Shenandoah University educates and inspires individuals to be critical, reflective thinkers; lifelong learners; and ethical, compassionate citizens who are committed to making responsible contributions within a community, a nation and the world

Shenandoah University has about 4,000 students and a mission to educate individuals to be “critical, reflective thinkers; lifelong learners; and ethical, compassionate citizens who are committed to making responsible contributions within a community, a nation, and the world.” 

Students are matched with advisers in their majors and their minors. Every Shenandoah Hornet is given a MacBook Pro and an iPad with Apple Pencil to use and keep; this means that everyone is using the same platform, that if a computer needs to be fixed, you take it to the tech for repair and get a loaner, and that Shenandoah cares about equality and access.

Every student at SU is offered about seven hours a week of work/study, even those who don’t qualify for federal work/study assistance. The college believes that contributing to the college through work gives students more of a buy-in to the success of the school overall. Conscious of the importance of mental health, the school believes that work gives the student “one more set of eyes” that will observe how that student is doing at SU. 

Although Shenandoah is known for its music, dance, and theater conservatories, Division III athletes make up about a quarter of the student body. It has a quickly growing health sciences school, and popular majors include psychology and business. 

If you aren’t sure that you want to go the conservatory route and make a profession of your art, Shenandoah has plenty of non-arts majors. For example, while there’s no real “pre-law” major, SU’s pre-law advising track will help you prepare for law school. History and political science are frequent routes for those aspiring to law school, but these aren’t the only pathways. 

Shenandoah University is a place where creative and artistic individuals can hone their crafts or pursue another career and continue to explore their arts. With over 400 performances a year, opportunities to be a part of those performances abound for those within and outside of the conservatories.