Admissions
Financial Aid
Notable Alumni
Points of Pride
Location: Charleston, S.C.
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About The Citadel
The Citadel is a state-supported comprehensive military college. Males and females are admitted to the undergraduate residential Corps of Cadets. In addition to the day program, undergraduate and graduate programs are offered through the College of Graduate and Professional Studies (CGPS) in the evening. The South Carolina Commission recognizes The Citadel on Higher Education as the only specialized four-year college in the state. The Citadel, founded in 1842, is a coeducational military college with a rich and storied history. Located in picturesque Charleston, South Carolina, the institution offers a classic military education for young men and women who seek a college experience that is intense, meaningful and academically strong. Most Citadel graduates say that the disciplined lifestyle and friendships they forged here have a profoundly positive effect on their lives.
Academic Programs
Because of the strength of the academic program, The Citadel has repeatedly been rated as a top regional institution in the annual rankings issued by U.S. News and World Report. The quality of the education at The Citadel combined with the availability of financial aid, the credentials of the faculty and the graduation rate earned the institution the citation of Best College Value in the South in 1999. With an average of 75 percent of its students returning each year, The Citadel enjoys one of the best retention records in the country. The Citadel's fourteen academic departments offer five bachelor's degrees in 17 areas, six master's degrees in 17 areas, and specialist degrees in two areas.
Accreditation
The Citadel is accredited by The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the recognized regional accrediting body in the eleven U.S. Southern states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia) and in Latin America for those institutions of higher education that award associate, baccalaureate, master's, or doctoral degrees. Information on the status of The Citadel's accreditation may be obtained from the Commission on Colleges by calling 404-679-4500 or by writing to the SACS home office, 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA, 30033.
Admissions
Admission to the Corps of Cadets is based on an evaluation of the student's application and supporting high school grades and SAT score. After academic acceptance is granted, the college requires a medical and physical screening. After complete acceptance, prospective cadets are urged to make their decisions as spaces fill quickly.
Alumni
Generations of Citadel graduates have served their nation, their state and their community with distinction. It graduates men and women with alert minds and sound bodies, who value honor, integrity, loyalty and patriotism, and who accept the responsibilities that accompany leadership. The Citadel remains a stronghold of duty, self-discipline, and high ideals in a changing American society. The Citadel has many alumni who have achieved notable success in military, government, business, sports, and other fields.
Athletics
While physical fitness is an important requirement for all cadets, The Citadel also emphasizes athletic competition as a way to develop leaders, encourage teamwork and prepare cadets for life's challenges. The Citadel offers 28 intramural sports, 15 intercollegiate club sports and 17 NCAA Division I sports. The Citadel is a national leader in the percentage of female students who are athletes. More than 50% of its female cadets compete on seven varsity teams-an outstanding achievement given the fact that female athletics started in 1997.
Cadets (South Carolina Corps of Cadets)
All students at The Citadel are cadets in the South Carolina Corps of Cadets, which numbers approximately 1,964, and represents nearly every state as well as more than 20 countries. While only about a third of the graduates each year go into the armed services, all cadets participate in an ROTC program. On most days, cadets have physical fitness training and military instruction in addition to their regular college classes. Weekdays end with a formation and required evening study period. Because The Citadel emphasizes corps unity, cadets cannot be married and all must live on campus in the barracks with their assigned company. As a classic military college, The Citadel emphasizes a strict indoctrination for first-year cadets who are called knobs. Despite the challenges, cadets value their first year for the lessons in teamwork, self-discipline and time management. The disciplined lifestyle that begins in the knob year binds cadets into a lifelong, close-knit camaraderie that is one of the strongest forces in their lives after graduation.
Campus
The Citadel sits on a 300-acre tract of land on the Ashley River. There are 27 buildings grouped around a large (10 acre) grass parade ground. The buildings around the parade ground include 10 classroom buildings, an administrative building, four barracks, a student activities building, infirmary, chapel, stadium, a field house, and library. Just off the main campus are the football stadium, baseball stadium, and alumni center.
College of Graduate & Professional Studies
The Citadel's evening college serves the Lowcountry by offering nationally accredited bachelors, masters and specialist degrees scheduled around the student's profession, family and lifestyle. It's the well-known Citadel academic excellence in a civilian environment. CGPS offers 20 graduate programs with concentrations in education, psychology, computer science and business. The Master's of Business Administration program is the only nationally accredited MBA program in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina. Enrollment is up 12% from fall semester 2000. CGPS also offers three undergraduate evening programs in business and engineering. The Citadel is the only college in South Carolina that offers an undergraduate civil and electrical engineering degree in the evening.
Commissioning
While Citadel Cadets are not obligated to enter the military, more than one-third of our Cadets graduates from the past four years chose a military commission.
Core Values
Academics:
We produce graduates who have insight into the issues, ideas and values that are important to society and possess the skills necessary to deal with them successfully.
Duty:
We emphasize the importance of individual accountability and the moral obligation of responsibility for the welfare of others.
Honor:
We adhere to a code which teaches that uncompromising personal integrity is the primary guide in all situations.
Morality:
We operate a leadership laboratory which emphasizes a structured environment, acceptance of responsibility, self-confidence and service to others.
Discipline:
We operate a leadership laboratory which emphasizes a structured environment, acceptance of responsibility, self-confidence and service to others.
Diversity:
We promote diversity in all segments of our campus community and in all aspects of college life.
