Washington & Jefferson College offers an exceptional liberal arts and sciences education, having been ranked first in the country per capita for producing attorneys and third in the country for producing physicians and medical researchers. Routinely, at least 90 percent of our applicants to medical and law schools are admitted. More than 90 percent of seniors find work or admission to graduate school before graduation. At W&J students can individualize their education. Many students major in more than one subject, complemented by minors and academic emphases. A student might, for example, major in Biology with a minor in business and an emphasis in data analysis. This is so much more distinctive than a major in Biology. Students can also complete hands-on research fellowships, internships, and independent work at leading facilities throughout the world including The University of Paris, The Mayo Clinic, Tiffany's, CBS News, Los Alamos Labs, and Harvard Medical School. All this can be done (along with athletic involvement and study abroad) within four years. In fact, we have a four-year graduation guarantee. With an 11:1 student-to-faculty ratio, students receive personalized attention from dedicated professors who know them well and who have years of experience in helping students conquer the complexity of calculus or Beethoven. W&J students often publish their work or are funded to attend national and international conferences where they present their research alongside that of professional researchers, graduate students, and faculty from other institutions. More than half of our students take advantage of our 40 study abroad programs in countries such as Australia, China, France, Germany, Ecuador, and South Africa. W&J's nationally recognized Magellan Project allows any W&J student to propose an internship or research project for completion in the summer, and W&J will fund that student. Magellan projects are as diverse as our students and have included internships at the American Embassy in Berlin, work in an elephant sanctuary in Cambodia, study of poverty in Australia, and cancer research at UCLA. More than 400 Magellan projects have been funded in the last seven years. The Intersession term, a distinctive feature of our 4-1-4 academic calendar, allows students to take one course intensively, during the month of January. They may travel to London to study theatre, camp out in Africa to watch animals migrate, or stay on campus to design robots or study with a prize-winning journalist. W&J is very close to Pittsburgh and students can travel into the city free of charge in college vans to see professional sporting events, shop, eat in fine restaurants, attend theatre or ballet performances, see friends, or listen to renowned speakers. This combination of a safe, small town atmosphere with the amenities of a big city on our doorstop makes W&J popular. W&J also has a strong tradition of producing student athletes. The College fields 24 intercollegiate sports and is the smallest college ever to compete in the Rose Bowl. Student athletes from W&J include Dan Towler, Dr. Charles "Pruner" West (the first African-American quarterback in the Rose Bowl game) and legendary coaches such as John Heisman. With about 13,000 living alumni, W&J has graduated leaders in almost every field, from architecture to zoology. The College boasts civic leaders like James G. Blaine (1847), who served as secretary of state and ran for president three times; as well as pioneers such as Joseph Walker, who made the first NASA x15 flight and was the first to pilot the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle; and Jesse Lazear, who studied yellow fever in Cuba with Walter Reed. W&J also educated NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell 81 and former Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl 03, who at the time of his election was the youngest mayor of a major U.S. city.

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