Have you been on the edge about attending university? Well, alternative universities are the perfect option to look in to. You might have heard that conventional universities and colleges don’t allow much space for academic freedom, and there are a lot of rules to follow. While university does give a wide variety of options and it gives many opportunities to students, there are other options. There are of course alternative options by avoiding university and college completely, but there is value in it, so why not consider alternative universities?
Alternative universities tend to offer a wide variety of different options. Plus there are many different types of alternative universities. There might be a university that does not follow the typical semester schedule, and there might be a university that doesn’t give grades at all. Every individual alternative school is different from the other, and they all have their own unique qualities, which is what makes them their own type of alternative.
An alternative school is typically a college or university that does not follow the conventional rules or schedules. They are purposely changing up their rules normally because alternative schools don’t agree with how conventional universities run their programs. To find out more about what alternative universities and colleges are, and what the best alternative university options are, keep reading!
What is an Alternative University?
As you know, in a conventional university, students have set schedules that they must follow, and they have to choose a specific degree to get. In this type of school setting students often don’t have any control over their set program, and they normally don’t have too many options for what courses they do, and each student normally gets the same outcome.
So, an alternative university is basically a college or university that purposely does not follow all of these mainstream rules. Often, alternative universities will give students a bigger variety of options, and they have more flexible rules. Alternative universities also tend to have smaller classroom sizes, students might have control over their degree, and in some schools they get rid of testing completely.
These types of schools are perfect for students who don’t feel like they fit in in a conventional environment, and for students who want to have more control over their schedules and degrees or diplomas. Maybe you went to an alternative school growing up or you were homeschooled, and the thought of going into mainstream college does not sound good to you, then you should definitely check out my list of alternative schools.
Some alternative schools might have you learn one subject at a time, instead of 4 per semester, others might allow you to have a full time job while going to school. Some alternative schools are completely online, but there are also alternative universities with on campus living.
Evergreen State College
The Evergreen State College is a liberal arts college. It is located in Olympia Washington, and the school is surrounded by forest. The Evergreen State College like to teach about sustainable living beyond the classroom, and they have 1,000 acres of land that is mostly forest. Within this land, there are trails throughout leading to different locations, one of them being the evergreen beach, and one being the 1 acre of designated farm land. On their farm, they produce fruits, crops and tends to a flock of hens. They often use this farm as a field of study. There are over 60 fields of study to explore at Evergreen including agriculture, biology, music, outdoor leadership and education, queer study, visual arts, and study abroad. As this school is a public liberal arts college, all of the schools’ topics will be within four areas of study being, social sciences, natural sciences, arts, and humanities.
Along with working in teams in classrooms and science labs, students at Evergreen State College also learn in the forests and beaches surrounding the campus. Students get to go beyond majors and minors, and have the opportunity to design their own degree by choosing their fields of study. Another interesting thing at Evergreen that you will find in a lot of alternative schools, is that you only take one course at a time, so that you can go more in depth in each subject.
Evergreen offers 3 undergraduate degrees. You can choose to either pursue a bachelor of arts, a bachelor of science, or both. To get your bachelor of arts or science you will need to get 180 credits, and to get both you will need 225 credits. Evergreen also has 3 graduate study programs being Master of Environmental Studies, Master of Public Administration, and Master in teaching.
The tuition for Washington residents is $7,005 per year, and including room and board, and all the additional costs, the total comes to $24,604. The tuition for non Washington residents is $26,325 but for everything including room and board, the total costs comes to $43,928. Evergreen has the third lowest tuition rate out of all the 4 year institutions in Washington, and 67% of the students who attend Evergreen State College receive financial aid.
The United States News and World Report, stated Evergreen State College as the most innovative college in the west. If you are a student interested in green and sustainable living, and you want to study something within the 4 categories of liberal arts, then Evergreen State College is a great choice for you.
Thomas Edison State University
Thomas Edison State University is a public university founded in 1971. The school’s campus is located in Trenton, New Jersey, and the school has been named one of the first schools completely designed for adults. The Thomas Edison State University has a reputation for academic excellence and education integrity. This specific university that offers degree programs with more than 100 areas of study for self directed students. Students have the ability to tailor their graduate or undergraduate programs to suit their needs.
