Academics
As an institution dedicated entirely to undergraduate education with a focus on the liberal arts, Linfield provides the building blocks for academic excellence. Faculty challenge students and help them pursue intellectual questions and goals. Linfield’s core curriculum focuses on what we call “The Big Six”:
- Close-knit environment where professors genuinely know you
- A wide range of studies and academic options
- A compelling international study abroad program
- Diverse athletic and extracurricular activates
- A connection between academics and the real world
- Successful alumni who make a difference
Dedicated Faculty
With a 12:1 student to faculty ratio on the McMinnville Campus, and a 10:1 student to faculty ratio on the Portland Campus, the professors at Linfield are dedicated to undergraduate education and provide a solid experience for students throughout their four years at Linfield. Most faculty have a terminal degree (93 percent on the McMinnville Campus and 50 percent on the Portland Campus), professors are experts in their field and continue to pursue research in their disciplines.
Academic Programs
Linfield offers nearly 60 academic programs across traditional liberal arts and pre-professional disciplines. On the McMinnville Campus, 40 majors and 38 minors are divided among the Arts & Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences and Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Popular majors include Elementary Education, Business, Exercise Science, Psychology and Math. Popular minors include Spanish, Math, Chemistry, Biology and Psychology.
On the Portland Campus three majors are offered as transfer-only options: Nursing, Health Sciences: Administration and Health Sciences: Environmental and Public Health.
Through the Division of Continuing Education, bachelor’s degrees are offered in Accounting, Arts and Humanities, Business Information Systems, International Business, Management, Marketing, RN to BSN, and Social and Behavioral Sciences.
International Programs
Linfield College is dedicated to international study and more than half of Linfield graduates study abroad during their college years. Opportunities for international study are offered through three options: academic year abroad for language majors; semester programs at sites in Austria, Australia, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, England, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Senegal and Spain; and January Term, an optional four-week intensive term that offers international and domestic location-based courses led by Linfield faculty members, such as health care in India, climate change in Chile, literature in England or music and dance in the Caribbean.
The Linfield Curriculum
Students enrolled in all academic programs complete the Linfield Curriculum, specially designed by the faculty to foster the development of wholly educated individuals through a series of courses spanning the arts and humanities, natural sciences, and social and behavioral sciences. The Linfield Curriculum encourages inquiry, analysis, and imagination; habits of mind that provide the foundation for reasoned action, wonder and continued learning in all aspects.
Experiential Learning
Linfield places a special emphasis on experiential learning for students in both the traditional liberal arts and pre-professional programs. Through programs such as the Linfield Research Institute, Community Engagement and Service office, Career Development office, students engage in research projects, volunteer in the community and see future careers through internships. Each spring, Linfield hosts a Science and Student Collaborative Research and Creative Projects Symposia as a venue for all students involved in research or who have worked on special projects, independent studies or other suitable class work. The Linfield Center for the Northwest (LCN) research projects address issues of importance in the Pacific Northwest and allow students to apply academic theory through hands-on research. After summer research concludes, the student researchers bring what they learn to courses taught the following year.
Guest Speakers and Lectures
Opportunities for Linfield faculty and students to learn from visiting artists, scientists, researchers and other experts occur often through endowed lectureships and other regular guests to campus. Linfield hosts the Oregon Nobel Laureate Symposium, one of only five such convocations held worldwide. The centerpiece is a free public lecture, but informal exchanges and discussions in small groups of scholars, citizens and students add to the atmosphere of intellectual excitement and discovery.