Kutztown University has been a place I have called home for two years now working towards my current goal of being a psychologist. At first the idea of college scared me, for I had a brother who went to a very large and busy university. After actually visiting Kutztown, it became quickly aware that this place would not be as rush-rush as his school of choice.
Coming down the road towards the school, you pass through the older town, which the school is a major part of. The buildings are an older set as this is an older town. So Kutztown really gives you a feeling of a close knit community. While Kutztown does not have any McDonalds or any other known fast-food places in town, they are found outside in nearby towns. The town of Kutztown is not very large at all, and the college takes up most of it. The town itself is much apart of nature as a lot of Pennsylvania is, the only pollution you will find here is perhaps a horse or cattle farm a decent distance away. Most of the little local stores and businesses are on the main street, which divides the campus in two sections but I’ll get into that later. The town has a number of churches, which is a big plus for the community. Near the center of town has a CVS and nearby to that is a supermarket, so no worries about having to go far for easy shopping. One of the very useful things about the town is the Kutztown Shuttle Bus, which has two different routes. The first route takes students from major places on campus such as the student union building to dorms and on campus apartments. The other route takes the rider to local stops in town, such as the CVS or the supermarket and many other places. The town is small and peaceful and enjoyable.
Now for the actual university itself! The campus is split in two parts by the main road in Kutztown. The north holds almost all of your academic buildings including the student union and the new Student Rec center, which is opening later this month. The south side of campus holds all of the dorms and apartments, along with the dinning hall. It also happens to have Old Main, which used to be most of the campus when it first opened. The school itself takes great pride in being a major center for becoming a teacher, as that had been the main purpose of the school when it first started. It has since branched out to all majors and callings in life. The Kutztown sports teams may not be too known throughout the United States, be we sure are known in our divisions. We have all the spots you can think of and many clubs as well. We have the normal clubs and Greek life but we do have some of the more unusual ones as well, including the vinyl records club and even an equestrian team! Anyone up for joining the Linux users club? No matter what you’re interested in, a club for it can be found here.
One of the things that made me say “This is the school for me!” happened to be something the school had started only a year prior. Bear Bucks! Basically, everyone has a student ID which is fairly common in colleges. The ID acts like a debit card if you sign up for the Bear Bucks program. You have an account, which you can put money into, in person or online (no more begging parents for money through letters, now they can send it over the Internet!). All places on campus that need money can allow you to use Bear Bucks instead. Just a quick swipe of your card and the money is taken out of your Bear Bucks account, no need to fuss around with quarters and dimes. The bookstore even uses it! All the vending machines on campus also accept Bear Bucks, so having physical cash is no longer a hassle to carry around. This sounds silly to have gotten so excited over this, right? Oh but there is more to it! The local businesses in the town are starting to accept Bear Bucks as well! So now you can go down and eat at the Chinese Restaurant without having to actually have paper money. All the money in your account is safe, the account can only be accessed with the ID itself or through the pin numbers we are all given. A draw back to this program is that you cannot pull money out of the account, and will only get the remainder if you graduate or leave the school to go elsewhere. Since most places in town are accepting Bear Bucks, that is hardly a problem. More places are accepting Bear Bucks each week! If the weather is rainy and cold but your hungry and don’t want to leave the dorm, you can order out easily enough. Not only can you place an order over the phone, you can use your Bear Bucks over the phone as well! You give your last 6 digits on your ID, they punch it in and the order is done using your Bear Bucks money. Even tips can be charged onto the card, but I’m sure they would like to see actual paper money in their hands or pockets.
The dorms are clean and easy to find, as is all the buildings here on campus. Kutztown prides itself on how it handles those with disabilities, so nearly all the buildings are wheelchair accessible! Not only that, but they have easy to use push button door openers if you happen to be wheelchair bound and unable to open one yourself. Kutztown takes great care in those of us who have disabilities no matter what they are. I know of at least six students who are blind or nearly blind and they love it here. I myself use the disability services here and take great comfort in that.
Kutztown University means a lot to me. At first the campus had been slightly confusing but it did not take long for it to be easy to understand. The distances to class are reasonable and Kutztown also likes to have commuters as well as those who live on campus. Kutztown University is a dry-campus by the way. The town does have a local bar, but the university itself prohibits it completely throughout the campus and dorms.
If you are interested in learning more about Kutztown, check out its website. www.kutztown.edu
Quick summary:
* Kutztown University student population happens to be 59% female and 41% male.
* Students represent 19 U.S. states and 39 nations
* Student/faculty ration is 20:1
