University of Connecticut-Avery Point

uconn avery point summer classes

Degrees Offered University of Connecticut Avery Point

The University of Connecticut-Avery Point appears in our ranking of 100 Affordable Public Schools With High 40-Year ROIs.

University of Connecticut Avery Point (UConn Avery Point) is one of six campuses that make up the entirety of the University of Connecticut. If there was ever a school that could be described as far from the crowd but mixed in the fray, UConn Avery Point is it. The school is located on the point of Long Island Sound but is accessible to any of the other UConn campuses. The picturesque campus that sits on the sea is the logical location for the Connecticut Sea Grant College, which is housed on the Avery Park campus.

The 575 full-time students and 98 part-time students at UConn Avery Point make up a small percentage of the over 32,000 students who attend the campuses of the University of Connecticut. Most of those students are involved in maritime studies, which is the designated focus of Avery Point. With its emphasis in maritime studies, it is no mystery that the school houses five separate marine science departments with which students work, including:

  • Department of Marine Sciences
  • Associated Marine Sciences and Technology Center
  • The Connecticut Sea Grant
  • Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation
  • Project Oceanology and Mystic Aquarium Research Labs

Of significant interest at Avery Point is the curriculum. The school only offers five baccalaureate degrees, but those degrees are unique in the repertoire of college experiences. Each degree is presented as an interdisciplinary exercise that includes hands-on experience. The areas of study include:

  • American Studies
  • English
  • General Studies
  • Marine Sciences
  • Marine Studies

An example of the immersion of students into an interdisciplinary study sequence comes in the English program. At Avery Point, students studying an English major are dropped into an exploration of marine science or geology or physics, giving a new vision of classical works. Students are also challenged by interpretations of historical works, seeking their meanings at the time they were written and transferring their relevance to the present. Anthropology is another field of discovery for English majors, taking what they learn from former cultures and applying it to their everyday existence.

Students in every major are encouraged to travel to partnership schools in foreign countries. English students can spend a year of study in London, immersing themselves in a different culture with the same language.

Another exciting aspect of Avery Point is that a student can access courses, certifications, and minors housed on any other campus in the UConn system. An English major who wishes to qualify as a teacher has access to qualifying teaching courses and certifications at the Storrs campus either by attending the classrooms there or through online access. When attending classes at another school, students are still considered Avery Point students and graduate with all degrees and minors or certifications earned.

Though UConn Avery Point only offers the five bachelor’s degrees, graduates are welcome to continue to pursue advanced degrees through the UConn system. Their degrees from Avery Point transfer fully to any other section of the University of Connecticut.

About the University of Connecticut Avery Point

The campus of UConn Avery Point occupies a peninsula at the mouth of the Thames River as it empties into Long Island Sound. The main building of the school is a classic mansion built by the railroad, steamship, and hotel magnate Morton Plant as a summer estate at the cost of $3 million. The campus covers 72 acres that include the whole of a peninsula that thrusts into the Atlantic. It is an ideal home for UConn’s National Sea Grant institutions. The majestic views and invigorating environment are augmented by water sports that are available as relaxation/training tools for students. Students learn the intricacies of sailing, kayaking, and even the hard physical of rowing a small boat in a churning sea.

Niche.com ranks the University of Connecticut Avery Point as the 147th Best Value College in America, 4th Best Value College in Connecticut, and 4th Safest Campus in Connecticut. The Connecticut Sea Grant Department makes up the entirety of UConn’s National Sea Grant presence, one of only 33 in the entire nation.

University of Connecticut Avery Park Accreditation Details

The UA is regionally accredited through the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Commission on Institutions of Higher Education. Specialized accreditations for individual programs at Avery Park are extended through the auspices of the University of Connecticut, which holds various accreditations on the majors offered at Avery Park, such as the English degree that is accredited by the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation.

The University of Connecticut Avery Park Application Requirements

There is an application fee of $80 to apply for admittance to the University of Connecticut Avery Park. The school’s acceptance rate is 94% if the student qualifies with a minimum 1080 SAT or an 18 ACT score. The minimum GPA for acceptance is 2.00, and high school transcripts must demonstrate completion of 15 pre-college courses, including:

  • Four years of English
  • Three years of mathematics including algebra I, algebra II, and Geometry
  • Two years of laboratory science
  • Two years of social sciences, including U.S. history
  • Two years of study in the same foreign language
  • Three years of advanced electives

Tuition and Financial Aid

Since the University of Connecticut Avery Park is subsidized by both the state of Connecticut and the Northeast Regional Schools Association, there are three levels of tuition and fees that are mandatory for students to pay. For residents of Connecticut, the yearly required tuition and fees are $14,638. For residents of the Northeast region who are not residents of Connecticut, the cost runs at $23,656, and for residents outside the northeast U.S., the cost is $37,306.

Students work with the Office of Student Financial Aid Services to help with their school costs. The department assists students in finding Pell Grants, Need Grants, and scholarships, which the student will not have to repay. Since UConn Avery Park is fully accredited, it has direct access to Federal Student Loan programs. The school recommends that students be diligent in their efforts to secure grants and scholarships to waylay the specter of crippling student debt, which the student must begin repaying six months after graduation.

Word has spread about schools like the University of Connecticut Avery Park that immerse students in an education where critical thought finds bonds between the solutions of the past and the travails of the future, and employers want productive graduates.