Oakwood University is a private liberal arts college in Huntsville, Alabama, run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA). Firmly grounded in Christian teachings, its mission statement is 鈥渢o transform students through Biblically-based education for service to God and humanity.鈥 Oakwood students can choose from 58 majors, ranging from traditional courses of study to programs such as Nutrition with Vegetarian Culinary Emphasis, which reflects SDA beliefs about diet. Oakwood offers several graduate degrees as well, including a master鈥檚 in Urban Ministries and Community Development, a program that trains clergy or lay ministers to care for the spiritual needs of urban communities.
Despite having over a thousand students, Oakwood provides personalized holistic attention to each one, and with a low student-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, professors provide the same focus and care. This extends even to specialized programs, like the popular Adventist Colleges Abroad program (which offers study in countries such as France, Argentina, and Lebanon) and LEAP (Leadership for the Adult Professional), which while flexibly distilling things down to one class per week (in-person or online), still allows the swift completion of a degree within two years.
