Erskine College
Due West, South Carolina
Erskine College has been equipping young people to flourish in lives of learning, serving, and leading for 185 years. The institution’s rich heritage of thoughtful scholarship, spiritual strength, and intentional community provides an academic experience that’s as distinctive as its students, faculty, and graduates.
Erskine is a small place to ask life’s big questions.
There’s no doubt about it—Erskine is small. That means some big advantages! Its size, combined with a focus on excellent academics, authentic Christian atmosphere, and time-honored traditions, creates a distinctive kind of academic community.
No matter what students choose to study, they will be challenged to work hard, to think creatively and critically, to explore options, and to question assumptions across a variety of subjects.
Erskine is a vibrantly academic institution centered on learning.
Erskine is ranked among the best undergraduate liberal arts colleges in the nation. This is reflected in exceptional graduate school placement and completion rates. For instance, nearly 100 percent of graduates pursuing medical school are accepted.
Erskine’s handcrafted approach allows faculty and students to fashion programs of study that go well beyond a simple list of majors and minors to focus on each individual’s vocational understanding and goals.
Erskine is a faithful community seeking solid answers.
Professors at Erskine view what people learn and how they live as inseparable foundations for an excellent education. Erskine is an academic community committed to Christian authenticity where the pursuit of faith is intentional and pervasive, but never coercive.
As Erskine students gain knowledge about science, the arts, history, and literature, they also explore how those ideas and their personal journey fit into the bigger story.
Get to know Erskine College
College Highlights
Because Erskine believes that intelligence is best served by a broader worldview, students are encouraged to reach out to neighboring communities, colleges, and countries. To enrich their surrounding communities, they excitedly work through mission, college exchange, and study abroad programs while pursuing their academic passions through research, internships, and externships.
STUDENT-FACULTY RESEARCH
Erskine students across a variety of disciplines work in close partnership with faculty on professional-level research. Biology, chemistry, physics, and psychology majors participate in frontline research in their fields, work in conjunction with scholars at other institutions, and present their findings at conferences nationwide.
Research opportunities aren’t limited to the sciences. From education to business to the humanities, students are encouraged to develop their interests and dig deeply into research questions.
Many find that their personal and academic interests overlap: psychology major Whitney Brown combined her love for her subject field with her passion for softball. She developed an experiment to test whether studying martial arts could improve the batting swing of softball or baseball players, and field-tested her hypothesis among Erskine’s athletes. (The results? Studying tai chi techniques improves batting performance!)
WINTER TERM
Erskine offers a Winter Term in January (“J-Term”) to allow for concentrated study in a specific field or interest. J-Term options include independent study, externships, and travel.
Education majors could spend the month working in local public school classrooms while future business leaders might study how Disney trains management at its famous theme parks. Biology students regularly travel to observe flora and fauna in native habitats around the world. A group of Spanish students hiked El Camino Santiago in Spain in January 2014.
Students who elect to spend J-term on campus aren’t left out. The course listing changes each year as faculty tap into their passions, hobbies, and core interests to offer unique classes like equestrian studies, filmmaking or film studies, Japanese culture, or the graphic novel. And many students schedule local internships in their preferred career fields for the month of January.
OPPORTUNITIES TO TRAVEL FOR STUDY OR MINISTRY
Semester-long opportunities to study abroad are available in Scotland, England, France, Spain, and Mexico. Students from all majors can benefit from these overseas experiences. Faculty work alongside students to plan a course of study that enables the student to both study abroad and remain on schedule for graduation.
Other students choose to engage in summer or J-term mission trips. For example, last summer a dozen students from a variety of majors, two Erskine alumni, and an administrator spent a week on a riverboat on the Amazon River bringing medical care to remote villages.
The faculty is perhaps what makes any one college truly unique. Just as who students become is influenced by much more than the majors they complete, the quality of Erskine’s faculty is measured by much more than the subjects they teach.
Students at Erskine learn from a physics professor who is also passionate about Japanese history and culture, a history professor who loves to teach students to play guitar, a psychology professor who holds a degree in culinary arts, a math professor who invites students and faculty to hike the hills of Upstate South Carolina with him.
AUTHENTIC CHRISTIAN LIBERAL ARTS
Erskine College provides all students with a solid liberal arts education to help them see how knowledge and faith are interconnected, understand the unity of human experience, and define their unique calling. Part of an authentic Christian education is learning that knowledge never exists in a vacuum: to use the power of knowledge responsibly, a student must gain wisdom.
CORE CURRICULUM INITIATIVE
The newly redesigned Core Curriculum divides general education coursework between foundation courses and formation courses. Foundation courses develop essential skills and knowledge about God, humanity, and nature across a broad spectrum of liberal arts. At the formation level, the core courses offer more choices for students as they continue to hone vital communication and logical reasoning skills, develop knowledge through perspectives unique to each discipline, and integrate critical analysis, problem solving, and ethics.
EXCELLENT EDUCATION AND “FACE TIME”
At Erskine, highly qualified professors, not teaching assistants, teach the classes. With a small student-faculty ratio, professors give students plenty of “face time.”
Professors get to know students as individuals and help them excel both personally and academically, taking an interest in their growth as whole persons. It’s not unusual to find professors and students eating lunch together, sharing coffee to discuss big ideas, or collaborating on research in their mutual fields.
