Wesleyan University ( WESS-lee-ən) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a men's college under the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown. It became a secular, coeducational institution.
Wesleyan is a primarily undergraduate institution with a small graduate program. It offers 47 majors as part of an open curriculum. The college accepted female applicants from 1872 to 1909, but did not become fully coeducational until 1970. Before full coeducation, Wesleyan alumni and other supporters of women's education established Connecticut College in 1912. Wesleyan, along with Amherst and Williams colleges, is part of "The Little Three." Its teams compete athletically as a member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) in NCAA Division III.
History
Before Wesleyan was founded, a military academy established by Alden Partridge existed, consisting of the campus's North and South Colleges. As this academy failed, New England Methodists bought it and founded in 1831 an all-male Methodist college. Willbur Fisk was the first president. Despite its name, Wesleyan was never officially a denominational seminary, though its curriculum and campus religious life were shaped by a heavy Methodist influence. In 1871, Judd Hall was dedicated; it was named after alumnus Orange Judd and was one of the earliest academic buildings devoted exclusively to undergraduate science instruction on any American college or university campus.
The Wesleyan student body numbered about 300 in 1910 and had grown to 800 in 1960.
Wesleyan is, along with Amherst and Williams colleges, a member of the Little Three. Wesleyan began as the smallest of the three. Later on, it expanded its programs, qualifying as a university with a variety of graduate offerings and became larger than the other two.
In 1872, the university became one of the first U.S. colleges to attempt coeducation by admitting a small number of female students, a venture then known as the "Wesleyan Experiment". "In 1909, the board of trustees voted to stop admitting women as undergraduates, fearing that the school was losing its masculine image and that women would not be able to contribute to the college financially after graduation the way men could." From 1912 to 1970, Wesleyan operated again as an all-male college.
Wesleyan became independent of the Methodist church in 1937. In 2000, the university was designated as a historic Methodist site.
Beginning in the late 1950s, president Victor Lloyd Butterfield began a reorganization program that resembled Harvard's house system and Yale's colleges. Undergraduate study would be divided into seven smaller residential colleges, with their own faculty and centralized graduate studies. Doctoral programs and a Center for Advanced Studies (later renamed the Center for the Humanities) were included in this reorganization.
The building program begun under this system created three residential colleges on Foss Hill (Foss Hill dormitories), followed by three more residential colleges (Lawn Avenue dormitories, now called Butterfield Colleges). Although the structures were built, only four of the proposed academic programs were begun. Two of those continue today: the College of Letters and the College of Social Studies. It has a student-faculty ratio of 7:1.
Butterfield's successors, Edwin Deacon Etherington (class of 1948) and Colin Goetze Campbell, completed many innovations begun during Butterfield's administration, including the return of women in numbers equal to men; a quadrupling in the total area of building space devoted to laboratory, studio, and performing arts instruction; and a significant rise in racial, ethnic, and religious diversity and total number of students.
Campus
Wesleyan occupies a 360-acre (1.5 km2) campus, with over 340 buildings, including the five-building College Row; Olin Memorial Library; Andrus Public Affairs Center; the Exley Science Center; Shanklin and Hall-Atwater Laboratories; the Van Vleck Observatory; Fayerweather with Beckham Hall; Russell House, a National Historic Landmark; the Allbritton Center; the Butterfield dormitories; the Fauver Field dormitories; and the 11-building Center for the Arts complex.
When Wesleyan University was founded in 1831, it took over a campus with two buildings, North College and South College, from 1825. These were originally constructed by the City of Middletown for use by Captain Partridge's American Literary, Scientific, and Military Academy. In 1829, after the Connecticut legislature declined it a charter to grant college degrees, Partridge moved his academy to Northfield, Vermont. The academy later became Norwich University and the Middletown buildings were acquired by Wesleyan.
The original North College was destroyed in a fire in 1906, but South College survived, being converted into offices that same year. The cupola and the belfry, which contains the Wesleyan Carillon, was designed by Henry Bacon and was added in 1916.The original core buildings of the campus were North College and South College. North College, a Nassau Hall-type building seen in most early American college campuses, was replaced after a fire in 1909 with the current North College. South College is the sole building from the beginning
Memorial Chapel was completed in 1871 to honor the memory of Wesleyan students and alumni who fought in the American Civil War. Wesleyan had among the highest per capita student enlistment rates in the Union army.
