Siena College is a community of 2,900 men and women offering degrees in Liberal Arts, Business, and Science. Founded in 1937, Siena is a coeducational, independent, liberal arts college with a Franciscan and Catholic tradition. Student-focused professors are at the heart of a supportive learning community that prepares students for careers, an active role in their community, and for the real world.

An independent Board of Trustees governs the College. An active Board of Associate Trustees serves to strengthen the relationship between the campus and the surrounding community.

Recognizing that its students come from varied racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, Siena College supports the creation of a multi-cultured environment for all of its students. The internal growth and development of Siena has been continuous. In response to the changing needs of the times, the Siena curriculum allows flexibility and individual choice for all undergraduates.

The Secret of Siena's Success

What keeps Siena College among "America's Best?" Since it's founding, Siena has been a community where care and concern for the intellectual, personal and social growth of all students is paramount.

The overwhelming sense of community spirit at Siena grabs your attention the moment you arrive on campus. It is a place where your friends are your neighbors, your professors are your friends, and just about everyone calls you by your name. The one on one interaction in the classroom and personal attention to each individual is why students call Siena "home."

Academics

Siena believes that a liberal arts education provides our graduates with the necessary skills to succeed. Students can choose among 26 majors in liberal arts, science and business. All majors require coursework in English, history, philosophy, religious studies, fine arts, the social sciences and natural science as part of Siena's core curriculum.

Siena also offers more than a dozen cooperative and special programs to suit a variety of professional interests. The Siena/ Albany Medical College Program features a medical education with a distinct ethical dimension, the first of its kind in America. Certificate programs are also available in Theatre, Peace and International Studies, Foreign Languages, and Business. All certificate programs offer students a concentration of experience that enhances their majors and increases their career options. Other popular choices include Study Abroad, the Siena in London program, the Washington Semester, an MBA program with Clarkson University, and several cooperative engineering programs.

Siena's liberal arts education prepares every student for entry into professions or to graduate school. Each year Siena graduates more than 700 students who are eagerly accepted by leading corporations, the public sector and into America's most prestigious graduate programs.

Student Life

The proud sense of community and spirit on the Siena campus is directly linked to the students. Their energy and enthusiasm is present in every aspect of the College. Approximately 90 percent of Siena's freshmen live on campus, and accommodations range from traditional residence halls to suites and townhouses.

The student population is more influential than most would imagine. There are more than 70 student-run clubs, teams, committees, intramural sports, and various other programs to choose from. There is an activity for virtually every interest. It is student pride and activism that keeps the Siena campus alive and strong.

Understanding Siena's Franciscan Tradition

The Catholic, Franciscan tradition is Siena's founding tradition, and this tradition remains alive at Siena where it engages students, faculty, staff, administrators of diverse backgrounds. Franciscan education is affective learning. It occurs in the personal interactions of faculty, students, and student affairs staff; it prepares students to address real issues in our contemporary world, and to raise critical questions. Siena has adopted a multicultural plan to foster its Franciscan commitment to being a community which reflects and appreciates the ethnic and cultural richness of the college community.

The Franciscan tradition plays out in the two crucial areas of college life. First, Siena's Franciscan identity requires us to be a student-centered community. It requires faculty, staff, and administrators to respect each student, to work with students attentively, to communicate a sense of enjoyment at being part of this college. Students work together in programs which range from peer tutoring in the college to volunteering in the larger community. The emphasis on volunteering means that not only does Campus Ministry run an extensive volunteer program, but student organizations carry out volunteer programs as part of being chartered by the College.

Many colleges say they are student-centered, but Siena's Catholic, Franciscan vision of human life is essentially communal. It knows that life is lived in, with, and for, other human beings. At the same time, it respects the irreplaceable dignity of the individual and the individual's freedom of conscience. This communal and respectful experience begins within the college community and is carried out into the larger society.

Second, the Franciscan tradition provides resources which contribute to our academic excellence. Saint Francis called himself simple and unlearned, but he had a profound and coherent understanding of human identity, social life, and the physical world. This understanding began with careful attention to the real experience of being human, living in a community, being situated in a particular place, but then he put this experience in the context of a tradition. He could also listen to and learn from people formed by other traditions.

Siena's Franciscan tradition guides Siena in creating a curriculum which stimulates individual intellectual growth and civic responsibility, connecting knowledge and action. The Franciscan tradition also focuses us on pedagogical strategies which are both critical and interactive. It is the reason we limit our class sizes, it is the reason we emphasize the relationship between faculty and students.

At Siena, education is understood as a transformative experience: personal interaction, introduction into the traditions of human social life, and assuming responsibility.

The Facts

Enrollment: Approximately 2,900 undergraduates: 53% women, 47% men.
Student-Faculty Ratio 14:1
Class sizes range from 15-35.
Location: Suburban, 155-acre campus two miles north of Albany, less than three hours from New York City and Boston.
Majors
B.A.: American Studies, Classics, Creative Arts, Economics, English, Environmental Studies, French, History, Mathematics, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies,
Social Work, Sociology, Spanish
B.S.: Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Economics, Finance, Marketing & Management, and Physics
B.B.A: Accounting

Computers

All Siena students have free Internet and e-mail access; students have 24-hour access to campus-wide computer system; Siena maintains specialized computer labs for Arts, Science, and Business students. Student-Computer Ratio: 12:1.

Student Life

80 percent of students live on campus in residence halls, suites or townhouses. More than 60 organizations, including Karate Club, Ski Club, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Multicultural Center, Model UN, Stage Three, Students Events Board, and 88.3 FM-WVCR.

Marcelle Athletic Complex ("The MAC") features exercise equipment, swimming pool, racquet and squash courts, aerobics, an elevated, banked running track and basketball courts. 18 NCAA Division I sports (7 for men, 11 for women); 20 intramural and club activities.

Costs

$26,165(tuition, room and board and fees in 2004-2005)
Approximately 85 percent of Siena students receive financial aid.