Valparaiso University has been included among the top 10 colleges to study foreign languages in the nation, Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Valparaiso University ranks with prestigious schools such as Yale University, Stanford University, UCLA and Indiana University at Bloomington in the field of foreign language study, the report states.
VU stands at the ninth position in a list by The Best Colleges- the10 Most Innovative Colleges for Foreign Language Study.
Apparently, the university found out about its inclusion in the list a couple of weeks ago.
"We're very honored to be in that company, to be honest," said Randa Duvick, chairwoman of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature to Chicago-Sun Times. "We did not know those folks were doing research on us, so we were pleasantly surprised."
The university has created a niche by offering a wide range of combinations which is not found in any other university in the nation. Reportedly, of the 4,000 students, only one-third is from the school's home state of Indiana. The remaining two-thirds come from almost every other state of the United States and over 40 foreign countries.
Duvick narrated some instances of how the school has been increasing its international focus, such as the Valparaiso International Engineering Program, which combines language and engineering and includes a year of study abroad, usually in German, French, Spanish or Chinese-speaking countries.
'The Best College' website says in its entry that it included VU not because of the breadth of its program but how it teaches.
"Unlike other schools on this list, Valpo doesn't offer dozens of languages; it's currently home to only six. But that doesn't mean students should count it out as a great place to do some language learning, as the school has excellent resources and some pretty interesting programs for those languages," the entry states, as reported by Chicago-Sun Times.
According to the same report, the website mentions the French and German foreign language dormitories and the Language Resource Center that 'gives students a place to get tutoring, watch films, access audio, or just relax with a cup of coffee while they chat in a foreign language.'
The regionally-accredited private university is increasingly finding itself as being one of the favourite choices among students who wish to study unique subjects or double major in an unconventional combination of subjects.
