Bluffton University
Bluffton, Ohio
At Bluffton University, faculty and staff believe nothing should stand in the way of the people their students are meant to become. This is why 98 percent of Bluffton graduates are employed, in graduate school, or in long-term service within six months of graduation.
Located on a 65-acre campus in northwest Ohio and lined with natural beauty, a rambling creek, and a Nature Preserve to explore, Bluffton University is a place that inspires. With nationally accredited programs in dietetics, education, music, and social work, as well as with champion volleyball and women’s basketball teams, students are pushed to greatness and challenged in this changing world.
Bluffton University’s professors and programs are shaped by a greater purpose, developing students of exceptional character and expansive vision. Since 1899, Bluffton students have been learning, experiencing, and bettering the world together.
Get to know Bluffton University
College Highlights
BLUFFTON BLUEPRINT
How do students prepare for a future that will be different than anyone can imagine? At Bluffton University, the answer is through the Bluffton Blueprint—four foundational courses, one for each year of college, which altogether create a core of resiliency.
Featuring both traditional classroom learning and experiential components, each course relates to one of Bluffton’s enduring values of Discovery, Community, Respect, and Service.
Discovery:
In their first year, Bluffton students take “Becoming a Scholar,” a course that prepares them for college-level learning. The class features “The Great Adventure,” a fall break experience to the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee for all first-year students. On this donor-funded experience, students ponder the big questions in life, including the short yet complex “Who am I?”
Community:
In their sophomore year, students take “Learning in Community” and work with community partners in nearby Lima, Ohio. Students reflect on the question “Who am I in Community?” as they learn about partnerships that bring about change.
Respect:
As a junior, students are immersed in a new environment during a “Cross-Cultural Experience.” Students have a choice of opportunities that range from such domestic experiences as Appalachia, Chicago, and New Mexico to international locations like Botswana, China, and Israel/Palestine. This experience allows students to reflect on the question “Who am I in the world?”
“I came back from China with a different mentality and a better understanding that the world is a lot bigger than Bluffton. It really pushed me to look at my major and future in a new way.” – Taylor Aurand ’19
Service:
During their final year, students explore their role in the wider world as they reflect on the same question that John the Baptist is challenged to answer in Luke 3:10-14, “What then shall we do?” Through a community task force opportunity with fellow seniors, soon-to-be graduates discover how their purpose in life can serve the greater global community.
ENROLLMENT BY ETHNICITY
Non-U.S. Citizen: 3%
Hispanic/Latinx: 3%
Black or African American, non-Hispanic: 12%
White, non-Hispanic: 73%
Native/Indigenous American or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic: 0%
Asian, non-Hispanic: 0%
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic: 0%
Two or more races, non-Hispanic: 4%
Race and/or ethnicity unknown: 4%
At Bluffton University, professors are more than just mentors. They strive to see students succeed in their lives academically and beyond. Through research, internships, or clinical experience, Bluffton professors aim to engage students in a rigorous curriculum paced to a changing world. They also connect students with alumni who are invested in their success and will help them discover the difference they can make. With an 11:1 student-to-faculty ratio, students are guided by knowledgeable professors who are experts in their field.
“I like talking to my professors and my professors knowing who I am. I really enjoy that they care about my education, and they’re here to help me.” – Ginesha Robinson ’21
BLUFFTON BREAD COMPANY
The Bluffton Bread Company allows students to learn business skills through particularly engaging, hands-on experience. Students from a variety of majors apply their classroom lessons into running this successful small business. From dietetics majors who perfect each recipe to business students who develop marketing plans, students are engaging with their professors in a whole new way to develop in-demand products.
SELF-DESIGNED MAJOR
At Bluffton, students don’t have to know immediately what they want to study or who they want to be after graduation. Faculty and staff instead make it a priority to help students gain insight into who they are as a person, helping them understand what truly is the right major for them. In some instances, students self-design a major in close collaboration with faculty to develop a course of study that fits their future goals.
HONORS PROGRAM
Bluffton’s Honors Program, completed over four years, intellectually challenges highly motivated students of all disciplines. These students explore the relationships between their academic studies as well as religious faith, purpose, and vocation.
Bluffton’s honor students not only take specialized courses and attend different social and cultural events, but they also receive additional academic advising tailored to applications for graduate and professional schools.
STUDENT LIFE
At Bluffton University, community extends far beyond the classroom. With more than 60 student organizations; 30 music, visual arts, and theatre events each year; and 16 athletic teams, students easily find their place. One unique aspect of campus students enjoy is the 160-acre nature preserve adjacent to campus. Students can often be found taking pictures by the Swinging Bridge, hiking the trails, or enjoying such water sports as catch-and-release fishing, paddle boarding, canoeing, and kayaking.
