Roanoke College believes that helping students find and follow their passion is key to their success in life. When people are engaged in what they love, they have the drive and determination to pursue innovation and make things happen. Their life, and the world, is enriched as a result. From the very first day, we help students identify their passions and goals, and then shape their education to achieve them. Roanoke is nationally recognized for its core curriculum. Unlike most colleges that require a series of introductory courses in various disciplines, all of Roanoke's core courses are topic based, and students see firsthand how fundamental concepts are applied to important issues. For example, instead of taking a generic "Introduction to Chemistry" course, students might choose "Chemistry and Crime," where they use forensic chemistry to solve crimes. Or, instead of "Statistics 101," students might choose "Statistics and the Weather" and discover how statistical analysis is used in weather forecasting. Real-world learning is a cornerstone of academics at Roanoke. While every student experiences real-world learning, more than 90 percent of Roanoke students study abroad, conduct internships, create an artistic work or participate in research outside of the classroom. In fact, some student research is graduate-school-level in nature, and many undergraduates present their work at national academic conferences. Ask students to describe what makes Roanoke special and they'll invariably talk about the close relationships with their professors. The college prides itself on its ability to empower students to perform beyond their expectations. Nearly all professors practice what they teach and contribute to scholarly works in their academic areas. Because of this close-knit academic environment, students learn directly through the experiences of these experts. Many students have a faculty mentor, which helps lead them to excellent graduate school placements or directly into fulfilling careers. In fact, almost all seniors receive job offers or go on to graduate school within six months of graduation, and approximately 40 to 50 percent of Roanoke alumni go to graduate school within five years. Roanoke graduates have attended graduate schools such as the University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania and Yale. Alumni have gone on to fascinating careers in science, medicine, television production, humanitarianism and government. Many are entrepreneurs, who have started their own businesses.

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