Gardner Webb University

Date: Jan 15 2006
Major: English (This Major's Salary over time)
Coming from western NC, I'm a typical student at Gardner-Webb. Very few out of state students here. Foreign students are either missionary kids or athletes recruited by the sports teams. So there is not much diversity in terms of life experiences here, and students aren't forced to change while they're here if they don't want to. There are evangelical Christian students on campus, the majority of whom don't understanding why they believe what they believe—they were raised that way and are close-minded despite all the "Jesus loves you" talk. That said, it is possible to avoid them. It's also possible to avoid the drunken athletes (the campus is supposed to be dry, but its easy for athletes like the baseball and footbal team to walk across the street to someone's off-campus apartment to get smashed at a party). The emphasis here is on teaching not research, and faculty are really involved in their classes, so you can form close relationships with your professors. You can get a really good education here, but it will cost you more than a state school—nearly all the scholarships go to athletes, many of whom can barely read/speak. This is due to the administration's decision that athletics are more important than academics. So millions of dollars get poured into athletics every year and the school has a hard time retaining new young faculty. Also why a marching band director was hired but there's no one to teach subjects like geography, anthropology, astronomy, etc. Expect to have problems with financial aid and the registrar's office—incompetent staff aren't fired, they're just given a job somewhere else in the university because they either graduated from here 25 years ago or are some local person's wife or nephew.