Cedar Crest College is a liberal arts college, primarily for women, dedicated to the education of the next generation of leaders. Cedar Crest College educates the whole student, preparing them for life in a global community. Cedar Crest College, founded in 1867, was one of the first women's colleges in the nation. Today it remains an independent, comprehensive liberal arts college for women that combines excellence in scholarship and undergraduate education with a variety of undergraduate, graduate, and online programs that serve adult women and men in the surrounding region and around the world. The College is nestled on a beautiful 85-acre campus in the western residential section of Allentown, Pennsylvania. Allentown is part of the Lehigh Valley region, the third-largest metropolitan area in Pennsylvania. Cedar Crest College is conveniently located approximately 55 miles from Philadelphia and 90 miles from New York City. The College grounds are adorned with more than 140 species of trees that comprise a nationally registered arboretum. The College borders an extensive park system and Allentown offers cultural activities ranging from theaters to art museums and recreational opportunities from minor league sports teams to concert venues that attract national acts. Cedar Crest offers students in the traditional undergraduate women's college unique opportunities to add value to their degree with signature programs like The Sophomore Expedition, a guaranteed study abroad experience paid for almost entirely by the College; the 4-Year Guarantee, which provides a clear path to graduation; and Dual Degrees to help students get their master's faster. With more than 40 academic majors, the flexibility of Cedar Crest's curriculum allows students to combine areas of interest like art and psychology or dance and forensic science. Cedar Crest's forensic science program is one of the few undergraduate programs accredited by the American Academy of Forensic Science. The College has one of the first undergraduate genetic engineering programs in the U.S. In the College's environmental conservation program, students travel to the Amazon, the Caribbean and the American Southwest to conduct research. The active undergraduate research program in all the sciences allows students to gain hands-on experience beginning in their first year. Cedar Crest's nursing program boasts a 95 percent pass rate for the NCLEX exam, the highest in the region, while the accredited nutrition program has a nearly 100 percent acceptance rate for highly-coveted dietetic internships. Students in the College's accredited social work program receive advanced standing in graduate schools. Cedar Crest also offers a MBA program, MSHSc in Nutrition, M.Ed. program, an M.S. in forensic science, an M.S. in nursing, a pan-European MFA, and M.A. in Art Therapy. Recent investments in lab space in disciplines including the sciences, nursing and health sciences, and psychology allow for greater student-faculty research, which students often present at regional and national conferences. The College also has newly updated student newspaper facilities and radio station. Cedar Crest students intern at nearly 350 sites worldwide including the FBI, CNN, MTV, Pfizer, Walt Disney World, U.S. Department of Defense, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Crayola, and more. Recent graduate school placements include Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, Princeton, and Columbia universities. The College fields teams in nine NCAA Division III sports plus equestrian and swim teams.Students can participate in over 30 clubs and organizations, including the national award-winning student newspaper, a wildly successful forensic speech team, and performance opportunities through active theatre and dance programs. Community service is also an integral part of the Cedar Crest experience, with students performing more than 22,000 hours of service each year.