Clark University begins first academic LEEP year

Clark University greets every new academic year with excitement and news about changes on campus. This fall, students, faculty and the entire campus community formally set out under the banner of LEEP (Liberal Education and Effective Practice), Clark’s pioneering model for higher education.

LEEP builds upon the historic and distinctive strengths of Clark and fully integrates life-changing world, workplace and personal experiences with a robust liberal arts curriculum, giving students the full range of skills needed to thrive in today’s complex, ever-changing world. LEEP forges valuable connections among students and the types of students passing atwood photo global businesses, organizations, and communities upon which they will make their mark.

Applications for fall 2013 admission were up nearly 30 percent, and the University is set to welcome one of the largest classes in its 125-year history. The Class of 2017 is the first to be fully recruited within the full context of LEEP, and it appears that LEEP is resonating with families and students who recognize the value of a liberal education and effective practice.

“This fall will always be an important milestone in Clark’s long history of innovative liberal education, research and transformative student learning,” Clark President David P. Angel said. “The LEEP framework promises that the finest elements of a Clark education are accessible to every student, providing them with authentic engagement in the world and workplace.”

View images of the class of 2017’s first day on campus on Clark’s Flickr site.

Four LEEP Scholars have also arrived on campus, each a recipient of the LEEP Scholarship. The students were selected from more than 950 applicants. They receive full tuition, room, and board for four years as well as the opportunity to complete a master’s degree, tuition free, through the University’s Accelerated B.A./Master’s Degree Program.

Clark students will have the opportunity to work on a LEEP Project with a faculty member and an external partner, providing on-site experience and demonstrating mastery of LEEP learning outcomes such as the ability to solve complex problems through creative thinking, collaboration, and persistence.

Clark’s LEEP model is the culmination of years of research in the learning sciences and emerging adulthood, and is guided by the essential learning outcomes of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U).

“Clark is one of a very select group of colleges and universities that my own association watches very carefully because of its creativity and pace-setting leadership in undergraduate education,” AAC&U President Carol Geary-Schneider said during Clark’s 2012 commencement. “We believe that Clark is setting an important new direction for liberal education in the 21st century…. Clark’s LEEP initiative is giving all Clark students a particular advantage.”