Ripon College

Our innovative five-course curriculum, Catalyst, began rolling out to the first-year class during the fall semester of 2016. Catalyst is designed to provide the essential skills sought after by today's employers while allowing maximum freedom to choose your own path of study. This one-of-a-kind academic flexibility gives Ripon students the opportunity to complete multiple majors and minors, engage in experiential study, play sports and hold internships – all in four years.

Ripon's liberal arts curriculum introduces students to a wide variety of disciplines. About 40 percent of our students complete double or triple majors, while some create special self-designed majors. Hallmarks of a Ripon education are excellent communications skills, both written and oral; critical-thinking and problem-solving skills; and the opportunity to explore serious research pursuits alongside faculty as an undergraduate, no matter what your major.

A Ripon education will take you anywhere! You could study psychology and play basketball at Ripon, and then become a seven-time Grammy Award winner like jazz singer Al Jarreau (1962). You could become a Nobel Prize winner in economics like Oliver Williamson (1954). You could guide the space shuttle into orbit like Jeff Bantle (1980), a chief flight director with NASA, or become an international opera star like Gail Dobish (1976). Perhaps you'll set records in medical science like neonatologist Dr. John Muraskas (1978), who is on record for saving the world's smallest premature baby, or cover world events, like Richard Threlkeld (1959), former Moscow correspondent for CBS News. You could make your mark in the world of entertainment like Harrison Ford (1964), Spencer Tracy (1924) or Justin Neibank (1978). Or perhaps you'll end up studying at University of Oxford in Great Britain as a Rhodes Scholar like Zach Morris (2002), who also found time to play touch football with former President Bill Clinton and spend an evening at Buckingham Palace with Queen Elizabeth II.

Ripon College offers a four-year graduation guarantee with 31 majors and 42 minors, including a variety of fast-track pre-professional programs. Every student graduates with a concentration in Applied Innovation upon completing the innovative five-course Catalyst curriculum.

Majors include Anthropology, Art History (Cultural Criticism, Museum Studies), Biology, Business Management, Chemistry, Chemistry-Biology, Communication, Computer Science, Economics, Educational Studies, English, Environmental Studies, Exercise Science (Athletic Training, Human Performance, Physical Education, Sports Management), Finance, Foreign Languages , Global Studies, History, Mathematics, Music, Music Education, Philosophy, Physical Science, Physics, Politics and Government, Psychobiology, Psychology, Religion, Self-Designed, Sociology, Spanish, Studio Art and Theatre.

Minors include Adapted Physical Education, American Studies, Ancient, Renaissance & Medieval Studies, Anthropology, Art History, , Biology, Business Management, Chemistry, Classical Studies, Coaching, Communication, Computer and Data Sciences, Criminal Justice, Economics, Educational Studies,, English, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Biology, Francophone Studies, French, Health, History, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Law and Society, Mathematics, Military Leadership, Museum Studies, Music, National Security Studies, Nonprofit Management, Philosophy, Physics, Politics and Government, Psychology, Religion, Sociology, Spanish, Strength and Conditioning, , Theatre and Women's and Gender Studies.

Ripon College offers fast-track programs that allow students to get professional degrees sooner in engineering, law and osteopathic medicine. We currently have affiliations with Washington University in St. Louis (engineering); Marquette University, American University, Mitchell Hamline School of Law and the University of St. Thomas (law); and Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (osteopathic medicine). Ripon also offers pre-professional advising in: health professions (including medicine, nursing, chiropractic medicine, dentistry, optometry, sports medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, podiatry, veterinary medicine), criminal justice, government service, journalism, military leadership, museum studies, national security studies and social work.

Teacher certification is offered in Early Childhood, Elementary, Middle/Junior High, Secondary and ESL. In addition, Ripon offers licensure in 21 subject areas. Teacher certification programs approved by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction prepare students for licensure at the early childhood/middle childhood level (grades PK through 5), the middle childhood/early adolescence level (grades 1 through 8), and the early adolescence/adolescence level (grades 6 through 12). The educational studies department also offers PK-12 certification programs in art, foreign language (French and Spanish), music, physical education, physical education and health, and theatre.