Union College (NY)

Union College (NY) is a private institution that was founded in 1795. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,107 (fall 2022), its setting is city, and the campus size is 100 acres. It utilizes a trimester-based academic calendar. Union College (NY)'s ranking in the 2024 edition of Best Colleges is National Liberal Arts Colleges, #45. Its tuition and fees are $66,456.

School life is split into three 10 week terms, or trimesters, at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. On the trimester schedule, students take three classes per term and have an extended winter break. All freshmen, who live in residence halls, are randomly assigned to one of seven Minerva Houses, an academic and social community. Upper-class students and faculty can reside in this community. All students can take classes and participate in extracurricular activities in the houses. Each house has its own kitchen for students who want to cook their own meals. There are more than 100 student clubs and organizations, including more than 15 fraternities and sororities. Most Union sports teams, called Dutchmen, compete in the NCAA Division III Liberty League. The Union men’s and women’s ice hockey teams compete in the Division I ECAC Conference Hockey League. The school mascot is a costumed man known as Dutch. Students can volunteer in the revitalizations efforts going on in downtown Schenectady. New York is about 150 miles away, and more than 60 percent of students travel abroad before graduation. Union College’s global offerings include year programs, trimester stays and three-week trips known as mini-breaks. Each year, students celebrate the changing seasons at Springfest, a day of concerts by famous performers like Sean Kingston and Matt Nathanson.

In addition to its undergraduate majors, Union College offers accelerated professional degree programs in conjunction with other schools. Students can graduate with a law degree from Albany Law School in six years, or with a medical degree from Albany Medical College in eight years. There are additional master’s degree accelerated programs in the business and education fields. Among the notable graduates of Union College are several famous television and movie producers: Alan Horn, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios; Rawson Marshall Thurber, who made "Dodgeball" and "Magnum, P.I."; and Ilene Landress, executive producer of "The Sopranos." Other distinguished alumni include Kate White, former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine; Richard Templeton, CEO of Texas Instruments; and Baruch Samuel Blumberg, who discovered the Hepatitis B virus.