What Muhlenberg College is like

What it's like

A regional liberal arts college with a strong mid-Atlantic identity and notable Jewish presence. Muhlenberg draws primarily from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, with about 30% of students identifying as Jewish—one of the few liberal arts colleges offering a Jewish studies major and minor. The campus has a traditional aesthetic with distinctive red doors and park-like grounds in Allentown's West End. Recent years have seen institutional tension around academic freedom and administrative governance, following a 2024 tenure dismissal that the AAUP found violated established standards.

Academic feel

Muhlenberg emphasizes liberal arts education with pre-professional pathways. Approximately 85% of faculty hold PhDs or terminal degrees, and the student-to-faculty ratio is 11:1. The curriculum offers over 160 study-abroad programs, Army ROTC, honors programs, independent study, and a Washington D.C. semester. Research is active across economics, medicine, politics, chemistry, quantum mechanics, and engineering. The college maintains chapters of over 15 national Greek academic honor societies and offers graduate degrees alongside undergraduate programs.

Social life

More than 100 clubs and organizations populate campus, with Greek life comprising four sororities and four fraternities. The Muhlenberg Weekly (student newspaper since 1883) and WMUH radio station (91.7 FM) are student-run. The Muhlenberg Activity Council organizes events, and community service opportunities are available off-campus. The Hillel is the largest student organization on campus, reflecting the college's significant Jewish student population.

What you should consider

Students from the Mid-Atlantic region, particularly Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, make up 72% of incoming freshmen. The college draws ambitious regional applicants: in 2013–14, 44% of admitted freshmen were in the top 10% of their high school class, 69% in the top 20%. Three-quarters receive financial aid. Jewish students find community through Hillel, Jewish studies offerings, and a welcoming institutional culture (despite recent administrative controversies). Those interested in study abroad, research, and pre-professional preparation across business, medicine, and engineering find multiple pathways.

Strengths

• Strong athletic tradition, particularly in football, with a 66–28 Centennial Conference record since 2000 (second-best historically among members) and seven conference championships in the 2000s; head coach Nate Milne won NCAA Division III Coach of the Year in 2019.[1]
• Offers one of the few Jewish studies majors and minors available at American liberal arts colleges, with Hillel as the largest student organization on campus.[1]
• Comprehensive library system with over 310,000 volumes, 360,000 microforms on campus, and access to 1.75 million electronic resources; designated as a Federal Depository Library Program site.[2]
• Ranked 49th among liberal arts colleges by Washington Monthly in 2024 based on contributions to public good, including social mobility, research, and public service.[2]
• Philip Johnson-designed Baker Center for the Arts houses Martin Art Gallery with a permanent collection of over 3,000 works of art and rotating exhibitions of student, regional, and international pieces.[2]

Weaknesses

• In 2025, the American Association of University Professors found the college's equal opportunity and nondiscrimination policies do not sufficiently protect academic freedom and due process, nor comport with widely accepted standards of academic governance.[1]

Traditions

• The Muhlenberg Weekly student newspaper has been published weekly during the academic year since 1883, making it a long-standing forum for student journalism.[2]
• Football program, founded in 1900 as the college's first official varsity sport, won a national championship in 1946 under coach Ben Schwartzwalder with a 9–1 record and victory over St. Bonaventure in the Tobacco Bowl.[2]

Recent news

In 2024, Muhlenberg fired tenured anthropology professor Maura Finkelstein for sharing a pro-Palestinian social media post, determining it violated equal opportunity and nondiscrimination policies. In January 2025, the American Association of University Professors concluded the dismissal violated academic freedom and due process standards, found the college's policies inadequate to protect academic freedom, and stated the administration's action "has severely impaired the climate for academic freedom at Muhlenberg College."