Hey guys. Meet the Gooey Duck, mascot of the Evergreen State College. I'm Shayna.

And I'm Nicole, and you're watching Youniversity TV. Let's take a tour of this beautiful campus.

Evergreen is located in Olympia, Washington's state capitol.

[ Cowbell ] Downtown Olympia is only a 20-minute bus ride away. Seattle, Portland, the Pacific Ocean, Mount Rainer, and the Olympic National Park are all within a 1 to 2 hour drive.

I like to go hiking and kayaking. There's a lot of mountain ranges and oceans, and stuff to go see here.

I like to go to the city. There's, there's some cool shops. The like waterfront is really nice, we'll go out there and have like a picnic or something.

Evergreen has been noted as one of the nation's top green colleges. Sustainability is a priority on this forested 1,00o acre campus, featuring a half mile of salt water beach on Puget Sound, miles of paths and trails, sports fields and recreation facilities, a Native American long house, and even an organic farm. The longhouse on the Evergreen State College campus is built on the grounds of a traditional gathering site, and students come here for more than learning about Native American studies, tons of cultural events and activities take place here. Plus, it was blessed by the Skohmus [assumed spelling] tribe.

Evergreen has nearly 4,300 undergraduates, 56% are women, 16% are students of color, about 80% are Washington residents, and 22% are first generation college students. Freshman applicants are required to hold an average SAT of around 1103, ACT of 34, and a GPA of 3.06.

We're somewhat selective with our admissions policy. We're looking for ways for students to come in and succeed. We're going to look to see that they've met those things and if they don't. What were the circumstances that caused them not to.

The cost of attendance is about $17,000 for Washington residents and $28,000 for non-residents. That includes tuitions, fees, room and board, books and supplies, and personal expenses.

Evergreen offers more than 50 areas of study, but what's unique is students design their own academic pathways. No formal majors here. Students choose a customized combination of teen taught interdisciplinary programs, and can also create individual learning contracts to really dig into a particular topic.

Popular areas of study are media, visual and performing arts, environmental studies, Lab and field science, Culture and language, and Social sciences.

We have a program for an example in advanced environmental studies program called, The Geography of the Grand Canyon. And those students spend an entire quarter in the Grand Canyon rafting the Colorado River with 2 faculty studying the geology of the Grand Canyon. They can do that because they don't miss any other classes it's built right into the program.

Nearly 90% of full time faculty have their PhD or terminal degree, roughly, 25% are individuals of color, half are women, and half are men.

My relationship with my professors is really special, because at Evergreen, we really allow for you to grow really strong connections with your professors, and you have 1 on 1 interactions with them.

Don't worry about the ABC's, faculty members write merits of evaluations to assess student work, so no letter grades.

The grading policy here, I think is excellent.

We write this thing called an evaluation. The closest thing I could relate it to is if you asked someone for a letter of recommendation and they would just sum up everything about you, and so instead of you just getting a letter grade like an A, I can write about what you did.

Lauren Kope[assumed spelling], author of Colleges That Change Lives, traveled the entire country searching for the 40 schools that will change the way you think about college. The Evergreen State College is 1 of 2 public schools in the book. Go Gooey Duck. The Evergreen Gooey Ducks house 7 athletic teams that compete in the NAIA division 2 intercollegiate level. They support a nationally ranked soccer program, and a fearsome crew team that is a force to be reckoned with.

Nearly 8-5 of Evergreen first year students live on campus, most housing is apartment style and single bedrooms with a shared living room and bathroom. Dean housing is also available including, community action, sustainability, gender neutral, quiet, and substance free.

It was really, really helpful for me to live in the freshman dorms. It's really nice to have that support.

Evergreen offers more than 50 student organizations including the campus radio station KAOS, and the student newspaper Cooper Point Journal.

So you might not have a concentration in sustainable agriculture, but don't let that stop you from trying out green thumb. Here at Evergreen students can rent out a plot, and plant their own garden.

But if you're like me and don't want to get your hands dirty, you can still read the benefits of the organically grown fruits and vegetables right here at the greenery, and every Tuesday and Thursday there's a farmer's market here on campus.

Back to the basics, Evergreen's interdisciplinary programs bring students together with the faculty team to form learning communities that stay together for up to 3 terms. With a class size of 25, students really get to know each other and the faculty.

Teaching science with an interdisciplinary approach, is really powerful, probably more than any of the other series of subjects, because sciences are inherently related, so you cannot really learn biology in isolation, chemistry in isolation, physics in isolation. They really are linked and we help show students those connections.

So, if you're looking for a university where you get to choose your own curriculum, and your work won't be reduced to a letter grade then you may just find the innovative approach of the Evergreen State College a perfect match.

Thanks for joining us here at the Evergreen State College.

I know we covered a lot of ground today, but you guys don't forget to check it out for yourself. Bye

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