The northern end of High Street contains several large buildings that were former private residences, a few of which were exceptional architectural examples. These include Russell House, a National Historic Landmark, two Alsop family houses, (one is currently the African-American Studies center with student housing; the other is the Digital Design Commons), the Davison infirmary, a second Russell family house that contains the University Development Office, and Downey House. High Street, which is the old center of campus, was once described by Charles Dickens as "the most beautiful street in America".
Undergraduate academics
Wesleyan has 46 undergraduate academic departments. 40% of Wesleyan graduates take double majors.
Wesleyan offers 3–2 programs in engineering with the California Institute of Technology and Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. These programs allow undergraduates to receive degrees in five years from both Wesleyan (B.A.) and Caltech or Columbia (B.Sc., Engineering). Additionally, Wesleyan offers a BA/MA Program in the sciences leading to a bachelor's degree in the fourth year and a master's degree in the fifth year. Tuition for the fifth year of the master's degree is waived.
Wesleyan does not require undergraduates to take prescribed courses. Freshmen are offered First Year Initiative seminars, and undergraduates are encouraged in the first two years of study to take a minimum of two courses from two different departments in diverse subject areas.
Bailey College of the Environment
The Bailey College of the Environment, created in 2009, integrates the following components: 1) a curricular component, including the newly established environmental studies major, the environmental studies certificate, and a senior capstone project; 2) a Think Tank of Wesleyan faculty, scholars of prominence, and undergraduates whose aim is to produce scholarly work that will influence national and international thinking and action on critical environmental issues; and 3) the Collaborative Research Initiative (CRI), which is designed to encourage COE majors with the most potential to undertake environmental research.
College of Film and the Moving Image
The university's Film Studies program is led by film historian Jeanine Basinger. In 2008, Vanity Fair said: "This tiny Connecticut University, with a total enrollment of 2,700, has turned out a shockingly disproportionate number of Hollywood movers and shakers." Similarly, in 2008, Variety magazine noted Basinger's contribution to the film industry through her work in the Wesleyan Film Studies program, and the large number of alumni of the program now working in Hollywood. University students, biographers, media experts, and scholars from around the world may have full access to The Wesleyan Cinema Archives, which document the film industry during the 20th century and contain the personal papers and film related materials of Ingrid Bergman, Frank Capra, Clint Eastwood, Federico Fellini, Elia Kazan, Frank Perry, Roberto Rossellini, Robert Saudek, Martin Scorsese, Gene Tierney, Raoul Walsh, and John Waters, amongst others.
In February 2013, Wesleyan announced the creation of a new College of Film and the Moving Image, incorporating the Film Studies Department, the Center for Film Studies, the Cinema Archives and the Wesleyan Film Series.
College of Integrative Sciences
The College of Integrative Sciences (CIS) provides students with an interdisciplinary education in the sciences and combines it with hands-on problem-solving skills in research. To build interdisciplinary expertise, students must complete both a traditional major in science or mathematics, as well as a "linked" major that combines components from other disciplines to form a coherent plan of study.
College of Letters
The College of Letters is an interdisciplinary humanities program offering a three-year B.A. major for the integrative study of European literature, history, and philosophy.
College of Social Studies
The College of Social Studies (CSS) was founded in 1959, combining the fields of history, economics, government, and philosophy. Students take 5.5 of the program's 10.5 (thesis-writing students take 11.5) required credits during their sophomore year. Sophomore year focuses on the development of modern Western society from historical, economic, social and political perspectives, and culminates with comprehensive final exams. Seniors are required to write an honors thesis (full year) or senior essay.
Science and mathematics
Wesleyan is the sole undergraduate liberal arts college to be designated a Molecular Biophysics Predoctoral Research Training Center by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Theater
Wesleyan's theater program has two theater facilities: the Theatre in the Center for the Arts, a 400-seat space; and the '92 Theater, home to Spike Tape, which is a student-run theater organization. Spike Tape produces upwards of five plays and musicals a semester, completely run by undergraduate students. They can be found at spiketapewes.com.
