Hofstra and You
When the challenges of higher education are viewed from different, though complementary, vantage points, the goals of the University and its students are similar: both seek a learning experience that will match the resources of students to the needs of the community.
At Hofstra, students will find a commitment to the belief that college is not merely a preparation for but also a fundamental and enduring part of adult life. Students come here, not to find an agreeable retreat from their current and future responsibilities but to actively, energetically and enthusiastically shape the values, interests and talents that will give their lives direction.
Hofstra students are assisted in this purpose by teachers highly proficient in their fields, by strong counseling and guidance services, by a dynamic student activities program and by a sound physical fitness program. They are free to choose among the University’s broad range of programs of study with many different majors and minors and the nearly infinite interdisciplinary possibilities presented by the University’s extensive curriculum.
Students come to Hofstra as first-year college students from their high schools, as transfer students from other colleges and universities, and as adults seeking new meanings and/or careers. It is noteworthy, in terms of the University’s educational quality, that about 50 percent of new students entering Hofstra each year have completed some previous college study.
Hofstra welcomes students without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national or ethnic origin and extends to all students the opportunity to develop the initiative and responsibility required for effective participation in a democratic society.
Founded in 1935 as Long Island’s first coeducational college, Hofstra has evolved into a major independent university. Originally established to provide a firm foundation in the liberal arts and sciences, Hofstra today offers more than 2,000 undergraduate courses in approximately 155 possible majors, plus distinguished graduate programs in law, medicine, business, education, health sciences, human services, engineering, applied science, and the liberal arts and sciences. Significant indicators of Hofstra’s excellence may be seen in the fact that, among private Long Island colleges, Hofstra is currently the only one deemed worthy of granting the Phi Beta Kappa distinction and is the Island’s private school with the most students going on to earn graduate and professional degrees, an important yardstick for rating the academic capabilities of a university’s graduates.
Hofstra’s commitment to learning means that, in and outside the classroom, the emphasis is on developing judgment, flexibility of mind, powers of self-education and insight into human behavior, as opposed to mere acquisition of skills. The University’s administration and faculty believe these are the most hardy and permanent seeds to sow in the rapidly shifting environment of the present and future.
Statement of Mission and Goals
Hofstra University is a private institution whose primary mission is to provide a quality education to its students in an environment that encourages, nurtures, and supports learning through the free and open exchange of ideas, for the betterment of humankind. Hofstra University is fully committed to academic freedom and to the transmission, advancement, and preservation of knowledge for its own academic community and for the community at large. Hofstra University offers undergraduate and graduate programs taught by a research-active and professionally engaged faculty. Academic excellence guides everything the University undertakes.
- Hofstra University’s undergraduate education provides a firm foundation in the liberal arts and sciences designed to encourage intellectual curiosity. This broadly based education develops students’ analytical and critical thinking, strengthens their communication skills (oral and written), promotes cross-cultural competencies and provides information literacy and technological skills that prepare students to become lifelong learners.
- Hofstra University is dedicated to the pre-professional, professional, masters and doctoral programs that support a wide range of career aspirations.
- Hofstra University is devoted to recruiting and retaining a highly qualified and diverse academic community of students, faculty, staff and administrators respectful of the contributions and dignity of each of its members.
- Hofstra University’s faculty is committed to excellence in teaching, scholarly research and service. The University emphasizes and supports the creation and synthesis of knowledge as well as its dissemination. We believe the best education for students is one informed by their teachers’ scholarly pursuits.
- Hofstra University is committed to providing the informational and technological resources required for learning and the advancement of knowledge.
- Hofstra University strives to cultivate students’ social and ethical responsibility, aesthetic sensibility, creativity, and emotional and physical well-being.
- Hofstra University offers educational, co-curricular and cultural programs and activities that foster an awareness of local, national and global issues, encouraging students to be active citizens and contributors to their local, national and global communities.
- Hofstra University recognizes its important role in our local community and in participating in a broader national and international dialogue. We offer programs and seek opportunities that mutually benefit the Hofstra community and those beyond our campus.
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