Drake University

At Drake, students are actively involved in their educations. They interact with their subjects and draw conclusions that they can apply to the bigger picture—one that extends far beyond the academic environment of the campus. Students are given the opportunity to work with their professors, meet with visiting ambassadors, and participate in service-learning initiatives, all within the liberal arts-based framework that Drake gives all its students.

THE DRAKE CURRICULUM
The Drake Curriculum gives students a solid foundation from which they can individually build both their educational and personal journeys. This curriculum introduces students to a wide variety of ideas and problem-solving skills. It trains students to become critical thinkers who engage in higher-level conceptualization. There are three components to the Drake Curriculum, which include the first-year seminar, areas of inquiry, and a senior capstone.

FIRST-YEAR SEMINAR
First-year seminar classes are designed to engage students with exciting and unique subject matters right at the start of their educational experience. Seminar courses have 19 or fewer students, all of whom will live in the same building as one another. This structure is designed to encourage comfortable participation in class as well as meaningful relationships outside of it.

AREAS OF INQUIRY
As students progress through college, they are to choose classes that suit and support their majors. No matter the concentration, however, they must also take 1-2 courses within each of Drake’s 10 “Areas of Inquiry.” These designations, which range from Quantitative Literacy to Critical Thinking, ensure that all students of all majors have the same foundational skill set for high-level thinking and success.

THE SENIOR CAPSTONE
The Senior Capstone is a chance for each student to demonstrate all they have learned over their first three years in college. This culminating capstone requirement is structured differently for every major, playing out in the format of field experience to an individual research project.

STUDY ABROAD
Drake offers its students the option to study abroad as a part of its initiative to prepare all of its students as globally engaged and conscious citizens. The University has programs in over 60 countries, and students have the option to travel throughout a semester, full-year, or summer term.

ENROLLMENT BY ETHNICITY
Non-U.S. Citizen: 3%
Hispanic/Latinx: 8%
Black or African American, non-Hispanic: 6%
White, non-Hispanic: 74%
Native/Indigenous American or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic: 0%
Asian, non-Hispanic: 5%
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic: 0%
Two or more races, non-Hispanic: 4%
Race and/or ethnicity unknown: 1%