W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana
Missoula, Montana
Located on the native land of the Salish and Kalispel people – something that the school both deeply appreciates and honors– and founded over 100 years ago by the Society of American Foresters, W.A. Franke educates some of the top foresters and conservationists in the nation and even in the world. Resource management is their bread and butter and has been since 1913 when they opened their doors and they remain devoted to their mission today as they always have.
This is a very serious place for folks who know that resource management is for them. Over 97% of their graduates are employed upon graduation. That is likely due to the fact that 95% of their student have worked in the field professionally before they graduate. Most important to note, 85% of their students are working in the field they studied (so they’re not just baristas).
W.A. Franke’s campus is also a hands on lab. Students there have access to the 28,000 acre Lubrecht Experimental Forest, a working 3500 acre Bandy ranch, a biological station on the Flathead Lake, another 6,000 acre ranch, and all of the land available through the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife, the National Park Service, and USDA Forest Service lands available throughout Montana. So that’s just, you know, campus.
There are five undergraduate programs available. This is a place where you need to know this is what you want to do (but it is also a part of the University of Montana so if you change your mind all is not lost). They are: Ecosystem Science and Restoration, Forestry, Parks, Tourism and Recreation Management, Resource Conservation, and Wildlife Biology. Each of these degrees requires specific course work, multiple hands on experiences in the field, extensive lab work, but also a certain amount of internship and apprentice like work as well. In addition to these majors there are minors as well. You can choose amongst things like Climate Change, Ecological Restoration, Fire Sciences and Management, Wilderness Studies, and Wildlife Biology. You can also get an additional certificate in GIS.
Students are also encouraged to study abroad and experience other countries’ programming in resource management and environmental protection. There are scholarships available for this, and the school has programs in Africa, Vietnam, Peru, and Patagonia (Chile). These are professor led programs and relate to coursework students are engaged in.
Housing at W.A. Frank is pretty par for the course. Standard doubles and singles. There’s a nice virtual tour online so you can really see what the rooms are like. There are living learning communities and laundry is free (this is very nice, even if you don’t know it yet!). Food is decent and there are plenty of ways to access it. They will even make you birthday cakes to order, which is pretty (mind the pun) sweet!
The Outdoor Program is suitably incredible (it’s Missoula people). Rafting, kayaking, hiking, camping, canoeing, paddle boarding, climbing, biking, skiing (nordic and alpine) are just a few of the things you can do. You’re basically in the piedmont of the Rockies, so there’s a host of awesome things you can do there. And let’s face it, you have your own experiential forest after all.
The University of Montana (of which W.A. Franke is a part) is a DI school and with that comes all the sports. Basketball, football, cross country, softball, tennis, soccer, track, golf, and volleyball. Anything you want is available as an intramural or club as well: triathlon, rodeo (Montana), waterpolo, handball, skiing, badminton, fencing, equestrian, lacrosse, spikeball, and everyone’s favorite, dodgeball. Cycling is also huge at Montana.
As for clubs, well, there’s definitely something for everyone. It’s not a huge Greek place, but about 6% or so is Greek. There are plenty of environmental clubs to be a part of like the Climate Response Club or the Environmental Law Group, but there are also plenty of other options like Grizzly Christian Fellowship, or The Opal Literary Magazine. Try out Students for Disaster Relief, University Choir, Ice Holes (ice fishing enthusiasts), Advocates for Animals, Co-ed Hockey, Jazz Band, Operation Smile, Women in STEM, Dance Club, Montana Climate Action Collective, or Model United Nations. One of the advantages of being a small college in a larger university is that you have the benefits of the larger school to draw from and the attention of the smaller school to thrive in.
Is W.A. Franke for you? If you know that this sort of continuation of ESA is what you want, then yes it is. If you realized too late that you wish you’d been in ESA and want it in college, then yes it is. If you think that time is running out on our future resources and it’s time to manage them seriously, then yes. But this is a school of under 800 folks. And yes, while UM has just over 9,000 (so you get the big feel in a small space at the same time), it’s still a pretty niche school. Students here are serious about their work and their mission. You’d have to really want to do this for your whole like.