PERSONALIZED EDUCATION
Students aren’t limited to a list of majors. Not only does Erskine offer 26 degree programs across the arts and sciences, but faculty will work to handcraft a course of study to fit a student’s specific gifts and calling.
For example, a student interested in genetic counseling might combine a biology degree (emphasis in biochemistry) with a psychology major and schedule Winter Term or summer internships at the nearby Greenwood Genetics Center to prepare for grad school research. Many recent Erskine grads from chemistry or biology have gone to medical and dental schools, with nearly every student accepted to a program in their field. Students interested in law might travel any number of paths toward graduate school, guided by history or philosophy professors.
CLOSELY CONNECTED
Relationship is at the center of Erskine’s pedagogy and serves as a defining aspect of all students and faculty do. In a community like Erskine’s, it’s difficult to ‘fake it.’ Quality is revealed. Weaknesses are strengthened. Character is refined through meaningful, intentional relationships. At Erskine, it’s often easier to see more clearly how individual talents, interests, and contributions really make a difference. Each member of the community shapes the experience for others, while the community shapes the individual.
SUPPORTIVE CHRISTIAN ATMOSPHERE
Erskine fosters an authentic Christian environment of caring, mentoring, and community building. At Erskine, student life is designed to encourage maturity by giving students increasing responsibility without ever abandoning them. Older students mentor younger students while faculty and staff members mentor all of them. Erskine believes that, while everyone must learn responsibility and independence, maturity develops within a community.
Active ministries to students include Reformed University Fellowship, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and Baptist Collegiate Ministries. The leaders of each ministry seek to help others find guidance and support as they adjust to college and make the transition to adult life.
Erskine students are also given opportunities to strengthen and apply their faith in weekly convocations and chapel events that feature outstanding guest speakers, special activities, and thought-provoking discussions.
BROADENING HORIZONS
Student life at Erskine provides a wide variety of ways to make connections, learn new skills, and have fun. For sports and fitness fans, Erskine has NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports teams competing across the country. There are also intramural sports leagues and an outdoor recreation club. During their downtime, students can take advantage of the fitness center, swimming pool, and tennis courts.
More than 40 student organizations engaged in everything from arts to community service ensure that there is always something going on outside the classroom at Erskine. New students can dive right into student government, community service, Bible studies, and outreach groups.
There are professional and honor societies, arts-related interest groups, and student publications like the yearbook and campus newspaper.
Erskine’s literary societies were founded in the 1840s and represent a rich historic tradition at the college. Founded to enable students to express themselves intellectually and socially, the literary societies evolved into a key component of social life and community service at Erskine.
RESIDENTIAL LIFE
The great majority of Erskine College students live on campus. A residential campus fosters community and makes it easier for new students to adapt to college life.
SCHOOL LOCATION
Due West, South Carolina
Due West of what? Not sure. But from tree-lined green spaces, gardens and gathering spots to stately architecture, comfortable hangouts, and convenient Wi-Fi, Erskine’s campus is a great place to learn and live.
ATHLETICS
NCAA Division II
Conference Carolinas
Men’s: baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, track & field, volleyball
Women’s: acro and tumbling, basketball, beach volleyball, cross country, flag football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field, volleyball
Spirit: cheerleading, dance
Co-Ed: bass fishing, rodeo
Mascot: The Flying Fleet
Colors: Erskine red & gold
As one of the oldest and most prestigious church-related liberal arts college in the South, Erskine prizes academic rigor and Christian authenticity. Erskine graduates lead companies, influence professional fields, and make their mark on American culture in many other ways.
Erskine graduates have also been extremely successful in entering medical, law, and Ph.D. programs. In fact, nearly 100 percent of students who apply for graduate, medical, pharmacy, or law school are accepted into the programs of their choice. Just as important, Erskine enjoys one of the highest graduate school completion rates in the nation.
Erskine provides career counseling and assistance to students throughout their years in college, recognizing that a vocational path is a journey—for a lifetime, not just four years—of discovering and cultivating a person’s interests and abilities and matching these with the needs of society.
NETVUE PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT GRANT
Erskine College recently received a grant from the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE), administered by the Council of Independent Colleges, making Erskine one of 36 institutions selected to deepen the intellectual and theological exploration of vocation among undergraduate students.
Erskine’s grant, “Flourishing and Vocational Excellence,” seeks to bring the Christian concept of vocation into the heart of Erskine’s identity and mission by providing programs and opportunities for faculty, staff, and undergraduate students. The ultimate goal of the grant is to see Erskine develop into a recognized center and site for vocational excellence.
Admission
TEST SCORES
Optional
FRESHMAN PROFILE
SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing
25th Percentile: 460 | 75th Percentile: 570
SAT Math
25th Percentile: 460 | 75th Percentile: 580
ACT Composite
25th Percentile: 17 | 75th Percentile: 23
ACT Math
25th Percentile: 17 | 75th Percentile: 23
ACT English
25th Percentile: 16 | 75th Percentile: 22
Tuition & Cost
Tuition: $34,435
Fees: $2,275
Room: $6,350
Board: $6,900
What Others are Saying
Contact Erskine College
Contact Admissions
erskine.edu/admissions-aid
(864) 379-8838
admissions@erskine.edu
Campus Location
2 Washington Street
Due West, SC 29639
(888) 359-4358