Getting To Know: Muhlenberg College (PA)-Again
It’s been about ten years since I visited Muhlenberg College which ran one of the more successful open house programs that I have ever attended. You know that the college made a strong impression when parents and prospective students are touring the campus three hours after the program is over. I also invite you to check out my Muhlenberg College Pinterest page.
Like many liberal arts colleges, Muhlenberg has seen enrollment declines.
In 2011 Muhlenberg has over 2,300 undergraduates.. By 2023 enrollment dropped to just below 1,800. This school welcomed 580 freshmen in 2011. In 2024 there were approximately 430. The college has tried to make up for some of this loss by offering graduate degrees as well as continuing education programs. This is an interesting approach, given the economic development ambitions in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro area aka the Lehigh Valley. This included more federal funding to improve facilities and services to the region’s international airport. Many liberal arts colleges are far from major cities and an international airport than Munlenberg. This college is about an hour’s drive from Philadelphia and two hours from New York City.
Muhlenberg is an excellent liberal arts college that welcomes very good and excellent students
- It is not exceptionally selective. The college accepted 72 percent of all applicants to the Class of 2028. Seventy-nine percent were accepted through Early Action. The majority of the class was filled through early Decision or Early Action.
- these students had an average GPA of 3.5.
- Muhlenberg is test optional. Only 16 percent off the class submitted SAT scores; the middle 50 percent scores between 1250 and 1410. Only sox percent submitted ACT scores; the middle 50 percent for the Composite ranged between 29 and 33.
Those who get into Muhlenberg and enroll tend to stay.
The most recent freshman retention rate was 91 percent. Sixty-seven percent of the class that entered in 2020 finished on time, though they entered shortly after the pandemic. Graduation rates have surpassed 70, even 80, percent with prior classes.
Muhlenberg has an attractive, pedestrian-friendly campus.
Just be careful to look both ways before crossing Chew Street, the main road through the place. I dropped some photos below.
Being a residential liberal arts college, over 80 percent of the undergraduate student body lives on camus. Greek life attracts 15 percent of the men as well as an equal percentage of the women. While the Lehigh Valley has plenty of outdoor recreational opportunities as well as concert venues, more of the social life is likely to be on campus. Muhlenberg competes mainly in the Centennial Conference against more and less selective schools in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
When I was in high school nearly 50 years ago, Muhlenberg was one of the schools that classmates and graduates before me considered for premed.
Today Muhlenberg has partnerships that are direct pathways into further education in dentistry, medicine (two medical schools) and optometry. There are also pathways into socialized business programs, education, public health. Muhlenberg also has 4+1 programs in business, data analytics and education on campus. This college was not granting graduate degrees when I last visited.
Muhlenberg has 42 majors and 38 minors as well as certificate programs. Some programs such as Data Analytics, Journalism and Physical Science (in addition to Physics), Political Economy, Public Health and Sustainability Studies are tough to find at a school this size. The performing arts are quite respected here, too.
General education requirements are skill-based as well as core requirements. These will represent about a quarter of the credits required towards a degree. It appears easy to double-dip required courses to add a second major or multiple minors. However, the declared major for the degree, a BA or BS, will be the one that the student declared first.
Small classes will be the rule. Only two of the 468 classes taught during the 20-23-24 academic year had more than 29 students.
This college is expensive, but plays fair with aid,
Muhlenberg’s estimated cost of attendance (tuition & fees, room & board, incidentals) is over $80,000, However 60 percent of the Class of 2028 received scholarships that averaged over $52,000, The average merit-based award was over$27,000. These are reasonable awards that would make the school quite competitive with out-of-state charges at many public universities.
However, the average student loan indebtedness of 2024 graduates was over $35,000, The maximum that graduate could have borrowed through the Federal Student Loan Program was $27,000, The average is high because nearly a fifth of the class had to take out private loans.
Allentown, home to the campus since its founding, is trying to revitalize.
Allentown is called the Queen City within the Lehigh Valley and it is the third largest city in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. That being stated, the city has many attractions that are adult and family oriented . The Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Philadelphia Flyers minor league hockey team, makes their home here as do the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, the Philadelphia Phillies Trip A baseball team. There are also many concert venues nearby. The city has its own business incubator and there’s been an impressive set of downtown development projects over the past four years. However students need to drive or ride the bus to go into town; it’s too far to walk. Click here to get a longer tour of the city.
Conclusions
Muhlenberg has a lot to offer students who want to combine a liberal arts education with a practical skill set or leverage their education towards an advanced or pre-professional degree. It’s relatively easy to come here undecided on a major and find your way with help from the faculty and advisors.
Muhlenberg also has access and ties to job markets in New York and Philadelphia share with few other comparable colleges. It’s tough to stand out in a region that has two higher-profile institutions, Lafayette and Lehigh, but Muhlenberg has nice niches that make it worth a visit if you’re checking out those other two schools.
Report Card for Muhlenberg College:
- Four-Year/Six-Year Graduation Rates: B+/A
- Freshman Retention: A
- Costs: B+
- Comforts: A
- Community: B+
- Curriculum: A
- Connections: A (NYC/Lehigh valley/Philadelphia)/C (elsewhere)
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