As one of the nation’s leading liberal arts colleges, Denison University boasts generations of students who can attest to its effect on their lives. Each would cite a different reason. And they would all be right, because Denison’s liberal arts tradition and residential community create a college of endless personal possibilities.

Denison University is an independent, coeducational, residential college of liberal arts and sciences. Founded in 1831, Denison is one of the earliest colleges to be established in the old "Northwest Territory,"​ west of the Allegheny Mountains and north of the Ohio River. Denison University is a leading liberal arts college where faculty and students collaborate in research, civic engagement, & cultivation of independent thinking. As a leader among the nation's top residential liberal arts colleges, Denison has earned a reputation for academic rigor that is rivaled only by its commitment to preparing students for a lifetime of personal, professional and civic success.

VISION & VALUES

WHAT MATTERS MOST AT DENISON

At Denison University, the life of the mind merges with a life of action.

In small classes, students learn directly from—and collaborate with—a dynamic and involved faculty. In their daily pursuits, they put that knowledge into motion, applying their liberal arts foundation locally and globally in service, commerce, and innovation.  And so, as prepared and energized graduates, they become thought and action leaders in all walks of life. At the core of this experience is a set of rock-solid ideals: integrity, reason, scholarship, community, diversity, intellect, dignity, respect.

Mission Statement
Their purpose is to inspire and educate their students to become autonomous thinkers, discerning moral agents and active citizens of a democratic society. Through an emphasis on active learning, they engage students in the liberal arts, which fosters self-determination and demonstrates the transformative power of education. They envision their students' lives as based upon rational choice, a firm belief in human dignity and compassion unlimited by cultural, racial, sexual, religious or economic barriers, and directed toward an engagement with the central issues of their time.

Guiding Principles
Their curriculum balances breadth with depth, building academic specialization upon a liberal arts foundation in the arts, the sciences, the social sciences and the humanities. Responsive to new ways of learning, they continue to develop interdisciplinary integration of the many forms of knowledge. While their students pursue specialized learning in their chosen majors, they also develop the framework for an integrated intellectual life, spiritually and morally informed.

Denison's faculty is committed to undergraduate education. As teacher-scholar-advisors, their principal responsibility is effective teaching informed by the best scholarship. Faculty members place a priority on close interaction with students, interactive learning, and partnerships with students in original research. Their low student/faculty ratio allows for close supervision of independent research and collaborative work in small groups and classes.

They seek to ensure an ever-broader range of racial, ethnic, international and socioeconomic backgrounds in a student body of about 2,000 students. They offer different kinds of financial aid to meet the different needs of their students.

The focus of student life at Denison is a concern for the whole person. The University provides a living-learning environment sensitive to individual needs yet grounded in a concern for community, in which the principles of human dignity and ethical integrity are paramount. Students engage in a wide range of co-curricular activities that address the multidimensional character of their intellectual and personal journey.

Denison is a community in which individuals respect one another and their environment. Each member of the community possesses a full range of rights and responsibilities. Foremost among these is a commitment to treat each other and the environment with mutual respect, tolerance, and civility.