[ FRIENDS FACTS ]
Best of Friends
Who are we?
Friends University is a comprehensive, private, liberal arts university, which provides a welcoming Christian environment for students of all beliefs and denominations.
Our Location
Friends' beautiful, park-like campus is located in a quiet, well-established residential community of Wichita — Kansas' largest city (population 350,000). Students have access to countless internship, employment and entertainment opportunities.
Friends University also has two permanent educational centers in Lenexa and Topeka, Kan. Additionally, we offer several outreach learning programs across the state of Kansas.
Our Students
With a combined undergraduate and graduate population of approximately 3,000 students, Friends is able to provide an undergraduate student/faculty ratio of 15:1. Classes are small, ranging from as few as 10 to a maximum of 50 students. Our student population is diverse, with a variety of ages, backgrounds and cultures represented.
Accreditation
Friends University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, a commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, 30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 2400, Chicago, IL 60602-2504, telephone 800-621-7440.
A Unique University
The main campus features 17 buildings, including the 117-year-old Davis Administration Building, which has been designated a National Historic Landmark. Semi-private and private rooms are available in Friends' two comfortable and convenient residence halls. Residence halls are equipped with laundry facilities on each floor, study rooms, cable TV and phone hook-ups in every room. Dial-up Internet access is also available.
Student Services
To help ensure student success, Friends University provides a range of services including those for the physically challenged, academic tutoring and other services for those needing academic support. Freshman Seminar, required of all first-semester freshmen, covers topics such as time management, study skills and career options.
Falcon Athletics
As a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, Friends offers 15 intercollegiate sports, including men's football, basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, cross country, track and field and golf; women's basketball, softball, soccer, volleyball, tennis, cross country and track and field.
Fine Arts
Friends offers more than 40 extracurricular clubs, organizations and activities, including musical groups, intramural athletics, religious and service organizations, drama productions, dance team, coed spirit squad and professional associations.
Financial Aid
More than 90 percent of our undergraduate students receive some type of financial aid, through scholarships, grants and loans. The cost of tuition and fees for the 2000-2001 school year was approximately $11,620 — well below the national average for private institutions.
Trivia
- The Olive White Garvey Business and Technology building rivals any institution in the state. This building — with eight, state-of-the-art computer labs — represents a $4 million investment in enhancing the value of your education.
- Successful Friends' alumni include — but are not limited to — the chief of radiology at Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St. Joseph Campus, a recipient of the Kansas Teacher of the Year Award and a vice president for Pizza Hut Corporation.
- Friends' alumnus, the late Rich Mullins, a popular contemporary Christian musician and composer, had 10 No. 1 songs.
- The internationally known Singing Quakers have performed at New York City's Carnegie Hall. In recent years, the group has also performed in Australia.
- Friends' intercollegiate teams have won more than 40 NAIA and KCAC Championships in recent years. The women's soccer team has won the KCAC title nine times.
- Business students annually place in the top 10 percent in national Phi Beta Lambda Business Fraternity competitions.
- Friends has graduated classes from which almost 100 percent of the pre-med students were accepted into medical school; and 85 percent of pre-law students were accepted into law school.
