier episode, a university typically has separate colleges or schools within it, each of which focuses on a broad field of study—for example, within the State University of New York at New Paltz, undergraduates can attend the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the School of Business, the School of Education, the School of Fine and Performing Arts, or the School of Science and Engineering. (Learn more about two-year colleges, four-year colleges, and universities in this episode of the podcast.)
What are the pros and cons of choosing a university or an independent dedicated college? On one hand, a student who ends up wanting to change to a different field of study might have an easier time doing so in a university setting, where that student could end up in an entirely different part of the university. On the other hand, a student who does really well in one field and does not want to spend time studying others might progress quicker, learn more in depth, and be better focused in a college dedicated to that field.
So let’s look at the arts first. Students who are passionate about the arts have quite a number of well-regarded choices. Some schools devoted to the arts are within larger institutions, including the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, the Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College, the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University, and the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.
Turning to institutions wholly dedicated to the arts, there is the highly selective Juilliard School here in New York City, well known for its degrees in drama, music, and dance. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, associated with the famous art museum of the same name, offers degrees in studio art, but also in art history and art education as well as other arts-related specialties. Founded in 1887, Pratt Institute in New York City offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees, with 22 associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in the arts and arts-related fields, including degrees in architecture, graphic design, painting and drawing, illustration, film, photography, digital arts, fashion, interior design, and art history. Rhode Island School of Design offers 15 Bachelors of Fine Arts majors in visual arts and design specialties and a Bachelor of Architecture degree.
Berklee College of Music in Boston, which is dedicated to the study of music, is a bit different from most other music schools because it draws students from around the world to study contemporary, rather than classical, music and offers degrees in a wide range of music specialties, including performance, composition, film scoring, music therapy, music education, production and engineering, and music business. Berklee’s new graduate campus in Valencia, Spain—again, dedicated to the study of music—offers its master’s degrees programs in extraordinary facilities, designed by modern architect Santiago Calatrava, in a setting that showcases global music.
Students who are intrigued by the rigorous technical field of engineering might consider a school of engineering within a large university (many big public universities have them and quite a few private universities also have them), like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, the University of Texas, Texas A & M University, the University of Illinois, the University of Southern California, Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, Columbia University, and many more. But, some smaller colleges have engineering programs as well. Take the example of Manhattan College (in New York City), which has 3,500 students, but offers a School of Engineering with both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Or these students might consider an institution that is dedicated to the study of engineering, like the Milwaukee School of Engineering.
Students who have decided that business is their future can attend business schools that can be found at many public and private universities—some well-known for their undergraduate business schools and some for their graduate business schools—including the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, the University of Chicago, Stanford University, New York University, Northwestern University, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Virginia, and many more. Stand-alone institutions dedicated to the study of business are the other way to go. Students could consider places like Babson College and Bentley University, both private colleges located in Massachusetts.
The two options—a school or college within a larger university vs. a stand-alone college dedicated to one academic field—and these examples will give you some background for thinking about college options when a student is truly interested in one field of study.
Listen to the podcast to find out about…
- What parents, teachers, and high school students want from arts education
- The truth about taking courses across schools or colleges within a university
- The surprising breadth of courses in colleges devoted to the arts
Check out these higher education institutions we mention…
In New York State
- Baruch College (CUNY)
- Columbia University
- Cornell University
- Fashion Institute of Technology (SUNY)
- Juilliard School
- Manhattan College
- College of Arts and Sciences, Polytechnic School of Engineering, and Tisch School of the Arts at New York University
- Pratt Institute
- State University of New York at New Paltz
- University at Albany (SUNY)
- Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester
Outside of New York State
- Babson College in Massachusetts
- Bentley University in Massachusetts
- Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts (and Spain)
- California Institute of Technology
- Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania
- Harvard University in Massachusetts
- Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Milwaukee School of Engineering in Wisconsin
- Northwestern University in Illinois
- Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College in Ohio
- Rhode Island School of Design
- School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Illinois
- Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University in Texas
- Stanford University in California
- Texas A & M University
- University of California at Berkeley
- University of Chicago in Illinois
- University of Illinois
- University of Southern California
- University of Texas
- University of Virginia
Connect with us through…
-
Subscribing to NYCollegeChat on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, or TuneIn!
-
Following us on Twitter @NYCollegeChat
-
Reviewing parent materials we have available at Policy Studies in Education
-
Inquiring about our consulting services if you need individualized help
- Following us on Facebook
Ask your questions or share your feedback by…
- Emailing us at paul@policystudies.org to ask a question if you want us to answer it privately