Cottey College

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Cottey College is a two-year women's college located in Nevada, Missouri offering the Associate in Arts and Associate in Science degrees. It is owned and supported by a women's organization, the P.E.O. Sisterhood. Enrollment for Fall 2006 was 324 students.

Cottey was founded in 1884 in Nevada by Virginia Alice Cottey (later Stockard). At the time, it was called Vernon Seminary and included grade school and high school programs as well as college.

Until the 1960s, first-year students were known as juniors and second-year students as seniors. At that time, juniors became freshmen and seniors remained seniors, or fcc and CSC, respectively. Traditions such as the "senior duck" have their origins in the early 20th Century. Seniors have passed down denim jackets with ducks painted on the back for approximately 40 years; most traditions, however, remain surprises to the freshmen. Traditions are optional social activities, not required.

Cottey is a single-sex school, but the faculty includes both men and women, most of whom hold the terminal academic degree in their field. The college awards Associate degrees in the arts and sciences; some students opt to pursue both degrees. The college's mission is stated in the Cottey College Catalog: "Cottey College will educate qualified women in the arts and sciences to prepare them for transfer to programs beyond the associate's degree by enhancing their intellectual ability, their store of knowledge, their personal skills, and thereby their capacity for contribution to society and their chosen fields."

Cottey's sports teams are the Cottey Comets and compete in intercollegiate basketball and volleyball. Currently, the Swimmin' Women compete largely as exhibition, since no other two-year colleges in the area have swimming programs. Cottey's teams compete in Region XVI of the National Junior College Athletic Association playing teams in their region, as well as teams from community colleges in eastern Kansas.

Students have the opportunity to lead, begin, or learn in many areas. They can learn how to play new musical instruments or speak different languages, lead aerobics classes on Saturday mornings, or start a new club. The college has a nationally recognized Center for Women's Leadership, and a structured leadership program for students. The leadership program offers programming to area high school students, and as well as those in the surrounding region.

Cottey students, most of whom are residential, live in one of three campus halls with suites with several bedrooms, a bathroom, and a small kitchen arranged around a large living room. Typically, 8 to 12 students occupy each of 34 suites on campus.

Cottey provides students in their second year an international experience. Students spend one week in a European city – London, Paris, and Madrid have been past destinations – and the college covers flight costs, transportation costs within the city, lodging costs, and some extraneous costs such as special dinners and tickets to shows. Students participate in planned modules that make the experience educational.

Cottey students generally represent 40 states and 15 different countries, making the college a geographically and ethnically diverse environment. Almost all graduates transfer to four-year institutions, including Smith College, Stephens College, Wellesley College, Salem College, and Stanford University.

Cottey's services to the P.E.O. Sisterhood include Vacation College, a week-long session after graduation each May that hosts special classes in a variety of disciplines for P.E.O.s and their husbands. Alumnae activities include Founder's Day, a return-to-campus weekend for former students held in early spring, around Virginia Alice Cottey's birthday. The Office of Enrollment Management hosts a variety of activities for prospective students and their families, including a C for Yourself weekend each term.