Luther College

Location and Contact Information

The campus is in a rural site not far from an urban area.

Overview

Luther College is a private, liberal arts college located in Decorah, Iowa, United States. It was established in 1861 and initially opened as a men’s seminary on a site at Halfway Creek, Wisconsin. The college is now situated on a 1,000 acres campus in Decorah. Luther College enrolls over 2,000 students every year in more than 50 majors, certificate and pre-professional programs. The degrees offered are in the fields of arts, biology, classical studies, economics, computer science, languages, history, education, and mathematics, among others.

Luther College is particularly well known for its music organizations. The college sponsors internationally touring ensembles including the Nordic Choir, Symphony Orchestra, Concert Band, and Jazz Orchestra.

A large number of students clubs and organizations can be found in Luther College. Among the Greek letter organizations are Alpha Beta Psi, Chi Theta Rho, Inter-Greek Council, Omega Omega Omega, Sigma Chi Theta, and Tau Delta Gamma. Students also participate in sports such as baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, wrestling, softball, and volleyball. The sports teams are nicknamed the Norse.

Highlights (vs. Other Schools)

• Evangelical Lutheran Church religious affiliation.
• Many students concentrating in music, mathematics, art studies, science, and nutrition and exercise therapy.
• Number of dorm rooms for students.
• High percentage of students are from out-of-state.
• High faculty salary.
• Large number of programs of study offered.
• Large number of students.
• Good faculty-to-student ratio.
• High SAT scores (combined Verbal and Math).

School characteristics:

• The school is private, not-for-profit.
• Academic calender: 4-1-4 plan.
• Carnegie classification: Baccalaureate Colleges, Liberal Arts.

Features of note:

• The school offers a faculty tenure system.
• There are one or more libraries on-campus.
• Campus housing is available.
• Students have meal (board) plans.
• Students may study abroad.
• Part-time classes are available.

Similar Schools

Based on proprietary BrainTrack computer comparisons against all other US colleges, these schools appear to be most similar to Luther:

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Degrees Awarded (in 2009-2010)

Faculty

Tenure (2009-2010):

Students

Student enrollment was 2,423 in 2009-2010 (2,683 full-time equivalent).

About 42% of the freshmen class in 2009-2010 was male and women were 58% of the class.

Undergrads are 100% of enrolled students.

Students under 25 years old represent 99% of the student body. About 0% of the school is at least 40 years of age.

Admissions Summary (2009-2010)

SAT Test Scores:

Room and Board

Luther provides on-campus housing for 2,121 of its 2,683 (full-time) students (as of 2009-2010).

Students may purchase a meal plan which includes 20 meals weekly.

Athletics

School sports include football, basketball, baseball, and track. The school is in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for major sports.

Graduate School Focus

The highest degree offered is the Bachelor.

Programs of Study

(Number of degrees in 2009-2010 in parentheses)

ART STUDIES (25 awarded)

• Art/Art Studies

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (69 awarded)

• Accounting
• Business Administration and Management
• Management Information Systems

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (10 awarded)

• Computer Science

CONSERVATION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (6 awarded)

• Environmental Studies

DRAMA AND PERFORMING ARTS (3 awarded)

• Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts

EDUCATION AND TEACHING (33 awarded)

• Elementary Education and Teaching

FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK (8 awarded)

• Social Work

LIBERAL ARTS (103 awarded)

• African-American/Black Studies
• Ancient Near Eastern/Biblical Languages, Lit & Linguistics
• Anthropology
• Classics/Classical Languages, Lit & Linguistics
• Economics
• English Language and Literature
• French Language and Literature
• German Language and Literature
• History
• Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies
• Political Science and Government
• Scandinavian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
• Sociology
• Spanish Language and Literature
• Women's Studies

MATHEMATICS (15 awarded)

• Mathematics
• Statistics

MEDIA (20 awarded)

• Communication Studies/Speech Communication and Rhetoric

MUSIC (46 awarded)

• Music

NURSING AND EMERGENCY MEDICINE (24 awarded)

• Nursing/Registered Nurse (RN, ASN, BSN, MSN)

NUTRITION AND EXERCISE THERAPY (30 awarded)

• Athletic Training/Trainer
• Health and Physical Education

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY (13 awarded)

• Philosophy
• Religion/Religious Studies

SCIENCE (64 awarded)

• Biology/Biological Sciences
• Chemistry
• Physics

THERAPY AND COUNSELING (29 awarded)

• Psychology