The average age of their students is 40, and the school does not admit students under the age of 21. For the most part, the school does online classes, which helps offer flexibility, and the school’s students do not have to finish their degree within a specific time. The school currently has 10,934 online students.
This type of school is perfect for adults who want to go back to college, but still be able to have a full time job while doing school. Undergraduate terms begin every month so you can enrol whenever suits you, and most courses are structured on a 12 week schedule. If you have been accepted on to a graduate program, there are four starting days each year, and you can choose to take one course at a time.
Since the university is mainly online, the tuition costs are not as expensive. Plus you won’t be paying for room and board. The costs for one year for an in state resident is $3,963, and the costs for one year for an out of state resident is $4,928. International students may have to pay a bit more, but the tuition cost is normally around the same as it is for the out of state residents depending on the type of degree program. The Thomas Edison State University also allows you to pay as you go, which can be pretty helpful for some students. Of course the school offers financial aid and scholarships, and they hand out scholarships especially for military and veteran students.
Maharishi International University
Formerly known as Maharishi University of Management, the Maharishi International University is a non profit, private university in Fairfield, Iowa. It was founded by an Indian guru named Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1973. The university aims to be a consciousness based education system. They don’t want students to be caused stress from their education, so the students only do one course at a time, so that they will not have to stress about multiple courses all at once.
The Maharishi International University allows students to design and individualize their own major. They have a 370 acre campus, with a positive sustainable living centre, and a 60,000 square foot recreation center. The sustainable living centre helps provide one third of the campus’ electric power in an eco friendly way. The university also provides eco friendly, organic foods, and they put a lot of effort to make their entire school environmentally friendly. On campus, each student gets their own room, so that they can enjoy privacy and quiet time.
On Maharishi Internation University’s website, there is a cost calculator. I calculated a few different costs. If you are a U.S. resident, the tuition and fees should be around $16,530, and housing and meals will cost around $7,400, and that will come to a total of $23,930. Depending on your families annual income, you can also get scholarships and financial aid. The tuition costs and the rooms for an international student costs the same as it is for U.S. residents, but students will need to pay an extra $6,284 for insurance, personal expenses, books and other unexpected things. The school also offers an online program, which is a lot cheaper.
Each course at this university practices daily transcendental meditation, to help focus on inner growth. The university focuses on health and happiness rather than grades. They have a close knit community of students, and there are only 1,733 students attending classes at Maharishi. This university is perfect for students who are looking at getting their degree in a stress free environment, while learning to be mindful, live sustainable, and learning the importance of meditation.
Naropa University
Naropa is another private, non profit university that focusses on spiritual principales like meditation. Chögyam Trungpa, a Tibetan buddhist teacher founded this school in 1974. It is a liberal arts university offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Naropa university is where the modern mindfulness mouvement cames from, and it is a buddhist inspired school, where students learn to explore their inner resources. Naropa University embraces the richness of human diversity, and recognizes the goodness and wisdom of each human being.
This university is the only university in the United States that uses a contemplative education program. Contemplative education is a philosophy of higher education where students are able to integrate introspection and experimental learning together, allowing them to discover and develop a self understanding. They will learn by actually experiencing things, through working with experts, experimenting, and more.
It is located in Boulder Colorado, which has been called the best college town in America. They have programs in areas like the arts, education, environmental studies, peace studies, psychology, and religious studies. Students have the chance to participate in spiritual activities such as meditation, Japanese tea ceremony, taijiquan, Christian labyrinth, ikebana and neo-pagan ritual. Naropa also tries to be sustainable through everyday activities.
The tuition is quite expensive. For one semester tuition costs around $17,200, and room and board costs for a year is $13,636, so including all the extra costs and adding everything up together, a year will cost around $56,864, and that includes insurance, personal costs, food, books and more. The community is full of like minded people, who are all independent individual. Most of the community members are deep listeners, contrarians, doers, environmentalists, and they are all unique.
