Goshen College again named a ‘Making a Difference’ college

GOSHEN, Ind. – Where do students go to college when they want an education and experiences that will help them make a positive impact on the world? The eighth edition of Making a Difference College and Graduate Guide: Education to Help You Shape the World Anew, by Miriam Weinstein and published by SageWorks Press, has once again included Goshen College among a selective group of 78 schools.

Using more than 10 different criteria to evaluate colleges and universities, the guide offers profiles about each school, including its philosophy and mission, special majors and classes and info about things like outdoor activities, field studies, “green” residence halls, service-learning opportunities, community service opportunities and more.

The guide, which is directed to college-bound students and their parents, states that “making a difference permeates everything about Goshen,” noting that the liberal arts college was one of the first schools in the nation to require international education, which has been fulfilled by about 85 percent of the student body by participating in Study-Service Term (SST) since 1968. Through this program, students live in another country for a 13-week term – the first half of which is spent in a major city, studying the culture and language. During the second half of the term, students typically live in rural settings and fulfill service requirements, often relating to their majors.

Another distinction of Goshen College that is highlighted in the guide is the nearby Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center – a 1,150-acre preserve featuring four distinct habitat types. Students majoring in environmental science or related studies such as biology or environmental education can gain valuable experience. Also mentioned is Goshen College’s focus on stewardship, which comes out of the college’s core values, and environmental justice as part of the environmental studies curriculum.

Making a Difference highlights Goshen College’s environmental studies, peace, justice and conflict studies, women’s studies and intercultural studies departments as programs that make a difference by developing informed, articulate, sensitive, responsible Christians to be servant leaders for the church and the world. Rooted in one of the country’s historic peace churches, Goshen College is known as a place where values are “lived as well as taught.”

Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” Kaplan’s “Most Interesting Colleges” guide and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.

- by Melanie Histand

Editors: For more information, contact News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.