FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY J-18

1201 South State St.
Big Rapids, MI 49307
Tel: (231)591-2000
Free: 800-433-7747
Admissions: (231)591-2797
Fax: (231)591-2978
E-mail: admissions@act01.ferris.edu
Web Site: http://www.ferris.edu/

Description:

State-supported, comprehensive, coed. Awards associate, bachelor's, master's, and first professional degrees. Founded 1884. Setting: 850-acre small town campus with easy access to Grand Rapids. Research spending 2003-04: $386,674. Educational spending 2003-04: $5427 per student. Total enrollment: 11,803. Faculty: 818 (521 full-time, 297 part-time). Student-undergrad faculty ratio is 15:1. 11,166 applied, 49% were admitted. Full-time: 8,470 students, 45% women, 55% men. Part-time: 2,241 students, 54% women, 46% men. Students come from 43 states and territories, 46 other countries, 7% from out-of-state, 1% Native American, 1% Hispanic, 7% black, 2% Asian American or Pacific Islander, 2% international, 18% 25 or older, 38% live on campus, 12% transferred in. Retention: 65% of full-time freshmen returned the following year. Academic areas with the most degrees conferred: business/marketing; engineering/engineering technologies; protective services/public administration; visual/performing arts. Core. Calendar: semesters. Academic remediation for entering students, ESL program, services for LD students, advanced placement, accelerated degree program, freshman honors college, honors program, independent study, distance learning, double major, summer session for credit, part-time degree program, adult/continuing education programs, co-op programs and internships, graduate courses open to undergrads. Off campus study at Delta College, Henry Ford Community College (CC), Lansing CC, Mott CC, Macomb CC, Macomb CC, St. Clair County CC, North Central Michigan College, Northwestern Michigan College, University Center, Gaylord, Westshore Community College, Muskegon CC, Southwestern Michigan College. Study abroad program. ROTC: Army (c).

Entrance Requirements:

Open admission. Options: Peterson's Universal Application, electronic application. Required: high school transcript, minimum 2.35 high school GPA, SAT or ACT. Entrance: minimally difficult. Application deadline: 8/5. Notification: continuous.

Costs Per Year:

Application fee: $30. State resident tuition: $6190 full-time, $256 per credit hour part-time. Nonresident tuition: $12,380 full-time, $512 per credit hour part-time. Mandatory fees: $142 full-time. Full-time tuition and fees vary according to reciprocity agreements. College room and board: $6522. College room only: $3312. Room and board charges vary according to board plan and housing facility.

Collegiate Environment:

Orientation program. Drama-theater group, choral group, student-run newspaper, radio station. Social organizations: 220 open to all; national fraternities, national sororities, local fraternities, local sororities; 6% of eligible men and 4% of eligible women are members. Most popular organizations: Student Government of Ferris State University, Intramural Sports Club, University theatre, Music Club, Forensics Club. Major annual events: Homecoming, Ferris Fest, January Jams. Student services: health clinic, personal-psychological counseling. Campus security: 24-hour emergency response devices, student patrols, late night transport-escort service. 4,427 college housing spaces available; 4,043 were occupied in 2003-04. Freshmen guaranteed college housing. On-campus residence required through sophomore year. Option: coed housing available. FLITE: Ferris Library for Information, Technology and Education with 344,496 books, 443 microform titles, 21,445 serials, 10,195 audiovisual materials, an OPAC, and a Web page. Operations spending 2003-04: $3.7 million. 2,373 computers available on campus for general student use. Computer purchase/lease plans available. A campuswide network can be accessed from student residence rooms and from off campus. Staffed computer lab on campus.

Community Environment:

Home for Ferris is Big Rapids, a city of approximately 15,000 residents. The county seat of Mecosta County, Big Rapids is at the junction of U.S. 131 and M-20, 54 miles north of Michigan's second-largest city, Grand Rapids, and within approximately 200 miles of Detroit and Chicago. As one might guess from its name, Big Rapids' primary natural feature is a river, the Muskegon, whose wooded banks wind through town and form the eastern border of the Ferris campus. The former logging community is located in the heart of an extensive recreation area of which Mecosta County, with its 101 lakes and four county parks is a significant part. The city is served by a daily newspaper, one AM and two FM radio stations, a cable television system, a movie theater, roller skating and ice skating rinks, 18-hole college golf course, community pool, diverse commercial districts, four banks, three motels, Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference center, bus lines, 24 churches, a 74-bed hospital, and a community library holding nearly 50,000 volumes.