The Basics
Wagner College Profile
Wagner College was established in 1883 as a private liberal arts institution offering comprehensive undergraduate, and graduate programs in several different fields including certificate and professional educational fields. The school itself is located in Staten Island New York as one of the 5 boroughs of greater New York City. Wagner College is unique because it’s located within 20 minutes of the city via the Staten Island Ferry to Lower Manhattan. The school is also unique because it’s situated within the quiet hill top suburban community of Grymes Hill. The footprint of the site is large for a small-sized private school with approximately 105 acres of park like property that winds through the borough.
The campus has approximately 20 buildings including lecture, sports, performing arts, and student housing facilities. The issue of student housing on campus is not a challenge for Wagner due to it’s relatively small student population. The college provides guaranteed housing for undergrad, and graduate students according to school officials. The physical layout of the academic buildings, athletic fields, and residence halls is designed to separate the campus into 3 parts, for easy access to students. The freshmen housing is in close proximity to the lecture halls for easy access to classes. Wagner College is a small school that feels like a bigger school because the hill top landscape is big and beautiful, and the campus focal areas are small.
The internal campus setting provides students and employees with several types of student services including physical fitness, library services, and cultural meeting places and dining halls. The college also has several performing arts, music, and a radio station for students and local residents to enjoy. Wagner’s observed focal point of reference during the campus tour was the Union, which is the main student life hall. My tour guide told me that students come to the Union to relax, and eat in the dining hall. Students also use this space to socialize and talk about school and life. The facility is large for a small school with offices for all the student clubs and activities, a school bookstore and finally a Starbucks Coffee shop for students to enjoy.
Wagner College Demographics: Wagner is home to approximately 692 male, and 1200 female full time undergrad students. The university also has 25 male, and 45 female students attending the school on a part-time basis. Wagner also has 119 male, and 206 female graduate students attending the campus. The average age of a freshman is 18 years old; all undergraduates are 20 years old. 48% of students are state residents with the rest coming from 40 other states, and 8 foreign countries. 83% of students are white, 6% are Hispanic, and 5% are African American, and 3% are Asian. The total number of students with on campus housing is 1,394 according to published handouts.
Wagner College offers a Liberal Arts and Sciences programs for undergraduate students. Below is a list of specific admission requirements for admission.
- Freshman Class: 2,842 applied, 1716 accepted, and 524 enrolled to the school. SAT Verbal 560, Math 575. Act: 24 Application Deadline February 15. Retention Rate: 11% of students do not continue beyond the first year; 68% remain to graduate.
- Faculty/ Classroom: 51% of faculty is male, 49% female. All teach Undergraduates. The average class size in an introductory lecture is 21, Lab 13 and 20 in a regular course.
- Student / Faculty Ratio: 19 to 1
Student Housing
The purpose of student housing is to provide safe and reasonable accommodations for students living away from home. The issue of housing and dormitory life is a critical element of overall campus life because students spend a large amount of time in their rooms. Student housing units historically come in 3 different styles including traditional corridor, suite, and apartment style units.
Wagner College guarantees housing for all undergraduate, and graduate students who have filed their intent to reside on campus by the stated deadline and who have continuously registered as full time students. The college has started updating the housing on campus by converting old corridor style bathrooms into semi-private ones. The college has several high-rise residence halls for student housing including the Harbor view facility, which is considered the freshman dorm. Information about student housing can be found within Wagner’s quick link page in the back of this document.
Off Campus Housing
The Borough of Staten Island has been described as a medium-sized suburban community within driving, and commuter distance to New York City. The reason I have mentioned the overall community of Staten Island is to re-assert the point that Wagner is situated in a suburban setting with a high number of homes that are privately owned. The college does provide off campus housing resources for students who request help. Information about services can be found on the quick links page.
Campus Life
Wagner College is an active private campus environment that provides students with an excellent social, and educational atmosphere. The admissions demographics paint a picture of a local educational community with a relatively small number of in state residents on campus as full time students. The local community of Grymes Hill is very supportive of the schools mission to provide educational opportunities to local residents and on-campus students. The borough itself has several student friendly venues within walking distance on Clove Road, or driving distance to several areas of the island. The point is, Staten Island is small, only 26 miles long, compared to the other boroughs in greater New York. The size, population, and community resources give the island a main street feel to it due to the restaurants and shops along the main avenues.
The emotional climate and culture of the entire community is social due to it’s close relationship with community, and educational resources in my opinion. Wagner is an attractive institution because it offers students natural beauty with the school’s landscape overlooking Lower Hudson Bay and New York City, while providing student activities for everyone including cultural, athletics, and performing arts to enjoy throughout the year. This issue of school culture is also a very important part of campus life because everyone wants to have a connection and emotional fit to their new school and community. This type of process provides a foundation for learning and personal growth providing over 60 academic, athletic, and student organizations. Wagner also has 20 NCAA Division I & III teams for men and women to participate in.
Wagner also addresses the issue of ecology in a positive way. The physical environment is reasonably clean and well maintained and the economic conditions are favorable to students and local residents due to the available services in driving distance to the school. The university is also going through a growth period with construction of new state of the art student housing facilities that provide scenic views of the entire campus footprint. The development of a state of the art student center also helps students connect with each other in non-classroom environments by providing a central meeting place for clubs and student run activities.
