Top 10 Weirdest & Unique Colleges in the US

Top 30 Best Value Colleges in the U.S 2023/2024

Top 10 Most Largest US Colleges & Universities - by Enrollment, Subscribers

When you think of college, you usually envision large classes, a lot of papers and labs, and hanging around in dorm rooms with your pals. What you don't picture are high school dropouts, hard labor, or spending winters on Antarctica-bound ships.

From Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service to Naropa University's Enlightened Cheetahs, here are the top ten strange colleges in the United States.

1. Maharishi University of Management

Maharishi University (MUM), despite its name, is not a management school; rather, it offers a distinctive education that is based on what they refer to as consciousness-based learning. MUM, which is based in Fairfield, Iowa, 60 miles west of the Mississippi River, is home to roughly 340 undergraduate and 1,100 graduate students.

Students can major in a variety of disciplines, including business, literature, and computer science, but they are only permitted to enroll in one course each month. Transcendental Meditation will now have more space, stress will be reduced, and each course's learning will be enhanced.

The institution has been committed to the advancement of consciousness since it was established more than 40 years ago by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It is a requirement for teachers and staff members to meditate in order to expand their consciousness.

Maharishi University of Management

This advancement is described by Maharishi as the gap in contemporary education, and he asserts that engaging in Transcendental Meditation improves health, scholastic achievement, and intelligence.

The institution refers to itself as a "university of management" in reference to the notion that all facets of daily life, including our employment, health, and interpersonal relationships, require management.

2. Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service

The odd nature of this college is obvious from the name alone. After high school, those who are specifically interested in the art and science of funeral service enroll at Gupton-Jones. They enroll in all the standard general education courses—history, English, math—but afterward go to more challenging classes like Principles of Embalming, Psychology of Funeral Service, and Mortuary Law/Ethics.

Gupton-Jones can put students in touch with funeral homes for internships and volunteer opportunities if they are dying for some practical experience. They can also take part in Allied Trade Activities, which broadens their knowledge of funeral services.

Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service

Students are required to observe a dress code that they will also have to follow in their future careers as funeral directors. Students can leave campus and experience everything Atlanta has to offer when they are completely exhausted from their classes and academics. The Associate of Science degree is awarded to students when they have finished all the prerequisite courses.

Top 20+ Colleges in the US Where Students Don’t Pay Tuition

3. Naropa University

Naropa University, which was established in 1974 by the Tibetan Buddhist Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, emphasizes creative expression and contemplative activities. The Bodhi Cheetahs, which can be loosely translated as awakened or enlightened Cheetahs, are the school's mascot.

Contemplative Psychology, Creative Writing & Literature, Early Childhood Education, Environmental Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies, Music, Peace Studies, Performance, Religious Studies, Traditional Eastern Arts, and Visual Arts are the only 11 majors available to the 380 undergraduates at this small four-year college in Boulder, Colorado. Students have the chance to take part in LEAPYEAR, a program that allows them to go in small groups to Latin America or India to study and do internships, during their first year of school.

Students can fill their spare time once they're back on campus by joining one of the many student groups or extracurricular activities. Naropa students frequently meditate, which is done to "encourage and nurture a student's authenticity and genuineness in order to be of service to others in a way that is open and nonjudgmental."

You can join organizations like the Sacred Sex Salon, Zazen Group, Eco-Dharma, Awakening Goddesses, or Mindful Improvisation Alliance if the contemplative life is not for you. Although just 39% of students graduate, it can sometimes take up to eight years, and 38% of students transfer out, this distinctive college is not for everyone.

4. Bard College at Simon’s Rock

Bard College at Simon’s Rock

With the exception of not requiring high school graduation, Bard College at Simon's Rock, sometimes known as Simon's Rock College by students and faculty, is a tiny liberal arts college. The age range on campus is from 14 to 23, while the average age of entering students is 16 years old.

At actuality, Woody Allen's kid enrolled at the college when he was 11 years old. Simon's Rock College, a four-year institution with accreditation, is proud to be the only institution in the US to provide bachelor's degree programs to students who did not complete high school or did not attend high school at all. It is located in the small town of Great Barrington in western Massachusetts.

With class sizes ranging from 1 to 20, the top-ranked school is home to about 350 kids. Every student is obliged to double major, choose one from a list of preexisting majors and creating their new major to complement it.

After a year there, it's possible that you'll have a personal relationship with everyone from the provost to the dining hall employees because students, faculty, and staff strictly adhere to the first name only policy.

5. Deep Springs College

This college, which is situated on a cattle ranch in California's High Desert, is anything from typical. Deep Springs College defines a liberal arts education as including manual labor in addition to math, philosophy, and literature. There are fewer than 100 pupils, and they are all required to arrive at work at 4:30 am to begin the day's work, which frequently entails milking cows or fixing irrigation lines.

The cost of attendance is covered by the school, so students only have to worry about paying for their books and transport, so that doesn't sound as horrible. Monday through Friday, students attend one to two 90-minute lessons that are always scheduled between breakfast and lunch.