This university is perfect for you, if you are looking for a place where you can practice your own spiritual beliefs and where you can learn in many different ways, like experimental learning and experiencing the world.
College of the Ozarks
The College of the Ozarks is a Christian liberal arts college, in Branson, Missouri. The school’s mission is to provide the advantages of a Christian education to students. The school’s Christian goal is to foster the Christian faith through the integration of faith with learning, living, and service. Another thing that makes this school an alternative college is that it provides the opportunity for full time students to work in one of the school’s 100 campus jobs to help pay for part of their education.
College of the Ozarks was named one of America’s most innovative schools in 2020 by the U.S. news and world report. The school has many different areas of study, and it has majors and minors. They provide resources for students in other areas, including academics, work ethics, character education, and Christian ministries.
The college was established in 1906, and before that it was a high school called School of the Ozarks. there are currently 1,426 students enrolled in the school. The school became a full time four year bachelor program in 1965. Then in 2012 the College of the Ozarks re opened the School of the Ozarks as a high school. There is a student to staff ratio of around 16:1.
College of the Ozarks is a non tuition school. Although the cost of education is $19,500, if you joining their work program, and get the common scholarships and grants, the tuition cost will be zero dollars. If you do not participate in any of these financial aid systems, the tuition would be $19,500. To live on campus the cost for room and board is $7,900 annually. There are also some other small costs for things like getting books, supplies, insurance, personal costs, and more. The College of the Ozarks is the perfect school if you are wanting to get a Christian education, while also being able to work and get paid.
College of the Atlantic
College of the Atlantic is a private liberal arts college in Bar Harbour on Mount Desert Island, Maine. Back when the college was founded, College of the Atlantic was the first school to focus on the relationship between humans and the environment. At this college they believe that the world is not divided by majors, which is why students have the ability to design their own courses of study and majors within human ecology. The average class size at the College of Atlantic is 12 students, and the student to teacher ratio is 10:1. They first opened in 1972 with 32 students and only 4 faculty members. The school has a small close knit community of only 350 students.
College of Atlantic was the first college to go carbon neutral in 2007. They have found ways to maintain a green environment through using solar panels, composting and recycling, phasing out single use plastic, learning about sustainability, growing sustainable foods, and learning to conserve energy. In 2019 the College of Atlantic was named the greenest college in America by The Princeton Review.
The tuition for College of the Atlantic is $42,933, and for room and board the cost together is $9747. The total for one year at COA including other fees, is $53,289. The tuition and fees tend to be a bit higher for international students. More than 80% of the students receive financial aid.
Most students get to spend more than half of their human ecology classes outside and in the field. Every student who attends COA gets the same degree which is a bachelor of arts in human ecology, but they get to customize their courses, so no two students will have the same schedule. So if you are a student looking to study human ecology, but in your own personalized way, then this is the college for you.
College of Idaho
The College of Idaho was founded in 1891 making it the state’s first private liberal arts college. It is located in Caldwell, Idaho, and the school has a close knit community of around 1,100 students. The College of Idaho is known for its PEAK program where students are able to graduate in four years with an academic major and three minors. The PEAK program allows students design their curriculum with structure that gives depth to their education. There are four different peaks within the PEAK program being, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and a professional field. This is one of the things distinguishing this college as an alternative school.
Students also have the chance to learn through experimental approaches, along with conventional approaches. There are 26 majors and 58 minors to choose from and design. The College of Idaho is also known for its sport teams, and they have won 70 national team championships. There is a 9 to 1 ratio of students to teachers. The C of I was named one of the top colleges in the country, and the top in Idaho by Wall Street Journal.
The tuition for one year is $32,100 for an undergraduate program, and the cost for room and board is around $10,211. Then there are other small costs like books, supplies, personal costs, transportation etc… and that all adds up to $4,205. The total cost of education at the College of Idaho will be around $46,516. As this is on the more expensive side of college costs the school also offer scholarships and financial aid. This college is for you if you are looking to study through experimental approaches, and if you want to have more than just one major and minor.