Twelve College Exchange
Many students participate in the Twelve College Exchange program, which allows for study for a semester or a year at another of the twelve college campuses: Amherst, Bowdoin, Connecticut College, Dartmouth, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Trinity, Vassar, Wellesley, Wheaton, and the Williams/Mystic Seaport Program in Maritime Studies.
Graduate academics
Wesleyan has 11 graduate departmental programs in the sciences, mathematics, computer science, psychology, and music. Graduates receive the Master of Arts or Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Like in many traditional liberal arts colleges in the United States, all of Wesleyan's master's and bachelor's degrees are designated "of Arts" by historical precedent, regardless of the field of study. Wesleyan also offers a Graduate Liberal Studies Program. Graduates receive the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS) or the Master of Philosophy in Liberal Arts (MPHIL) degrees.
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
In 2012, Wesleyan became the first small liberal arts college to work with a private consortium to design and offer free public access online courses. Wesleyan teaches online courses in Math, Computer Science, Law, Psychology, Literature, and other subjects.
Academic profile
Admissions
For the Class of 2027 (enrolling fall 2023), Wesleyan received 14,500 applications and accepted 2,280 (15.7%). The median SAT score for admitted freshmen was 770 for math and 750 for evidence-based reading and writing. The median ACT score was 34 for the composite. Since 2014, Wesleyan has been test optional.
Admission standards at Wesleyan are considered "most selective" by U.S. News & World Report. The Princeton Review gives the university an admissions selectivity rating of 96 out of 99.
Wesleyan announced in July 2023 that it would no longer give preference in admission to applicants with family or donor ties to the school, officially ending legacy admission at the institution.
Rankings and reputation
In the 2025 U.S. News & World Report rankings, Wesleyan University is tied for 13th overall among national liberal arts colleges. In the 2024 edition, it was ranked first in "Best Colleges for Veterans", 16th in "Best Value Schools", and tied for 36th in "Top Performers on Social Mobility". Wesleyan University is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.
In the Forbes ranking of the top 500 American colleges for 2024–25, which combines national research universities, liberal arts colleges and military academies in a single survey, Wesleyan University is ranked 54th overall and 12th among liberal arts colleges alone. In another recent Forbes ranking, Wesleyan placed ninth nationally and third among liberal arts colleges. According to a study entitled "Revealed Preference Ranking" published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Wesleyan ranks No. 22 among all colleges and universities, and No.5 among liberal arts colleges only. The stated purpose of the NBER study was to produce a ranking system that "would be difficult for a college to manipulate" by basing it on the actual demonstrated preferences of highly meritorious students. Wesleyan was listed on the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education's 2016 "10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech".
Washington Monthly ranked Wesleyan third in 2022, out of 203 liberal arts colleges in the U.S., based on its contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service.
In 2019 Kiplinger ranked Wesleyan 16th of the 149 best value liberal arts colleges in the United States.
Libraries
Olin Memorial Library holds more than 1.8 million volumes and about 10,000 serial subscriptions. Wesleyan's first library was Rich Hall (now '92 Theater), which was built just after the Civil War. Olin Library was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White, built 1925–1927, and dedicated in 1928.
The second-largest library on campus is the Science Library, which houses more than 250,000 volumes.
The Art Library is housed on the second floor of Olin Library. The Davison Art Collection holds the Print Reference Library on the ground floor of Olin Library. There is also a Music Library (which includes scores and recordings and the World Music Archives) and several department libraries.
In 2024, the sound-art work Minute/Year was installed in the main library stairwell.
Davison Art Collection
The Davison Art Collection, until 2019, was housed in Alsop House, which is designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark. The Collection is now located in Olin Memorial Library. The Davison Art Collection is a large collection consisting primarily of works on paper, including 18,000 prints, 6,000 photographs, several hundred drawings, a small number of paintings, and three-dimensional objects (including artists' books, sculptures, and other objects). The print collection has works by Dürer, Goya, Rembrandt, Kara Walker, Manet, Norma Morgan, and others.
The Davison Art Collection exhibits in the Anne Goldrach Gallery, located in the Pruzan Art Center. The Pruzan Art Center was designed by Peterson Rich Office and opened in 2024. The collection's educational program includes student-curated exhibitions and a study room to support object-based teaching and learning.