Labor is typically saved for the afternoon and the hours between dinner and bedtime. The institution is self-governed by the students and staff, and athletics are described as "midnight runs to the Upper Reservoir for polar bear swimming and a steamy sauna". The highest degree available at Deep Springs is an Associate's Degree, however the majority of students continue their study at a four-year university and more than half get a PhD.

6. St. John’s College

St. John’s College

At first sight, this college appears typical, but then you realize that there are no majors available and that learning Ancient Greek is a requirement for all students. Both of St. John's campuses—one in Santa Fe and the other in Annapolis—are home to about 500 undergraduate students each.

Every 'Johnnie,' that is, student, is expected to take four years of seminar, math, and language classes (two years of Ancient Greek and two years of French), as well as two years of lab science and two years of music classes. Professors are compared to tutors because of the tiny size of the classes and the fact that only one or two are needed to teach a class of 15 pupils. Students can participate in clubs like the Alternate Euclid Proofs Group or work out at the Igleheart Gymnasium in their free time.

7. Webb Institute

Students that are certain of the field they want to pursue can attend Webb Institute in Glen Cove, New York. It provides only one academic option, which is a double major in marine engineering and naval architecture. Upon enrollment, each student is given a schedule of the courses they will study during each semester, in both order and number.

Since there are only 80 undergraduate students, maintaining a 7:1 faculty to student ratio is not difficult. Every student who enrolls also receives a full tuition scholarship. Each student must take part in what Webb refers to as "Winter Work" in addition to the mandatory classes and areas of study.

Students leave the school in January and February to work as crew members on boats, welders in shipyards, or designers in offices. Students have visited locations like Antarctica, Finland, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates while on winter break. Currently, 100% of recent graduates find employment.

8. Antioch College

Antioch College

This liberal arts college in Ohio seems to belong in California, on the other side of the country. Nearly 30% of the food served in their dining hall is grown on campus, and the entire school is powered by solar energy. They boast that they exclusively purchase locally grown and humanely farmed food and meat, and that their kitchen is devoid of deep fryers.

To top it off, Kale is the name of Antioch College's unofficial mascot. The school closed in 2008 due to financial troubles. Since their reopening in 2011, they have been taking in about 100 students annually.

Antioch is unique because it is the only liberal arts college in the nation that requires students to complete off-campus employment programs as a requirement for graduation. Students leave campus every other quarter as part of the Cooperative Program, or Co-op, to perform full-time employment that pay wages. Students initially stay local to the institution, but as they get closer to graduation, employment chances may be global.

The college advocates the adage "learning is doing" and holds that engaging in real-world experiences, rather than spending four years in a classroom, is the greatest way to gain knowledge.

9. Alverno College

Around 2,605 students attend this Catholic school exclusively for women, which is situated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Alverno College evaluates its students narratively, much like Evergreen State, however unlike the Geoducks, Alverno does not provide letter grades to its pupils. The "Eight Core Abilities," which encompass abilities like social interaction, responsible citizenship, and aesthetic involvement, form the foundation of the school.

They believe in treating their pupils as if they have already entered the real world from the beginning, in addition to preparing them for it. Every student must perform an internship during their four years of school as part of our no grades, real world approach.

Each participant is required to commit 8–12 hours per week to the internship and attend a related lecture. For undergraduate studies, the school offers bachelor's degrees in music, science, and nursing in addition to its other four majors.

10. Evergreen State College

The mascot of this college, Speedy the Geoduck, is not the only peculiar aspect of it. Since Evergreen, which is based in Olympia, Washington, is aware that students' interests change over time, it lets each student create their own academic plan.

Since there are no prerequisites to earn a bachelor's degree, students can enroll in any classes they are currently interested in without having to worry about meeting the criteria of their major. Seniors have considerably more freedom. Each junior and senior Geoduck has a "individual learning contract" and designs their own curriculum, including syllabi.

Evergreen uses the letter grading system, but they place greater emphasis on the narrative assessments provided in a meeting with the instructor and specific students at the end of a course. Students must also complete a self-evaluation.

An Academic Statement also appears on students' transcripts along with the professor and student assessments. Upon arriving on university, each student is asked to put down their objectives and passions. They are then required to reread the essay each year until a final paper is turned in during their senior year.

10 Most Expensive Colleges and Universities In The US Today College is a little bit different in 2021, to say the least but tuition fees of some expensive colleges and universities in the US remain ...

Top 10 Colleges in the USA With the Most Beautiful Girls Here are the top 10 colleges in the US that are also the best place to find female students with beauty and brains!

Top 10 Colleges in the USA Have Most Handsome Guys It seems not surprising that a new survey has ranked the colleges with the hottest guys. Scroll down to look at the hottest and most ...

Top 9 Best Colleges In Canada For International Students Studying in Canada brings many outstanding benefits to international students. With a globally recognized education, Canada provides students with the safest and healthiest environment to ...