William Jewell College
Liberty, Missouri
William Jewell College is a small, independent liberal arts college situated on a scenic hilltop campus in Liberty, Missouri, about 15 miles from downtown Kansas City. Its identity is built around a single animating question that runs through the curriculum, the campus culture, and the careers of its graduates: “What is truth, how do we know it, and how then should we live?”
The college is small enough that students are genuinely known by name, and ambitious enough that its academic programs draw students from across the country who are looking for something more rigorous and more personal than a large university can offer.
Get to know William Jewell College
College Highlights
THE CRITICAL THOUGHT AND INQUIRY CORE
The core curriculum at Jewell is the institution’s defining academic feature, and it shows. The three-tiered Critical Thought and Inquiry program moves every student, regardless of major, through a common intellectual progression. The first tier establishes foundational skills and habits of mind. The second asks students to engage four interdisciplinary topic areas: Culture and Traditions; Science, Technology and the Human Experience; Power and Justice; and the Sacred and Secular. It all culminates in a capstone that asks students to address complex, real-world issues and bridge their academic work with the world they are about to enter.
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
Research at Jewell is treated as a serious part of undergraduate life. Faculty-student collaborations span disciplines, and the college celebrates student scholarship with an annual research colloquium. Classes are canceled so that the whole campus community can be inspired by their peers’ work. Past projects have ranged from investigations into slavery, memory, and justice to lab-based work in molecular biology.
ENROLLMENT BY ETHNICITY
Non-U.S. Citizen: 6%
Hispanic/Latine: 12%
Black or African American, non-Hispanic: 8%
White, non-Hispanic: 62%
Native/Indigenous American or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic: 1%
Asian, non-Hispanic: 2%
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic: 2%
Two or more races, non-Hispanic: 6%
Race and/or ethnicity unknown: 3%
With a small student-to-faculty ratio, Jewell’s classrooms are designed for conversation rather than passive instruction. Faculty advisors guide students through course planning, and a recently expanded Student Success Team provides additional support across all other dimensions of the academic experience. The Pryor Learning Commons serves as the campus’s intellectual and social hub, housing career resources, study spaces, and programming that keeps students engaged throughout the week.
THE RESPONSIBLE SELF
The first semester at Jewell begins with a humanities course called The Responsible Self. It is an intentional introduction to the kind of thinking Jewell wants its students to do for the next four years, asking big questions about identity, ethics, and what it means to live well. For honors students, the fall also includes an introductory seminar that prepares them for the tutorial-based learning of the Oxbridge program, with their first formal tutorial beginning in the spring.
Campus traditions help new students feel at home quickly. Cardinal Day over the summer gives incoming students a chance to meet faculty and current students before the semester begins, and orientation is followed by several days of social programming and a tour of Kansas City.
CAMPUS LIFE
Jewell is a deeply residential campus, with the large majority of students living in college-owned housing. First-year halls serve as the social anchor of the student experience, and the sense of community that forms there tends to carry through all four years.
LIBERTY AND KANSAS CITY
Liberty is a safe, welcoming small city with an active downtown. Kansas City sits just 15 miles away, offering students access to a vibrant arts and restaurant scene, professional sports, and a robust job market with major employers across healthcare, finance, engineering, and the arts. Jewell’s proximity is a great professional resource, with internship and career connections just a short drive away.
Career preparation at Jewell is woven into the academic experience from the first year. The Career Mentor Program pairs students with alumni mentors each semester, and career planning sessions offered for credit throughout the year help students think through their options well before senior year arrives.
Life After Jewell, a dedicated senior program, addresses the personal, financial, and professional dimensions of what comes next in a way that goes beyond a typical career fair. Faculty play an active role in connecting students to opportunities, and the alumni network is a loyal and practically useful resource that drives many of the internship placements students pursue.
Admission
TEST SCORES
Optional
FRESHMAN PROFILE
SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing
25th Percentile: 540 | 75th Percentile: 630
SAT Math
25th Percentile: 540 | 75th Percentile: 640
ACT Composite
25th Percentile: 18 | 75th Percentile: 24
ACT Math
25th Percentile: 16 | 75th Percentile: 25
ACT English
25th Percentile: 16 | 75th Percentile: 24
Tuition & Cost
Tuition: $18,600
Fees: $1,290
Room: $5,670
Board: $5,560
Contact William Jewell College
Contact Admissions
(816) 415-7511
admission@william.jewell.edu
Campus Location
500 College Hill
Liberty. MO 64068
(816) 781-7700