page_title: University of Rochester
section_title: Academics
hierarchical_section_title: University of Rochester / Academics
caption_attribution_description: English: Academic buildings (from left to right: Carlson Science Library, the Hylan Building, Hutchinson Hall)) at the River Campus of the University of Rochester, in Rochester, New York. Correct photo date =&gt; April 10, 2012.
context_page_description: The University of Rochester is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees.
  The University of Rochester enrolls approximately 6,800 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students. Its 158 buildings house over 200 academic majors. According to the National Science Foundation, Rochester spent $370 million on research and development in 2018, ranking it 68th in the nation. The university is the 7th largest employer in the Finger lakes region of New York.
  The College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering is home to departments and divisions of note. The Institute of Optics was founded in 1929 through a grant from Eastman Kodak and Bausch and Lomb as the first educational program in the US devoted exclusively to optics, awards approximately half of all optics degrees nationwide, and is widely regarded as the premier optics program in the nation. The Departments of Political Science and Economics have made a significant and consistent impact on positivist social science since the 1960s, and historically rank in the top 5 in their fields.
context_section_description: The University of Rochester's undergraduate enrollment includes approximately 5,800 full-time and about 200 part-time students from across the U.S. and over 115 countries. Graduate enrollment includes approximately 3,900 full-time and about 1,100 part-time graduate students.
  The university has more than 103,000 living alumni and employs nearly 2,300 tenure-track faculty, with more than 20,000 faculty and staff across the university and the Strong Health System.
  The only required undergraduate course is the first year writing seminar. In lieu of a core curriculum, undergraduates complete coursework in each of three disciplines: humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Students choose a major, consisting of more than ten courses, and a cluster, consisting of three related courses. The student must ensure at least a cluster is met in each discipline; however, second majors and minors are often used to fulfill these requirements. Students who pursue accredited engineering fields including biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, electrical and computer engineering or mechanical engineering, are exempt from this system and are only required to have one humanities or social science cluster.
  Rochester offers juniors and seniors the opportunity to apply for full funding for a fifth year of study. These programs include Take Five Scholars program and the Kauffman Entrepreneurial Year (KEY) Scholarship. "Take-Five" and "Key", as they are colloquially known, allow for study in a field unrelated to an undergraduate major or the pursuit of an innovative entrepreneurial project with an impact on the local area, respectively.
  The University further offers a number of combined undergraduate - graduate tracks. These include Rochester Early Medical Scholars (REMS), Rochester Early Business Scholar (REBS), Graduate Engineering At Rochester (GEAR), and Guaranteed Rochester Accelerated Degree in Education (GRADE) programs. These programs are open to prospective students, who must apply for these prior to entering the university.
caption: Hylan Hall, home of the mathematics department
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