Institutional Focus
Nationally recognized for its quality and value, Winthrop is a learning community that embodies the characteristics essential to being one of the best universities of its kind: a carefully selected student body of high academic achievement and cultural diversity; a national caliber curriculum of the arts, sciences and professions; a residential educational experience emphasizing personal identity and close relationships; and values that emphasize deep learning, quality teaching and engaged public service.  Winthrop students have the opportunity to develop their individual capacities to become leaders in their professions and communities through a variety of highly personalized, engaging and progressively developmental academic and co-curricular programs predicated on national standards of excellence. The Winthrop Experience is one that prepares students to live, learn and lead for a lifetime. 

History
Winthrop's history dates to 1886, when 21 students gathered in a borrowed one-room building in Columbia, S.C. David Bancroft Johnson, a dedicated and gifted superintendent of schools, headed up the fledgling institution, whose mission was the education of teachers. Winthrop has changed dramatically since moving to its permanent Rock Hill home in 1895, growing from a single classroom to a comprehensive university of distinction. Winthrop's historic campus is a setting of exceptional beauty, as is its recreational area known as The Farm. Today, nearly 6,500 students take courses in arts and sciences, education, business administration and visual and performing arts, all of which are supported by Winthrop's newest academic division, University College.

Academic Programs
Winthrop is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, master's and specialist degrees. A total of 40 undergraduate and 24 graduate degree programs are available in the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business Administration, the Richard W. Riley College of Education, and the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Within the four colleges more than 80 undergraduate and 40 graduate programs of study are offered through concentrations and options. An engaging liberal arts core provides the foundation for all degree programs. Additionally, the university is one of the few in the region that has achieved 100 percent national, specialized accreditation in all eligible programs.

Faculty
Winthrop's selective faculty recruitment process ensures that students learn from an outstanding faculty known for its focus on learning and student engagement. A student to faculty ratio of 14:1 fosters personal contact and close relationships. All classes are taught by faculty, and classroom instruction is further enriched by the expertise of distinguished visiting scholars, artists and practitioners.

Student Life
A vibrant, highly residential student life program provides opportunities and services to foster student development along cognitive, personal, and interpersonal dimensions. Eight residence halls and the apartment-style Courtyard at Winthrop provide a variety of living arrangements on campus.  Academic success communities and theme floors are designed to foster a supportive environment where students live, learn and have fun together. Further opportunities for service, participation and leadership are available through more than 180 clubs and organizations and an energetic array of recreational sports. The Dinkins Student Union board has earned national acclaim for its programming efforts. The Winthrop Eagles are championship caliber and compete in NCAA Division I. Scholar-athletes at Winthrop compete in men's and women’s basketball, tennis, golf, indoor/outdoor track, cross-country and soccer; women's softball and volleyball; and men's baseball.

Alumni
Upon graduation, Winthrop students continue their education in prestigious graduate and professional programs or enter a wide variety of positions in business, education, medicine, the arts, government or law. Winthrop's exceptionally loyal alumni currently total more than 41,000 worldwide.

Campus
Approximately 20 minutes from Charlotte is Winthrop's tree-lined campus, which encompasses a rich architectural blend of neo-Georgian buildings and is included in the National Register of Historic Places. Behind its stately facade is a community of learners who engage in their educational pursuits in spacious academic facilities, enhanced with SMART technology, and in laboratories and performance venues suitably equipped for rising professionals. The campus' computing infrastructure provides a state-of-the-art learning environment, including high-speed Internet access from all campus buildings and residence hall rooms and wireless access at select locations.

One half of Winthrop's students live on campus, only a short walk from classrooms, the Student Center, dining locations, art galleries, Dacus Library and Lois Rhame West Health, Physical Education and Wellness Center. A large, attractive recreational area surrounds Winthrop Lake and includes a 6,100-seat coliseum, a 2,000-seat ballpark, softball, track, soccer and tennis complexes, a 9-hole golf course, an 18-hole disc golf course, and numerous recreational athletic fields.

08/08 Most information based on fall 2007 data.