WHEATON COLLEGE

private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Norton, Massachusetts, U.S. It is a liberal arts college offering bachelor's degree programs in such areas as biological and physical sciences, computer science, economics, music, psychology, and humanities. Students may create interdisciplinary majors; five-year dual-degree programs are offered in cooperation with several other institutions. Wheaton College also participates in the Twelve College Exchange program. The college's Filene Center for Work and Learning organizes paid and volunteer activities and internships that allow students to enhance their academic studies with practical experience outside the campus. Total enrollment is approximately 1,400. Wheaton College was founded in 1834 as the Wheaton Female Seminary; instruction began in 1835. It was among the first institutions in the United States to be dedicated to the higher education of women. In the mid-1890s the curriculum was expanded and new buildings were constructed, and in 1912 Wheaton was chartered as a college. Men were first admitted to Wheaton College in 1988. private, coeducational liberal arts college in Wheaton, Ill., U.S. Its educational programs are informed by the fundamentalist Christian faith. The college offers undergraduate majors in the arts and sciences, including majors in environmental science, ancient languages, and Christian education. Its Conservatory of Music offers Bachelor of Music degrees in performance, composition, and history and literature, as well as Bachelor of Music Education degrees. Students must demonstrate sound biblical and theological knowledge before being admitted to Wheaton's graduate programs, which lead to doctoral and master's degrees in clinical psychology and master's degrees in communications and biblical and theological studies. The college operates a station for teaching biology and geology in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Honey Rock Camp for student instruction and recreation in northern Wisconsin. Total enrollment is about 2,500. Wheaton College began as a preparatory school, Illinois Institute, built by Wesleyan Methodists in 1852. It became a college in 1860 and was renamed for an early donor, Warren L. Wheaton, who also cofounded the city. Among the college's facilities is the Billy Graham Center, with a library, museum, and archives of American evangelical, revivalist, and missionary Christian history. The Marion E. Wade Center is a collection of manuscripts and papers of selected British Christian writers including C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton.