City: Towson, MD

Category: Education

Telephone: (410) 337-6000

Address: 1021 Dulaney Valley Rd.

Description: Goucher was founded in 1885 as a liberal arts college for women in midtown Baltimore. It moved to its 287-acre Towson campus in 1953 and began accepting male students in 1986. Goucher counts among its student body about 1,350 undergraduates and 1,000 graduate students from all over the United States and 20 foreign countries. In the fall of 2006, Goucher College launched a new liberal education curriculum and all incoming first-year students—and some transfer students—are subject to its new requirements. This curriculum states what the college believes every student should know by the time he or she graduates. Each student must study abroad before being graduated. Goucher offers 31 undergraduate majors and 6 interdisciplinary areas and students can also design their own majors. Most classes have fewer than 20 students. Internships and independent study and research are encouraged and in some cases required for graduation. Master’s degrees in education, teaching, historic preservation, and creative nonfiction and a post-baccalaureate premedical program are available. In September 2009, the college opened Athenaeum, a $48 million “green” structure described as a 24/7 technologically superior library, spacious open forum for public events, café, art gallery, community center, group study rooms; and spaces for exercise, conversation, and reflection.