College
TO
The above photo is the entrance arches to the College Campus
UPDATE!!!..In 2007, Misericordia achieved UNIVERSITY status to allow for greater academic offerings while still remaining personal and student-focused..
College Misericordia, located in Pennsylvania's historic Wyoming Valley in the community of Dallas, is a liberal arts based, co-educational Catholic college founded by the Religious Sisters of Mercy in 1924. The Religious Sisters of Mercy were of the order of Mercy founded in Dublin in 1831. The Sisters vowed to be of service to the impoverished, sick and uneducated. The Sisters of Mercy came to the Wyoming Valley area of Pennsylvania in 1875, continuing their mission of praying, teaching and caring for the sick. The sisters quickly established a school for children and soon after, a night school for adults in the established coal mining region. Having secured a strong foundation of Catholic education, the order recognized that a great need was still waiting to be met.
College Misericordia provides a quality education through the tenants of mercy, service, justice and hospitality-charisms set forth by the school’s founders, the Sisters of Mercy. The college has been guided by these principles for more than 79 years.
College Misericordia was founded as, and continues to be, a broad-based liberal arts and pre-professional studies college offering superior education to those of all faiths. The college has been co-educational since the 1970s and offers graduate programs as well. Today, College Misericordia is still located on the original grounds, but has expanded to 120 acres, situated in a suburban setting just eight miles from downtown Wilkes-Barre. Total enrollment is currently more than 2,000 students, including full and part-time undergraduates and graduate students.
Quality academics…service leadership…professional preparation: our Trinity of Learning. It’s what makes a College Misericordia education unique. The student is the center of what we do here—from classes to athletics to clubs—and it shows in every way.
CM’s unique “Trinity of Learning” concept offers students an effective mix of quality academics, professional preparation and service leadership. The student is at the center of these three elements of the trinity. It is paramount that students “learn by doing” and more than 90 percent of Misericordia students participate in an internship, student teaching or clinical study. Also, most of the instructors have professional experience in their field, bringing their real-life knowledge into the classrooms.
CM's Fast Facts:
A College Misericordia Profile
Founded: 1924 by the Religious Sisters of Mercy
Affiliation: Roman Catholic Church
Campus: 120-acre residential campus in suburban setting in Dallas, Pennsylvania
Total Enrollment: 2,271, 74% women, 26% men. Full-time Enrollment: 1,410, 73% women, 27% men
Part-time Enrollment: 661, 76% women, 24% men. Graduate Enrollment: 200, 75% women, 25% men
Financial Aid: Approximately 95% of students receive some form of financial aid.
Retention Rate: 88%, First-year to sophmore = 85%
Faculty: 93 full time; 84% hold Ph. D. or other terminal degree*
*This includes all academic departments except for the Health Sciences where the accepted terminal degree varies. All Health Science faculty are fully credentialed in their respective area.
Student/Faculty Ratio: 11:1
Average undergraduate class size is 17 students, and 28% of classes have 9 or fewer students, 62% have 19 or fewer.
Four-year, on-time graduation rate: 68%.
Incoming freshmen posess an average SAT of 1004 and 40% of them rank in the top 25% of their high school graduating class.
Academic Emphasis: Liberal arts, professional and pre-professional studies
Academic Programs: 30 majors in four academic divisions: Behavioral Sciences, Education and Business; Health Sciences; Humanities; and Mathematical and Natural Sciences. In 2003, 44% of graduates received degrees in the Health Sciences (occupational therapy, physical therapy, nursing, medical imaging); 27% in Business; 2% in the Natural Sciences; 13% in Education; 3% in Social Work; 5% in Psychology and 3% in General Studies. The remaining are distributed between other majors.
Graduate Education: Misericordia offers Master of Science degrees in nursing, education and organizational management. The occupational therapy, speech-language pathology and physical therapy programs are five-year, entry-level Master of Science degree programs.
Intercollegiate Sports: College Misericordia competes in the NCAA Division III, Eastern College Athletic Conference and the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference. Women's sports include basketball, soccer, field hockey, volleyball, swimming, softball, cross-country, cheerleading, lacrosse, tennis and track and field. Men's sports include basketball, soccer, swimming, cross-country, baseball, golf, lacrosse and track and field.
Campus Life: 24 clubs, service organizations and special interest organizations.
Special Organizations: Sixinstitutes: Assistive Technology Research Institute; Diversity Institute; Ethics Institute of Northeast Pennsylvania; Institute of Gerontology (Aging Religious); Institute of Law and Religious Life; Institute of Sacred Scripture.
Special Programs: Alternative Learner's Project (ALP) for college students who learn differently; Center for Service Learning; incorporating community service into academic study; Distance Learning Program, providing college level courses to students in the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania; Fun and Fitness Program, providing a variety of athletic and creative activities for the community at the Anderson Sports-Health Center; Cultural Events, providing a variety of programs usually at no cost to the community.
Since 1924, much has changed in the world, but College Misericordia continues to honor the heart-felt mission of the Sisters of Mercy. In recent national surveys of both traditional and adult students, College Misericordia students gave the college top marks in nearly every area of student satisfaction and effective learning environments. The liberal arts school has carried on the legacy and is committed to offering quality education, professional preparation and service leadership to each student who walks through its doors.
Sisters of Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy came from Ireland to the United States in the 1840's. Sister Francis Warde carried forward the mission of the Irish founder, Mother Catherine McAuley, "to help the poor, the sick and the uneducated...." The Sisters of Mercy established various convents, schools, and hospitals across the United States.
College Misericordia Accomplishments
In 2002, College Misericordia welcomed a record freshman class of 355 students and has capped freshman enrollment for two consecutive years. New programs in speech-language pathology and communications have helped to fuel that growth. True to its founders' intent, the college has maintained the lowest tuition and lowest rate of tuition increase of any of the private colleges in the area. Ranked well academically, the college also scored in the top percentile when compared with similar institutions in important measures of student satisfaction. The surveys, taken over the last three years, include the National Survey of Student Engagement and the freshmen survey done by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute.
Recent additions to campus include a new outdoor athletic complex, student center, additional classrooms, renovations in historic Mercy Hall, and construction of a new library.
And Finally
FUTURE GOALS: College Misericordia's strategic plan prescribes controlled growth to ensure personalized attention for all of its students. The facilities master plan also calls for select enhancements to make the campus ideal for the student body. Future projects include the construction of a fine arts/communications center and a Shakespeare garden, as well as growth in international studies, continued enhancements of service learning opportunities, and efforts to strengthen diversity on campus and in the community. On the academic front, the institution hopes to strengthen its liberal arts core curriculum and establish a new degree in healthcare administration.
Besides College Misericordia there are other Colleges and Universities in Wyoming Valley and Luzerne County: Please visit the other Colleges and Universities that are seeded in my beautiful Wyoming Valley and Luzerne County..You will be surprised with the educational facilities we have around here.
Wilkes University
Kings College
Penn State Wilkes Barre Campus
Luzerne County Community College
