Andrea Krupsky, an Communication Studies major, has an internship with Si a la Vida! a residence for at-risk children in Managua, Nicaragua.

I worked in the Si a la Vida! house in Managua, which helps kids who have been living in the streets, mostly boys between the ages of eight and 13. A lot of these kids just hang around all day in the outdoor market getting high. The program tries to rehabilitate and re-educate them by providing good food and proper hygiene, as well as educational and recreational activities.

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Awards and Accolades

NCATE

Plymouth State University programs in initial teacher preparation, advanced educator and professional school personnel have achieved multiyear re-accreditation from the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Plymouth State is the first New Hampshire school to be accredited under new standards mandated by NCATE in 2000. For a school to be accredited, teacher candidates must have in-depth knowledge of the subject matter they plan to teach as well as the skills necessary to convey that knowledge so that students learn. NCATE currently accredits 575 institutions which produce two-thirds of the nation’s new teacher graduates each year. The U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation recognize NCATE as an accrediting body for schools, colleges and the department of education.

Foundations of Excellence

Plymouth State University was one of only 12 institutions named a “Founding Institution” for participation in phase two of the national project knows as the Foundations of Excellence® in the First College Year. PSU was selected from 125 institutions that participated in phase one in 2003. The Foundations of Excellence® project, sponsored jointly by the policy Center on the First Year of College and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) develops a model of excellence for the first college year. This model can be used by public colleges and universities to develop and refine their overall approach to educating new students. Founding Institutions measure their effectiveness in recruiting, admitting, housing, orienting, supporting, advising and teaching new students. The goal is to increase student learning, success and persistence to graduation.

Entrepreneur Magazine

Plymouth State University is listed as one of the top 50 regional programs in Entrepreneur magazine’s second annual Top 100 Entrepreneurial Colleges and Universities for 2004. More than 825 entrepreneurship programs and curricula were researched between September and December 2003 for the study. The final rankings are based on more than 70 separate criteria, including course offerings, teaching and research faculty, business-community outreaches, research centers and institutes, advisory boards, off-campus programs, other entrepreneurial initiatives, degrees and certificates offered, tangible venture development, access to capital funding and faculty and alumni evaluations.

Princeton Review

Plymouth State University has been named one of the “Best in the Northeast” by The Princeton Review. The designation identifies some of the colleges and universities that the Review feels stand out within each region and, in particular, to raise public awareness of many schools that may not be as well-known as they should be. Each college had to meet two criteria: they had to meet the Review’s standards for academic excellence within their region and the Review had to be able to survey their students anonymously. The Princeton Review, founded in 1981, helps more than half of university-bound students research, apply to, prepare for and learn how to pay for their higher education.