South Carolina College Road Trip: Clemson University
Lest visitors lose their way to Clemson University, a trail of tiger paw prints painted on the highway leads to campus -- advance notice of the fervent school spirit at this institution in the foothills of the Blue Ridge.
Once you're here, the tiger paw logo and the color orange are ubiquitous. As mechanical engineering senior Chris Hapstack puts it, "our blood runs orange."
Clemson stands on what was once the estate of 19th-century politician John Calhoun, whose son-in-law, Thomas Green Clemson, willed the land and the bulk of his fortune to the state to establish a college. Opened in 1893 as an all-male military college, the school went coed and civilian in 1955. The old family home, Fort Hill, still anchors Clemson's 17,000 acres, which are bordered on the west by Hartwell Lake, a hub of student recreation.
Despite the size, the main part of campus is walkable, with residential halls encircling the library and academic buildings. The tiny town of Clemson is also within walking distance, and nearby Greenville and Anderson are reachable by a free bus service.
While approximately 60 percent of the some 20,000 students are from South Carolina, Robert Barkley, the director of admissions, says the school has seen an uptick in popularity outside the region. "Thirty years ago we were this sleepy little university in the hills. [Now] it's big-time opportunities with a small-school feel."
As a land-grant university, the school is particularly strong in the sciences. Engineering is by far the most popular major, pursued by a full third of the freshman class, with business coming in second. The university also boasts a nursing program and the only architectural school in the state.
[Explore the rankings of the best undergraduate engineering programs.]
With faculty members engaged in ongoing studies of everything from computational modeling to the behavior of wild Brazilian monkeys or people using social media, Clemson offers undergraduates ample opportunities to assist professors in their research projects.
Two cutting-edge social media "listening centers" feature arrays of large screens that display streams of data from online communities and social media sources and feed research on sentiment and trending topics, for instance. Students can also conduct their own studies through the Creative Inquiry program, in a team effort that can span up to four semesters.
The Calhoun Honors College offers qualified students smaller, more intimate classes, from a 15-person section of Chemistry 101 to a course on "Harry Potter," as well as the chance to reside together in a living-learning community. Each year, the honors college awards travel grants to support the pursuit of internships, volunteer work and study elsewhere during winter and summer breaks.
Several years ago, Clemson launched a transfer program that invites a select group of students whose applications aren't quite strong enough for admission to come to town and attend community college freshman year. The program provides housing off campus, academic advising and access to university facilities and activities to participating students, three-quarters of whom make the transfer to Clemson for sophomore year.
[Learn how to make the leap from community college to a four-year university.]
With few distractions outside of campus besides a handful of bars in town and the Smokin' Pig for an occasional barbecue fix, social activities revolve around football, Greek life (23 percent of students are in sororities or fraternities) and intramural sports. More than 400 clubs are active, too, from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Darfur Awareness Club to the Model Railroaders.
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-- University of South Carolina
This story is excerpted from the U.S. News "Best Colleges 2015" guidebook, which features in-depth articles, rankings and data.
