Depauw University creates a supportive, insulated community for students in the rural, small town of Greencastle, Indiana. Every student must live on campus, whether in a traditional residence hall, Greek house or on-campus apartment. Freshmen ease into college with the help of the Depauw Mentor Program, which assigns an upperclassman to guide a group of first-year students. Students with a specific career path in mind can enroll in the Management Fellows, Media Fellows or Science Research Fellows programs, which pair academics with semester-long internships and series of speakers. Depauw also has an Information Technology Associates Program for computer-minded students who wish to balance a liberal arts education with hands-on, paid technology work throughout campus.Depauw, which is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, operates on a schedule of two regular semesters and a four-week winter term, during which students can complete short internships, trips abroad or on-campus coursework. After class, students can get involved in more than 100 student organizations, and nearly 70 percent participate in Greek life. The Greek system, which has about 25 fraternities and sororities, has existed since 1845. The Depauw Tigers compete in the NCAA Division III North Coast Athletic Conference and share a longtime football rivalry with Wabash College. For a break from Greencastle, major cities like Indianapolis and Bloomington are less than an hour's drive away.Depauw has an on-campus Nature Park, where students can hike 10 miles of trails, catch a show in the outdoor amphitheater or perform ecological research. The Nature Park is also home to the Prindle Institute for Ethics, where students, faculty and visiting scholars can debate moral decisions in a serene setting. Notable alumni include Fox News anchor Bret Baier and former Vice President Dan Quayle.

Only a few days after the Revolutionary War came to a close, Dickinson College was chartered in Carlisle, Pa. Today, Dickinson students have more than 130 student clubs and organizations to choose from, including about a dozen fraternities and sororities. About a quarter of all students join a Greek organization. The Dickinson Red Devils compete in the NCAA Division III Centennial Conference, and the school has a particularly competitive rivalry with Franklin and Marshall College in nearby Lancaster, Pa. Intramural sports, like sand volleyball and badminton, are a popular draw for students, too. Freshmen, sophomores, juniors and some seniors must live on campus, though housing options differ by class standing. First-year students are assigned to dormitories; sophomores and juniors live in suites; and seniors can either move into campus apartments or apply to move off campus. Freshmen also have the option to register for a learning community, a group of students with a similar interest who live and take at least two of the same classes together.The campus town of Carlisle is a historic community of 20,000 residents. To get around town, students may rent from a small fleet of college-owned, red bicycles. The campus is 25 miles away from the states capital, Harrisburg; 95 miles from Baltimore; and 125 miles from Philadelphia. For a semester or a year away from Carlisle, students can choose from more than 40 study abroad programs, many of which are led by Dickinson faculty.The Dickinson School of Law is affiliated with Penn State University and moved to University Park, Pa., but Dickinson undergraduates can benefit from the professional institution. Students can take an accelerated track toward earning a law degree, completing three years at Dickinson College and three years at the Dickinson School of Law at Penn State. Other joint masters degree programs include an accelerated Bachelor of Science degree from Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, a 13.5 month program following three years at Dickinson College, and a guaranteed scholarship of at least $10,000 to any Dickinson student admitted to the highly ranked William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester. Distinguished graduates of Dickinson College include U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, Pa., and New York Times best-selling author Jennifer Haigh.