Central College

Central College is a four-year private liberal arts college located in Pella, Iowa, and affiliated with the Reformed Church in America and NCAA Division IIIathletics. The college was founded in 1853 and has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 1942. Central has a student body of approximately 1,100 undergraduates and 73 academic programs. The college is noted for its emphasis on sustainability education, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), and global experiential learning, including varied study abroad programs.

Central offers 73 academic programs and pre-professional advising, including the college’s newest major, engineering. The 14 pre-professional programs include medicine, law, nursing and pharmacy. Academic programs include accounting, athletic training, biology, communication studies, computer science, education, music, natural science, physics and languages. 85 per cent of faculty has a PhD or terminal degree. The average class size is 16 students and the student to faculty ratio is 12-1.

About 50 per cent of Central students studies abroad at some point. Central offers year-round programs around the world. Summer programs are also available in many locations.

Central has 19 sports programs and competes in the ARC of the NCAA. Sports include football, wrestling, volleyball, softball, baseball; men’s and women’s golf, track, soccer, basketball and tennis. Cheerleading, dance team and intramural sports are also offered.