The school has done a great job developing positive social systems with it’s students by providing a series of coordinated programs including workshops and seminars for freshman students. The universities new student experience program provides an excellent example of programs and services that help first year students by offering professional counselors that advise students on ways to explore their educational options to achieve personal academic goals.
Public Transportation
Public transportation resources for Wagner College students are virtually unlimited due to the location of the campus. Students who attend the college usually drive to campus because parking is readily available, but students can also enjoy public transportation resources. The college has a mixed number of in-state students who know the streets and highways very well. Knowing the area is key because students who come from other states may not know the area as well and might opt to take a bus or train to their destination because they don’t want to risk getting lost on local roads. Wagner shares a campus shuttle system with St. Johns University to provide daily service for students. In formation about the service can be found on the quick links page.
The public transportation for the college is served by The New York M.T.A., which serves the residents of Staten Island. This transit system connects with several other transit, and bus lines within NYC including the main transit network for all 5 boroughs. This main system connects to Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, New Jersey Transit, Metro North rail, and the Long Island Railroad service. Public transportation resources are directly linked to local resident commuter schedules for bus and train service, students should pick up MTA handouts or service information.
Community Profile
The Grymes Hill section of Staten Island is a quiet suburban community within an overall population of 483,046 residents in Richmond County New York. The area has been described as a gracious family centered residential community within striking distance to New York City. This section of the island also has an intellectual side to it due it’s historical neighborhood architecture, and community ties to Wagner College and St. Johns University. The community has a real small college town feel to it when you are walking, and driving to neighborhood eateries. Staten Island also has several community parks and ball fields in and a round the borough for people to enjoy. These parks, along with public tennis courts, swimming pools, outdoor skating rinks, and theatres make outside activities very enjoyable to everyone.
The borough itself is geographically located between New Jersey to the south, and Manhattan to the north making it an ideal commuter destination for both locations because they can be reached in relatively short period of time. The short distance to these areas from the school makes Staten Island a student friendly destination throughout the year. The New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) provides several types of public transit resources to NYC including express bus, rail, and ferry service throughout the year on a 24-hour basis. Local residents have access to several major transportation hubs within the northeast including Newark Liberty Airport, Metro-Park (Amtrak) in nearby Edison New Jersey, and countless roadway systems including I-95 (N.J. Turnpike), I-287 the main east/west corridor in the area, and the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) to all points east including Long Island.
Finally, Wagner College is close to several local avenues that links students and residents to a large number of restaurants and shops within a short drive from campus including Forest Avenue in the West Brighton section, and Bay Street within the Stapleton area of the island. Staten Island residents also have numerous shopping, and dining options in Brooklyn and New Jersey due to their geographical location. Residents can be in Bay Ridge Brooklyn in a matter of minutes, or they can also be in New Jersey quickly because they are surrounded with bridges within a 15-minute drive from the campus.
Community demographics
The following demographics for Richmond County (S.I.) describe a culturally diverse community within a total population of 483,046 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The survey highlights several characteristics to describe the population including: 48.6% of residents are male, 51.4 are female. 76% of residents are white, 10% are African American, 6% are Hispanic or Latino, and 7% are Asian. The median age of population is 38 years old. 76% of residents are 18 years old, and 12 % of town residents are over the age of 65. The issue of housing in Staten Island is also interesting. 94 % of all housing units within the borough are occupied.29 % of housing units is renter-occupied, while 71 % of units are owner-occupied. Only 6 % of total available housing was vacant according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Local weather
Weather is also an issue to consider for students preparing for a college experience. The State of New York enjoys all four seasons of weather including rain and snow. Northeast weather patterns sometimes allow for temperatures to drop below 32 degrees for a considerable amount of time during the winter. Staten Island also gets it’s share of rain during the spring and summer months as well.
Wagner College Quick Links
The Your College Profile web site also contains an “Everything in New York City” document for families who wish to explore the NYC while visiting Wagner College. This site contains a full list of hotels, restaurants, shopping, and entertainment, and tourism resources for families enjoying the region. Below is a sample list of local hotels and restaurants in Staten Island N.Y.
Staten Island Hotel1415 Richmond Ave
Staten Island, N.Y. 10314
Hampton Inn/Staten Island
1120 South Ave
Staten Island, N.Y. 10314
Hilton Garden Inn/Staten Island
1100 South Avenue
Staten Island, N.Y. 10314
Comfort Inn/Staten Island
310 Wilde Avenue
Staten Island, N.Y. 10314
- Gennaro’s Restaurant: 413 New Dorp Lane Zip# 10306
- Applebee’s (National Chain) Restaurant: 430 New Dorp Lane Zip#10306
- Mike’s Restaurant: (Greek Food) 355 New Dorp Lane Zip# 10306
- Godfathers Pizza: 2488 Hyland Blvd Zip# 10306
- Chevy’s Fresh Mex (National Tex/Mex Chain) 2690 Hyland Blvd Zip# 10306
- West Shore Inn (Bar Food) 3955 Victory Blvd Zip# 10314
- Johnny Rockets (National Burger Chain in S.I. Mall) 2655 Richmond Ave Zip# 10314
- Outback Steakhouse (National Chain in S.I. Mall) 2655 Richmond Ave Zip# 10314
Comments!
Login to comment on this profile.
There are no comments to display.