Monmouth University (NJ) (MU)

Monmouth University is a first-tier, private university that empowers students to reach their full potential as leaders who are able to make significant contributions to their community and society.

A comprehensive selection of baccalaureate and graduate degree programs in subject areas that are in demand in the workplace is offered, including a number of unique Bachelor's + Master's programs. Small classes geared toward individual attention, and led by an innovative faculty, provide a transformative learning environment where students are active participants in their education.

Monmouth's academic areas including music industry, communication, homeland security, business, and more can easily be linked with world-class learning experiences in New York City and other nearby major urban areas. Students who are interested in coastal environmental studies can focus on biological, chemical, and physical sciences, together with environmental policy and natural resource conservation and management, by pursuing Monmouth's marine and environmental biology and policy major.

The University is also close to many technology firms, financial institutions, and a business-industrial sector that provides both employment possibilities for graduates and opportunities for undergraduates to gain experience.

Monmouth's location and network provide tremendous academic opportunities to students. For example, students in Monmouth's music industry program interface with industry professionals in and beyond the classroom, managing their own record label, Blue Hawk Records. There is a real spirit of entrepreneurship on campus that comes to life through student activities like the student-managed investment fund Hawk Capital. Marine and environmental biology and policy students benefit from the University's proximity to coastal waterways.

While preparing students for successful careers in leadership roles, Monmouth University believes that a major goal of higher education is to help students develop values. These include senses of citizenship and social responsibility that enable graduates to contribute actively to the societies in which they live. Academic programs and personal development opportunities at Monmouth prepare students to take the lead in an increasingly complex, multicultural world. These opportunities--combined with the myriad of art exhibits, concerts, lectures, and sightseeing trips planned each year--provide students with shared experiences outside the classroom to match the ones they receive inside.

The University is proud to host a successful NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics program that fields 23 teams for men and women. The University's basketball and track and field teams compete in the 153,200-square-foot OceanFirst Bank Center. All Monmouth students have access to the arena, which also houses a 200-meter, six-lane indoor track; fitness center; conference space; the University Store; and luxury suites. The University's football, men's/women's lacrosse and outdoor track and field programs play in Kessler Stadium. This new stadium, adjacent to the OceanFirst Bank Center, accommodates 4,200 fans and features state-of-the-art media facilities and end zone to end zone seating.

Beyond athletics, students have an assortment of extracurricular activities to choose from, including more than 110 student-run clubs and organizations, as well as sororities and fraternities that engage in service work on behalf of the University and the community. Students can also get involved with the Student Government Association, the campus newspaper (The Outlook), the student-run online news portal (The Verge), the FM radio station (WMCX), the television station (Hawk TV), the yearbook (Shadows), and the literary magazine (Monmouth Review).

Monmouth University is an "extremely diverse and integrated campus and everyone is very polite and has manners." That respect is for the best, as "many look to get involved, be a part of the student body, and find ways to encourage each other." It may also be an effect of a smaller campus, such that "you get to see the same people quite often either around campus or in your classes," This also means "you can easily make connections by networking with people." While some find enrollees to be "mostly from the Tri-State area," it's a welcoming environment where "if you make an effort to be nice to people and start a friendship they won't turn you down." Overall, Hawks are "small but interconnected and they frequently help each other through academic and social problems." A student says, "I feel like I've never experienced a place where the staff and the student body were so overwhelmingly positive, cheerful, and helpful."

Students describe Monmouth University's setting as being the "best of two worlds," as it's only an hour from either New York City or Philadelphia, and "the beach [is] only a mile away." The campus "is beautiful and the facilities are updated," and its proximity to the shore means "it is very popular here to go to Pier Village and go shopping and out to dinner with friends by the beach if you are done with classes for the day." Those who remain on campus will find plenty of common spaces, and the Student Center is a popular spot to "get food, chat with friends, learn more about clubs, [and] play pool." The "Student Activities Board is the best at events" and regularly puts on "fairs, movie nights, bingo nights, breakfast for dinner, homecoming, and Springfest." Rounding out the activities, Division I athletics "are always fun and usually have a good turnout of students" and "Greek life in general is a very key part of the social culture at Monmouth." All in all, students declare "it is very easy to fill your days."