Pros:
Cons:
Missoula, Montana
Located on the native land of the Salish and Kalispel people – something that the school both deeply appreciates and honors– and founded over 100 years ago by the Society of American Foresters, W.A. Franke educates some of the top foresters and conservationists in the nation and even in the world. Resource management is their bread and butter and has been since 1913 when they opened their doors and they remain devoted to their mission today as they always have.
This is a very serious place for folks who know that resource management is for them. Over 97% of their graduates are employed upon graduation. That is likely due to the fact that 95% of their student have worked in the field professionally before they graduate. Most important to note, 85% of their students are working in the field they studied (so they’re not just baristas).
W.A. Franke’s campus is also a hands on lab. Students there have access to the 28,000 acre Lubrecht Experimental Forest, a working 3500 acre Bandy ranch, a biological station on the Flathead Lake, another 6,000 acre ranch, and all of the land available through the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife, the National Park Service, and USDA Forest Service lands available throughout Montana. So that’s just, you know, campus.
There are five undergraduate programs available. This is a place where you need to know this is what you want to do (but it is also a part of the University of Montana so if you change your mind all is not lost). They are: Ecosystem Science and Restoration, Forestry, Parks, Tourism and Recreation Management, Resource Conservation, and Wildlife Biology. Each of these degrees requires specific course work, multiple hands on experiences in the field, extensive lab work, but also a certain amount of internship and apprentice like work as well. In addition to these majors there are minors as well. You can choose amongst things like Climate Change, Ecological Restoration, Fire Sciences and Management, Wilderness Studies, and Wildlife Biology. You can also get an additional certificate in GIS.
Students are also encouraged to study abroad and experience other countries’ programming in resource management and environmental protection. There are scholarships available for this, and the school has programs in Africa, Vietnam, Peru, and Patagonia (Chile). These are professor led programs and relate to coursework students are engaged in.
Housing at W.A. Frank is pretty par for the course. Standard doubles and singles. There’s a nice virtual tour online so you can really see what the rooms are like. There are living learning communities and laundry is free (this is very nice, even if you don’t know it yet!). Food is decent and there are plenty of ways to access it. They will even make you birthday cakes to order, which is pretty (mind the pun) sweet!
The Outdoor Program is suitably incredible (it’s Missoula people). Rafting, kayaking, hiking, camping, canoeing, paddle boarding, climbing, biking, skiing (nordic and alpine) are just a few of the things you can do. You’re basically in the piedmont of the Rockies, so there’s a host of awesome things you can do there. And let’s face it, you have your own experiential forest after all.
The University of Montana (of which W.A. Franke is a part) is a DI school and with that comes all the sports. Basketball, football, cross country, softball, tennis, soccer, track, golf, and volleyball. Anything you want is available as an intramural or club as well: triathlon, rodeo (Montana), waterpolo, handball, skiing, badminton, fencing, equestrian, lacrosse, spikeball, and everyone’s favorite, dodgeball. Cycling is also huge at Montana.
As for clubs, well, there’s definitely something for everyone. It’s not a huge Greek place, but about 6% or so is Greek. There are plenty of environmental clubs to be a part of like the Climate Response Club or the Environmental Law Group, but there are also plenty of other options like Grizzly Christian Fellowship, or The Opal Literary Magazine. Try out Students for Disaster Relief, University Choir, Ice Holes (ice fishing enthusiasts), Advocates for Animals, Co-ed Hockey, Jazz Band, Operation Smile, Women in STEM, Dance Club, Montana Climate Action Collective, or Model United Nations. One of the advantages of being a small college in a larger university is that you have the benefits of the larger school to draw from and the attention of the smaller school to thrive in.
Is W.A. Franke for you? If you know that this sort of continuation of ESA is what you want, then yes it is. If you realized too late that you wish you’d been in ESA and want it in college, then yes it is. If you think that time is running out on our future resources and it’s time to manage them seriously, then yes. But this is a school of under 800 folks. And yes, while UM has just over 9,000 (so you get the big feel in a small space at the same time), it’s still a pretty niche school. Students here are serious about their work and their mission. You’d have to really want to do this for your whole like.
Pros:
- It’s Small and very intense
- Incredible resources and faculty
- Top program with proven results
- Small school/big school bonus
- Still cheaper than a private out of state school
Cons:
- It’s far away
- It doesn’t have “the name brand” many people like to have
- It’s small and very intense
- It’s out of state and costs more than in-state (but not that much more, actually)