The biggest dilemma facing the typical 18-year-old Oregonian is whether to be a Beaver or a Duck. Choose Duck and hang with the ex-hippies in cosmopolitan Eugene. Choose Beaver and get small-town life with professional programs in business, engineering, and life sciences in Corvallis. Strong STEM focus, along with global emphasis.

Once known as Moo U, there’s much more to Oregon State University than fruits and vegetables. The most accessible West Coast public university, OSU is strong in many departments, including biotechnology, forestry, and engineering. Founded in 1858, it’s also one of just two universities in the country with land, sea, space, and sun grant designations. Research opportunities and co-op work experiences abound, especially for students in STEM fields. Says one satisfied student, “Anyone would be lucky to be at Oregon State.”

Located in the pristine but rainy Willamette Valley, OSU’s campus is a mix of older, ivy-covered buildings and more modern structures. In addition to the 500-acre main campus, OSU owns 13,000 acres of forestland near campus and numerous agricultural tracts throughout Oregon. Thousands of azalea and rhododendron bushes welcome springtime on campus with their colorful blooms, and summers are unfailingly sunny. A bevy of newly renovated, LEED-certified facilities have been added over the past few years, and the $65 million Oregon Forest Science Complex opened in 2018.

OSU’s extensive Baccalaureate Core requires courses in a variety of areas, including skills; perspectives; and difference, power, and discrimination. One writing-intensive course is required as well. Perhaps the core’s most innovative facet is its “synthesis” requirement, in which upperclassmen take two interdisciplinary courses on global issues in the modern world. The level of academic pressure varies by major, but even those in the various honors programs say they don’t feel overworked. Although classes can be large, a senior says, “Professors make sure to get to know each individual and work with them, so that we as students gain the most from our education.”

OSU’s College of Liberal Arts ranks with business and engineering as the largest on campus, but there are many more preprofessionals than poets. With the exceptions of history and English, the liberal arts-including such standard fare as sociology, economics, and philosophy-play second fiddle to more practical, technical fields. The business school offers some of the finest business-related programs in the state, and majors in forestry, natural resources, marine biology, and engineering are strong drawing cards. Even though agriculture doesn’t lure as many students as it used to, those who do come find excellent programs, including agricultural sciences, animal sciences, and food science and technology. Computer science, human development and family sciences, public health, and psychology are among the most popular majors.

Students in the Honors College participate in small seminars with top professors and hands-on research, culminating in a senior thesis. The university’s small-town location makes it difficult to find much career-oriented part-time employment, and internships are hard to come by. (OSU operates on a quarter system.) Students in almost all majors, however, can participate in the cooperative education program, which allows them to alternate terms of study with several months of work in a relevant job. About a quarter of undergraduates get involved in research. The 9 percent who choose a semester abroad may select from 200 study abroad programs or research and internship opportunities in 70 countries around the world.

“The best way to describe students at Oregon State? Two words: ‘Go Beavs!’” cheers a senior. Indeed, school spirit runs high on this friendly campus. Sixty-nine percent of undergraduates are from Oregon, and 7 percent hail from foreign countries. Just 1 percent are African American, 10 percent are Hispanic, 8 percent are Asian American, and 7 percent are multiracial. The Office of Diversity and Cultural Engagement sponsors several cultural resource centers, conferences, social justice retreats, and other diversity initiatives to support students from underrepresented backgrounds. Most Oregon Staters are conservative and “very all-American-not cowboys and not city slickers, but very middle-of-the-road in all respects,” a business major observes. Merit scholarships averaging $5,300 are awarded annually, as are 379 athletic awards in 17 sports. The Bridge to Success program allows roughly 3,000 in-state students per year to attend the university tuition-free.

Freshmen are expected to live in college housing, though fraternity pledges have the option of living in their houses. Co-ed and single-sex options are available in the dorms, which house 17 percent of the students. “I loved living in my hall because it is where I made many friends; however, I much prefer living off campus because it is not as expensive,” a student says. In addition to standard rooming situations, eight living/learning communities in areas like engineering, health, and mindfulness are also options. “The meals in the dining facilities are good with lots of variety,” says a kinesiology major, and campus security gets good reviews too.

“Most social events happen on campus or close to campus,” says a student. Eleven percent of the men and 15 percent of the women join fraternities and sororities, and Greek events offer a social scene but don’t dominate campus life. Administrative efforts to make Greek parties safer include a ban on hard alcohol, a training program for students who wish to serve as sober party monitors, and a medical amnesty policy. Favorite campus traditions include the All-University Sing (featuring musical numbers staged by fraternity and sorority members) and the annual Fall Festival. A popular student activity is complaining about the Willamette Valley weather: “People in the valley don’t tan, they rust,” warns one native. One reward for all the rain, however, is the abundance of flowers that bloom in all colors and shapes each May. Students praise Corvallis as a good-size town, with enough bars and cheap theaters to cater to their entertainment needs. Beautifully rugged beaches are less than an hour away, and some of the best skiing in the country can be found in the Cascade Mountains, two hours east. Hiking and rafting are nearby too, and camping on the coast provides more good times.

Cheering for Beavers athletic teams claims a lot of students’ time and energy here, as does participation in the well-rounded intramural and club sports programs. Benny Beaver, the school’s former (and somewhat benign) mascot, has been replaced by a more aggressive beaver that students have dubbed the “angry beaver.” The baseball team took home the national title in 2018, and men’s and women’s basketball and men’s wrestling are competitive in the Pac-12 Conference. Oregon State’s “Civil War” rivalry with the University of Oregon dates back to 1894, and one student says, “Civil War games between OSU and U of Oregon are a big part of every season.”

While still a leader in agricultural education, OSU has expanded its reputation as a university that prepares students for successful futures in ever-evolving scientific, technical, and business fields. OSU doesn’t scream for attention. Instead, it’s content to be a “nice” college, in “a safe and pleasant little town,” where professors are “helpful” and, even if everyone doesn’t know your name, they’ll let you stand under their umbrella whenever the skies open up.

-Fiske Guide