“I come from a smaller town, but we don’t have the community there that we have here. If somebody knows somebody else is going through something on campus, everyone kind of rallies behind them. I love that.” – Dani Easterday ’20
RESIDENCE LIFE
At Bluffton, students are rooted in a strong community comprised of other students from a variety of backgrounds. Bluffton students come from 13 states and 13 different countries. As a residential campus, Bluffton makes it natural to interact with and learn from peers both in the classroom and well as in the residence halls. Campus housing options include residence halls, academic houses, and campus apartments.
VILLAGE OF BLUFFTON
Bluffton University is located in Bluffton, Ohio, a rural village of about 4,000 people. Many students become part of the village community by engaging in volunteer opportunities or joining a local church. Community members support Bluffton students by attending athletic events, theatre performances, and music concerts.
Students enjoy shopping in the unique stores on Main Street, going bowling or golfing, and catching a movie at the theater in town.
SCHOOL LOCATION
Bluffton University is located in Northwest, Ohio, about one hour south of Toledo. Day trips are easy to plan, as Bluffton is located less than a two-hour drive to several big cities as well as Cedar Point, one of the most popular amusement parks in the country.
ATHLETICS
Teamwork brings out the best in a person. At Bluffton, it’s not just about being an athlete. Student-athletes not only love their game and play to win, but they also serve their community and learn to be a professional on and off the playing field. With 16 NCAA Division III athletic teams, students find an opportunity to be part of something greater than themselves. In 2018-19, Bluffton student-athletes broke 44 athletic school records, and 64 of those student-athletes earned an all-conference academic honor.
RESIDENCE LIFE
Percent of students living on campus.
Undergraduates: 88%
Campus housing options.
Coed Dorms
Women’s dorms
Apartments for single students
Theme housing
Bluffton scholars are primed for a lifetime of success through a well-rounded, hands-on education. 96% of students experience cross-cultural learning, which means that their minds are opened up to dynamic perspectives and new modes of throught. 98% of graduates are employed or engaged in advanced study or long-term service within six months of graduation.
“Bluffton prepared me to go into the real world. All aspects of my university experience, from my classes to extracurriculars, made me ready to move on and succeed. Being a first-generation college student was scary at first. Bluffton removed that fear, and I graduated with confidence.” – Thomas Wagler ’19
TRACKING GROWTH
All Bluffton University students are given access to an ePortfolio, an online record of their accomplishments, involvement, and overall growth as leaders. Now recognized as a High-Impact Practice, ePortfolios take stock of all the great success that employers value yet cannot fit on a compact résumé. Throughout all four years, students compile their work in a way that allows them to reflect on how dramatically they have excelled through a buildup of otherwise incremental change. It’s in this holistic display of achievement that students are better able to understand themselves, and future employers are able to recognize their potential for great things.
CHRISTIAN VALUES IN A GLOBAL COMMUNITY
The Bluffton University Core Curriculum incorporate common learning experiences throughout all four years of each student’s college career. As seniors, students are ready to integrate all they’ve learned from a wide variety of disciplines into a change-making, meaningful service project to effect change in the community around them. The seminar course, “Christian Values in a Global Community,” asks everyone to apply ethical and critical thinking to problems that exist beyond campus walls. Such a complex, engaging bookend to the curriculum ensures that students graduate with an idea of how to take their experience as college students and make and impact on the world around them as professionals.
NOTABLE ACCOLADES
- Best Value in Top Colleges – Educate to Career Rankings
- Top 10 percent of financial aid given – Chronicle of Higher Education
- Top Tier in “Midwest Colleges” – U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges
- Four nationally accredited programs: Dietetics, Education, Music and Social Work
Admission
TEST SCORES
Recommended but not required
FRESHMAN PROFILE
SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing
25th Percentile: 425 | 75th Percentile: 540
SAT Math
25th Percentile: 435 | 75th Percentile: 543
ACT Composite
25th Percentile: 18 | 75th Percentile: 24
ACT Math
25th Percentile: 17 | 75th Percentile: 24
ACT English
25th Percentile: 15 | 75th Percentile: 22
Tuition & Cost
Tuition: $33,952
Fees: $550
Room: $5,586
Board: $5,760
Aid
Each year, Bluffton offers two full-tuition scholarships to high-achieving students through the Presidential Scholarship Competition. This scholarship is valued at more than $140,000 over four years of undergraduate education at Bluffton.
100 percent of Bluffton University students receive some type of financial aid.
What Others are Saying
Contact Bluffton University
Contact Admissions
www.bluffton.edu/admissions
(800) 488-3257
admissions@bluffton.edu
Campus Location
1 University Drive
Bluffton, OH 45817
(419) 358-3000