Some DifferentCollege Options:Small Public SchoolsYou’ve Probably NeverHeard Of Before but areWorth Checking Out!(And other potentially useful college-related informational tidbits.)

(Includes liberal arts and engineering schools.)

So you're thinking about where you want to go to college. You've thought about the Ivies. Or Stanford. Or Northwestern, the University of Chicago, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Washington (the St. Louis one) or some other elite, prestigious and well-known private university of that ilk.

Well forget about it! You almost certainly won‘t get in to any of them. Those schools don’t want you. They want the students who will make their presence felt in the classroom every day, not the quiet study-hounds. They want the students who project themselves as the “leaders of tomorrow,” not the students who will merely be excellent at whatever it is that they will do.

Besides, what is it about those schools that makes you want to apply there? To be sure, they do have a lot of good programs and opportunities, but do you know what they are? Is that why you want to go? Or have you (and/or your parents) just been sold on a brand name?

Know this: There are actually very few instances in which the brand name on your undergraduate degree will be the most important thing about it. What is important about where you go to school? Consider the following:

Program: Does the institution offer a program of study that you would want to study? (And conversely, do you want to study what they are offering?

Rigor: Will you be sufficiently engaged and challenged (but hopefully not overwhelmed) there?

Setting: Would you want to spend four (or more) years there? In that place? In that environment? With those people?

Cost: Can you afford it?

And another thing:

Why do so many of you always end up applying to all the same schools,

anyway?!

(C’mon, folks: Show some originality, eh?)

So what are your other options?

• There are any number of less elite private universities that would be more than happy to collect your tuition, from Boston University on the east coast to University of the Pacific out here and dozens more in between.

• There are also the small liberal arts colleges, many of them − such as Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Vassar, Swarthmore, Kenyon, Carleton, Grinnell, Reed, Whitman and the Claremont Colleges − prestigious “brand name” schools in their own right. And some of your personal attributes that work against your being accepted at the larger and more famous “brand name” schools (especially ethnicity for most of you) can actually work in your favor at many liberal arts colleges.

• There are also a number of small schools that specialize in professional programs like engineering − RPI, Stevens and Rose-Hulman Institutes of Technology and Kettering University, for example − or the health sciences − University of the Sciences in Philadelphia or the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science, to name a couple.

Of course, good luck winning the financial aid lottery in order to pay for these schools. (Or good luck getting into Berea College or Cooper Union.)

Or you can…

Stick with public schools!Forget about the private school PR machine and the hype that it generates; state-supported can also provide a top-notch education. And they have two significant practical advantages over private institutions. The most obvious one is the lower tuition, even for out-of-state students. Now you may have been fed a line about how this advantage can often be negated and then some by the “generous” financial aid packages that private schools can offer. This can be true. More often than not, however, it isn’t. But there is another distinction that is arguably more important, and it concerns admissions practices; public schools tend to judge applicants largely on their actual academic strengths and abilities, and less − often far less − on the non-academic nonsensical garbage that private schools tend to fetishize.

Yes, public schools do have some disadvantages relative to private schools − especially where it concerns funding, and especially in times of tax revenue shortfalls. But you’ve experienced most of them, having gone to school at Lowell; did your education here turn out to be of a lesser quality because of them?

Many of you will look at the campuses of the University of California system. The 8 established general campuses are all typically ranked among the top 100 “national” universities. These schools admit students in an almost entirely numbers-based manner, something that would work to the advantage of most of you.

But although UC tuitions are less than the $40,000+/yr. tuitions of the elite private schools, these fees are now pushing $15,000/yr – not cheap. And the UC schools are large and bureaucratic; UC campuses (excluding Merced) have enrollments ranging from 15,000 to 26,000 undergraduates and 17,000 to 38,000 total students.

Berkeley

Davis

Santa Cruz

Los Angeles

Santa Barbara Merced

San Diego Irvine

Riverside

Then there's the CSU system. The CSU system is tasked with educating a broader spectrum of the post-secondary student population than UC is, which is in large part why it is often − unfairly − seen as the less prestigious of the two systems. But there are two reasons a student may find a CSU campus more appealing than UC. First, there's a greater emphasis on undergraduate teaching rather than research. And second, tuition is on the order of $6,500 to $8,000 per year. But with lower tuition comes a greater dependence on the state, which results in fewer resources and less financial stability.

Another CSU campus worth noting is Humboldt State University in Arcata. HSU offers a typical range of majors for a school its size, but is best known for its natural resource programs. Humboldt provides a unique opportunity to go to a small school (<7,500 students) in a small town (Arcata, pop. ~17,000) for a CSU pricetag. The setting is also unique: California's beautiful Redwood Coast region. But with this beauty comes isolation; Humboldt County is a long way from any major population center. And culturally speaking, HSU might prove to be outside your comfort zone; there are almost certainly more students who identify as “hippies” than who identify with an Asian ethnic group. But if you're looking for something different, Humboldt may be the place for you.

What else in the CSU system might hold some appeal?

San Diego State has a strong business program, particularly in entrepreneurship. Other programs with strong reputations range from speech pathology to jewelry & metalwork.

Cal State Long Beach’s music program has recently been elevated to conservatory status. Also strong in film and engineering. CSULB can boast the first Rhodes Scholar produced by the CSU system.

Cal State Fullerton has a strong business program, particularly in accounting. Also strong in musical theater and nursing. The baseball team is a perennial powerhouse.

Cal State Chico does, unfortunately, have a reputation as a party school. But it also has strong programs in journalism and graphic design. Very sustainability-conscious, and has its own organic farm.

