Davenport is a career-oriented university serving about 7,500 students at campuses across Michigan and online. The University’s areas of focus are business, technology, health professions and urban education.
The 152-year-old institution is the second largest private, non-profit college or university in Michigan.
Davenport’s Vision 2020 long-range plan calls for accelerated improvement of quality across university operations, with student outcomes to compare favorably with those of the upper third of Michigan’s public universities.
Davenport’s Employment Guarantee was among the first in the U.S. and is currently available to more than 1,100 students enrolled in accounting, nursing and network management and security programs. By 2020, up to a quarter of DU’s bachelor degree programs will be covered by this guarantee.
Davenport’s graduation rate has increased by more than 130% since 2009, with graduate satisfaction at 95% andstudent satisfaction at 5.9 on a 7-point scale.
In 2016, Davenport received Honor Roll recognition by Michigan Performance Excellence, Michigan’s quality award program. DU is only the second college or university to ever be recognized by the state’s quality program. Earning the Michigan quality award is a required step toward Davenport’s goal of earning national Baldrige Award recognition.
Facilities
In Grand Rapids, the Donald W. Maine College of Business facility opened at the W.A. Lettinga Campus in January 2017.
The Farmers Insurance Athletics Complex opened in 2013 and was expanded to 68 acres in 2015. It supports Davenport’s baseball, softball, tennis, track and field, rugby, soccer and football programs.
New residential facilities completed on 60th Street in 2017 increased housing capacity to serve nearly 1,000 students.
Athletics
Davenport University reinstated its athletics program in 2002. Between 2002 and 2016, its teams earned 87 Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Championships (47 regular season and 40 tournament titles) and six WHAC All-Sports Trophies. They also won 24 team and individual national championships across all sports and produced 136 All-Americans and 326 All-Conference performers.
Davenport is currently in the second of three years of the NCAA Division II entry protocol, competing in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) but ineligible for post-season competition.
Awards & Recognition
In 2015, Davenport was recognized as the Grand Rapids Business Journal’s “Newsmaker of the Year” for Higher Education.
In 2014, the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce honored DU with the prestigious “Excellence in Business” EPIC Award for innovation.
DU has received the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) award for five consecutive years from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. The magazine also recognized Davenport president Dr. Richard Pappas with the Giving Back Award in 2016.
Davenport University’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council was named 10th in the Nation’s Top 25 Employee Resource Groups at the annual ERG & Council Conference in 2017, a year after placing 2nd.
Davenport was recognized by the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce with its Diversity Visionary Award in 2016.
DU achieved Level I Partner status from Partners for a Racism Free Community after participating in its Institutional Challenge to Achieve Racial Equity (ICARE) assessment process.
In 2015, Davenport was recognized with the Hispanic Advocacy Award for its demonstrated commitment to the ideals of Cesar Chavez.
Davenport is included on the Best for Vets list of four-year colleges by Military Times magazine.
Davenport is designated a Military Friendly School by G.I. Jobs, placing it among the top 15% of schools nationwide that deliver the best experience for military students.
Davenport earned “Gold-level Status” as a Michigan Veteran-Friendly School from the Michigan Veteran Affairs Office for three consecutive years.
In 2013, Davenport earned the Pro-Patria Award from the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) State Committee.
Davenport University has been recognized as one of the best colleges in the nation to work for, according to employee surveys conducted by The Chronicle of Higher Education. DU also was recognized as a “Top Workplace in Michigan” by the Detroit Free Press based on employee surveys.
The Michigan Health Council recognized Davenport for its efforts to create flexible opportunities to complete Health Information Management degrees with a Building Michigan’s Health Care Workforce Education and Training Award.
The Committee on National Security Systems in conjunction with the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have designated Davenport University as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE/CD) through the year 2020.
Davenport is one of three schools distinguished in the Michigan Collegiate Cyber Defense (MCCD) Network’s Hall of Fame for leading and pioneering an exceptional, quality education in the profession of cyber security. Davenport won the MCCD competitions in 2008, 2013 and 2015.
At the 2017 national competition, DU’s Business Professionals of America (BPA) students took home 12 national championship, 8 runner-up finishes and 8 third-place finishes. Over the past nine years, DU students have earned 112 national titles.
At the 2016 national DECA competition, the Davenport’s team took home three top-10 finishes, including one national championship, competing against 2,000 students from across the U.S. and Canada.