Ripon at a Glance
Founding
Ripon College, founded in 1851, was converted from a college preparatory school to a four-year college in 1863. Its first class, four women — Luthera H. Adams, Harriet H. Brown, Susan A.W. Salisbury and Mary F. Spencer — was graduated in 1867.
Location
The College is located in the historic city of Ripon, Wisconsin — a friendly, safe community of under 8,000 people, 80 miles northwest of Milwaukee, 70 miles southwest of Green Bay, 73 miles northeast of Madison, 180 miles northwest of Chicago and 255 southeast of the Twin Cities in Minnesota.
Campus
The Ripon campus spans 250 tree-lined acres and includes 26 buildings — 10 of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A sustainable campus, Ripon is home to the Ceresco Prairie Conservancy, consisting of 130 acres of native prairie, oak savanna and wetland habitat in the making.
Motto
Life Well Lived Ⓡ
School Colors
Institutional Red
PMS 201 C
Hex code: 6a0a1b
RGB: 164 / 29 / 54
CMYK: 24 / 100 / 78 / 18
Athletics Red
PMS 200 C
Hex code: be0d34
RGB: 195 / 29 / 54
CMYK: 16.15 / 100 / 86.91 / 6.41
Honors
Ripon is just one of 290 select colleges and universities nationwide to hold a Phi Beta Kappa chapter (obtained in 1952), the oldest and most prestigious national honor society. National Forensic League and Pi Kappa Delta, a national honorary society for debaters and orators, were founded at Ripon. In November, 2014, the National Communication Association presented the Ripon College Department of Communication with the prestigious Rex Mix Program of Excellence Award for best undergraduate communication program in the United States. Click here to learn more about Ripon’s national rankings.
National Scholars
Ripon has had three Rhodes Scholars: Latimer Johns, 1911; Thomas Reinecke, 1968; and Zachary Morris, 2002. Lucy Burgchardt ’10, currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program in communication studies at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, received the coveted Gates Cambridge Scholarship – one of only 29 American students selected that year for the national scholarship. Sam Sondalle ’11, currently enrolled in the M.D./Ph.D. program at the Yale University School of Medicine, received a Goldwater Scholarship.
Nobel Prize Winners
Oliver Williamson, 1954, received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2009.
Affiliations
Ripon is a member of the prestigious Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM), which includes: Beloit College, Carleton College, Coe College, Colorado College, Cornell College, Grinnell College, Lake Forest College, Lawrence University, Luther College, Macalester College, Monmouth College, Knox College and St. Olaf College.
Red Hawks Intercollegiate Athletics
Ripon competes athletically as part of the Midwest Conference and boasts 18 NCAA Division III varsity teams: baseball (M), basketball (M+W), cross country (M+W), football (M), softball (W), soccer (M+W), swimming and diving (M+W), tennis (M+W), indoor and outdoor track and field (M+W), volleyball (W). Approximately 47 percent of enrolled students participate in varsity athletics at Ripon. The Ripon College football program first took the field against Lawrence University in 1893 (Ripon won 24-6) to begin what is believed to be the oldest football rivalry in the state of Wisconsin.
Our Students
Ripon enrolls 800+ undergraduates. Nearly 70 percent of all students are Wisconsin residents.
Academic Profile, Class of 2022
Mid-range SAT scores: 1030-1240; Average ACT score: 24 average GPA: 3.4
Alumni
Ripon has more than 10,000 living alumni. Prominent alumni include: Harrison Ford ’64, Spencer Tracy ’24 (deceased), Al Jarreau ’62 (deceased), Dick Bennett ’65, Gail Dobish ’76, Richard Threlkeld ’59 (deceased), Jeffrey Bantle ’80, Justin Niebank ’78, Elda Emma Anderson ’22 (deceased) and Bill Jordan ’69. Learn more about our prominent alumni.
Academic Calendar
Two 15-week semesters; optional three-week Liberal Arts In Focus sessions in summer, fall and winter. Learn more about off-campus study.
Student-to-Faculty Ratio
Ripon College has 14 students per one faculty member, and the average class size is 17 students. Seventy percent of classes have fewer than 20 students.
Our Faculty
Ninety-eight percent of full-time faculty members hold a Ph.D. or the equivalent highest degree in their fields. Unlike many large universities, our professors’ first and largest job is to teach our undergraduate classes. While they research, publish and create with the best of their peers, our faculty come here because they love to teach.
Ripon College President
Dr. Victoria N. Folse,
the 14th president of Ripon College
Post-Graduate Record
Ninety-eight percent of our students are employed, student teaching or enrolled in graduate programs within six months of graduating from Ripon; approximately 50 percent of alumni continue their education within five years of graduation; the five-year average acceptance rate for students entering medical school is 77 percent, outpacing the national average.
Residential Life
Ninety-seven percent of students live on campus. A variety of housing options exist, including theme housing and apartment-style housing for upperclassmen. Ripon has more than 50 student-run clubs and organizations, including College Days, the oldest continuously published student newspaper in Wisconsin. Approximately, 70 percent of students participate in intramural sports and other clubs and organizations, who actively utilize athletics, health and wellness facilities and fields and a 3.5 mile system of recreational trails.
Accreditation
Ripon is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.