Jacobs University
Jacobs university is an international, private university in Bremen, Germany founded in 2001. As it is an international university, this school has students coming from over 120 countries from around the world. Jacobs University offers study programs within engineering, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. Jacobs U has over 1,500 students, and the schools teaching language is english. This university has a goal to strengthen people with innovative solutions and advanced courses and training programs.
Studies are based on transdisciplinary education and there are three focus areas that shape learning and teaching. These three areas are the Mobility of people, goods and info, the Health focus on bioactive substances, and Diversity in modern societies. Jacobs university is on over 84 acres of land, which is all full of greenery, tree shaded grassy areas, and of course their buildings. Students can live in one of the four residential buildings, and they can work within the 5,600 square meters of lab space.
The tuition to attend Jacobs university is around $32,263 per year. For room and board the total cost is around $8,204, so in total to spend a year attending Jacobs U, it will cost $40,467, and that also includes books, supplies, fees and insurance. Jacobs U also has external funding options, institutional financing options, and they offer scholarships and financial aid. Jacobs U is the perfect school for students looking for an international experience, looking to meet people from many different cultures, and has great equipment for research.
Quest University
Quest University is a private, non profit, liberal arts university in Squamish, British Columbia (Canada). At Quest you have the ability to get your bachelor of arts and science within 4 years. The university opened in 2007, and now has a close knit community of 600 students. They use the block plan, and class sizes are no larger than 20 students.
At Quest University, students just do one course at a time for three and a half weeks. This allows students to have a deep and immersive experience within the topic, without having to stress about having exams and homework for multiple classes. At Quest, students don’t have a major, and they create their own question and concentrate on what they’re passionate about, which will drive their last two years. The first two years, students will need to do three core courses, three life science, socials, arts and humanity courses, one math and language course, and two physical sciences. But in their third and fourth years, students get to design their own path.
Tuition for Canadian residents is $26,587 (USD), and the cost for room and board is $10,329. If you add up all of the costs including books, supplies and other essentials, the total cost to attend quest for a year is around $38,924. The cost for international students is a little bit more, but not by much. And that also includes the cost of personal travel, because at least 70% of students who attend quest go abroad at least once.
Quest actually encourages homeschoolers to apply, so if you are a homeschooler looking for a more unique university, then Quest is a good option for you. The campus is full of greenery and forest, and there are many hikes, climbing, and mountain bike trails around, as Squamish is known for these things. So if you are looking for a university in Canada that is surrounded by nature, and allows you to design your own education, Quest if perfect for you.
The Options
While all of these schools sound like pretty cool alternative universities to me, you might find one that stood out more than the others. Here is a chart with a recap of each of the universities.
| Description | Schedule | Where? | Tuition for in state residents (USD) | |
| Evergreen State College | A public, liberal arts, college that teaches sustainable living | One class at a time (block schedule) | Olympia, Washington (U.S.) | $7,005 |
| Thomas Edison State University | An online university designed for adults | Flexible schedule | Trenton, New Jersey (U.S.) | $3,963 |
| Maharishi International University | A private University that incorporates daily meditation in the curriculum | Block schedule | Fairfield, Iowa (U.S.) | $16,530 |
| Naropa University | A private liberal arts university that focuses on mindfulness | Contemplative education | Boulder, Colorado (U.S.) | $56,864 |
| College of the Ozarks | A Christian liberal arts college that allows you to work while attending classes | Majors and minors | Branson, Missouri (U.S.) | Tuition Free |
| College of the Atlantic | A private college where you can design your of major within human ecology | Design your own major and minor | Mount Desert Island, Maine (U.S.) | $42,933 |
| College of Idaho | A private liberal arts college where you have one major and 3 minors | One major and 3 minors | Caldwell, Idaho | $32,100 |
| Jacobs University | International private university that works on strengthening students with innovative solutions | Major and minor | Bremen, Germany | $32,263 |
| Quest University | A private non-profit liberal arts university that allows you to get your bachelor of arts and science while working on the block schedule | Block schedule | Squamish, British Columbia (Canada) | $26,587 |