Explore Your Career Path: Opportunities for Growth at Our Liberal Arts College
Bethel College is a private, liberal arts, undergraduate college affiliated with Mennonite Church USA and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Majors and concentrations include traditional liberal arts and science fields and pre-professional and accredited professional programs (nursing, social work and teacher education).
The student body of 500 students is approximately two-thirds residential and traditional age and one-third non-residential and non-traditional. Distinctive emphases include peace, justice and conflict studies; cross-cultural awareness; and discipleship rooted in free conviction and commitment to the Christian community. Bethel College is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Minorities and women are particularly encouraged to apply for position openings.
Bethel College has shared rich cultural gifts with the Newton community since the 1880s.
- Two National Register of Historic Places properties grace the campus: the historic limestone Administration Building in the Richardsonian Romanesque style and Goerz House, the Queen Anne home of Bethel’s president and family.
- An annual Fall Festival attracts more than 5,000 people to campus to celebrate diverse cultural traditions, the arts and friendship.
- Kauffman Museum draws thousands of visitors of all ages yearly with its tallgrass prairie reconstruction. Its exhibits describe the 1870s journey of the Mennonites from Europe to the plains of Kansas.
- The Kansas Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution encourages research and educates individuals, institutions and communities in managing conflict and seeking peace and social justice.
- The Mennonite Library and Archives preserves materials related to Mennonite studies.
- The college provides several annual lecture series for the community on topics related to the arts, religion and peace.
Bethel College has an excellent reputation in the arts.
- The Bethel College Academy of Performing Arts provides dance classes and music lessons (instrumental, keyboard, voice) for the community and is known for its outstanding Suzuki program.
- The college also has strong relationships with the Newton Mid-Kansas Symphony Orchestra and the Newton Community Children’s Choir, which both hold programs on the Bethel campus.