National Universities USA – 2016 – Lehigh University – Rank 47/100

Lehigh University

27 Memorial Drive W
Bethlehem, PA 18015
Phone: (610) 758-3000

Lehigh University is a private institution that was founded in 1865. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 5,062, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 2,358 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Lehigh University’s ranking in the 2016 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 47. Its tuition and fees are $46,230 (2015-16).

Lehigh University is located in Bethlehem, Pa., 50 miles north of Philadelphia and 75 miles west of New York City. The Lehigh Mountain Hawks are members of the Patriot League, and compete in 25 NCAA Division I sports. Their biggest athletic rivalry is Lafayette College, located less than 20 miles away. A third of the student body is involved in fraternities and sororities. All freshmen are required to live on campus, and sophomores are also required to live on campus in a residence hall or Greek housing. Lehigh’s main campus is located on the wooded slope of South Mountain, and half of the campus is preserved as open space.

Lehigh University has four colleges, with numerous undergraduate and graduate majors. Its well-regarded graduate programs include the College of Education and the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science. The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act originated at Lehigh, requiring colleges to reveal crimes on campus. Lehigh folklore says the school colors of brown and white originated when a woman wearing brown and white stockings passed by a group of men discussing school colors, and the rest is history. Notable alumni include Jesse W. Reno, the inventor of the escalator; and Howard McClintic and Charles Marshall, whose construction company helped build the Golden Gate Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, the Panama Canal and New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

Lehigh is a premier residential research university at the cutting edge of blending learning inside and outside the classroom. Lehigh prepares students within a rigorous academic environment that promotes creativity, innovation and interaction. Our students see the world as a dynamic place, where their ideas, imagination and new thinking create positive change. Lehigh has long played a groundbreaking role in interdisciplinary research and education. Faculty work closely with students across disciplines and translate research and theory into practice. The close, mentoring relationships between students and faculty members across each of our four colleges provide all students with an opportunity to learn in a warm and collaborative atmosphere. Students are given the flexibility to explore academic areas outside their major field of study, where they learn how new knowledge comes at the intersection of ideas. Academic life at Lehigh extends well beyond the classroom, and students are engaged in educational pursuits in their local community and the world at large. Over 600 international learning opportunities and internships are available, including the fully-funded, individually designed Iacocca International Internships and our unique NGO partnership with the United Nations. A highly active campus life offers students countless opportunities through more than 150 clubs and organizations, 25 Division I varsity sports, intramural and club programs and a vibrant arts scene. Students go on to high levels of success in their chosen careers, with 96% of the class employed or in graduate school six months after graduation. Lehigh students benefit through learning and career opportunities provided by a worldwide network of 75,000 loyal alumni.