San José State, befitting its location in Silicon Valley, has strong engineering programs, especially computer and electrical engineering. Also strong in business, the arts and nursing.

San Francisco State, just across the Stonestown parking lot from us, earns notice for its arts and humanities programs. The physics department is known for discovering planets outside our solar system.

“Middle 50% Range” as a Measure of a SchoolHow can you tell if a school is “good?” So much of what makes a school “good” is subjective, and in no small part depends on the needs and preferences of the prospective student. A student may not fully know if a school is right for him or her without visiting. Rankings? They are subjective, too, depending on what those doing the ranking deem to be important.

An objective metric that will be cited here is the “middle 50% range” of the SAT or ACT scores of students who matriculate at an institution. Simply put, the middle 50% test scores are the most typical scores earned by incoming students. These ranges exclude the top 25% and the bottom 25% of scores, each of which would potentially be a wider range that would also be less representative. Assuming that we can judge the overall ability level of a group of students by their SAT scores − admittedly a big assumption − we can get an idea of the overall strength of an academic program by assuming that a strong program attracts strong students, which in turn allows the faculty to take their students further − again, a big assumption.

These last assumptions, however, are ones you are familiar with, because they no doubt played a role in bringing you to Lowell. Chances are you wanted to come to Lowell because of the high-level college-preparatory program that Lowell offers. This type of program draws a lot of very capable students to Lowell. But we can offer the program that we offer in large part because we attract the students that we do. These things have a tendency to mirror each other, imperfect as the correlation can be.

How do UC and CSU schools stack up against each other using this “Middle 50% Range” metric?

(About like you’d expect, actually.)(Sources: US Department of Education, College Board, SFUSD)

Click on the graphic above to see the full chart on the web and peruse it at your leisure.

Middle 50% Range vs. Acceptance Rate:A Look at Two Schools in Missouri

Many assume that there is a strong correlation between the acceptance rate at a school and its quality. For example, the Ivy League schools are widely believed to be the best schools in the nation, and they have very low acceptance rates. (The same goes for Stanford and others you could probably name.) The assumption is that if the acceptance rate is very low, then a lot of students must be applying because of how great the program is.

But the number of prospective students applying to a school and its acceptance rate depend on a number of factors. Some schools put more into PR than others. Schools in heavily populated areas will also tend to draw more applicants. And there are often elements of self-selection based on whether or not a prospective applicant believes he or she has a reasonable chance of being accepted.

In order to see where our assumptions about acceptance rates breaks down, let’s look at two smaller public universities in the state of Missouri that we shall look at more closely later: Truman State University, the state liberal arts school where the acceptance rate tends to be about 75%, and Missouri University of Science & Technology, where the acceptance rate is about 90%!

Both Truman State and Missouri S&T have reputations for being very demanding. As a Truman State English major once put it: “The requirements to get into Truman are not as rigorous as they should be considering the time and dedication it takes to get even a B average here. This is not your average blow-off state school.” Similarly, a Missouri S&T student said this about his school: “If you don't plan on working you’re a-- off the whole time until you graduate, you are either a genius, or you're going to drop out.” Their reputations, and their distances from major cities, winnow the field of prospective applicants considerably. Plus, both schools are very explicit about who they will accept, so if one doesn’t meet the explicitly stated criteria, why apply? Neither school may be widely known outside Missouri or the Midwest, but both schools and their graduates are highly regarded by academics (especially Truman State) and employers (especially Missouri S&T) who do know of them.

Look at the table below, which compares the middle 50% of ACT composite scores of these schools to those of schools you are more familiar with, as well as comparing their acceptance rates. Which do you think says more?

School Middle 50% of ACT Composite Scores Accept. Rate

UC San Diego 25-31 38%

US Military Academy 25-31 11%

Missouri S&T 25-31 90%

Boston University 26-30 58%

Truman State University 25-30 75%

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 25-29 33%

University of the Pacific 23-29 36%

If one of your goals in going off to college is to leave California for a while − either to experience life in another part of the country or to give yourself an opportunity to grow up a little more and become a bit more independent − the UC and CSU systems won't be of much use to you.

One possibility is the myriad of private colleges and Universities out there. But unless you get lucky with financial aid, this is the most expensive option.

U of Washington$29.9K+$10.0K

U of Oregon$28.7K+10.3K

U of Arizona$26.2K+$9.3K U of Texas

$32.8K+$9.2K

U of Colorado$34.1K+$11.7K

U of Minnesota$18.8K+$8.0K

U of Iowa$26.3K+$9.2

U of Illinois$29.1K+$10.3K

U of Michigan$38.9K+$10.9K

U of Wisconsin$26.6K+$8.1K

Purdue$28.7K+$10.4K

Ohio State$25.4K+$11.2

U of Connecticut$29.1K+$11.4K

Rutgers$25.4K+$11.3K

U of Maryland$27.3K+$9.9K

U of Virginia$38.2K+$9.4K

U of North Carolina$28.4K+$9.7K

U of Georgia$28.1K+$9.0K

U of Florida$26.2K+$7.7K

Georgia Tech$28.6K+$9.2K

PennState

$28.6K+$9.7K

Then there are the public universities of other states. The ones you are most likely to look at are the well-known flagship campuses – the ones you've heard of because of their Bowl-Division football programs. More than a few of these schools actually have academic reputations, too. But these schools are usually big. And the more prestigious among them start to get almost as expensive for out-of-state students as private universities.

Figures shown above are annual undergraduate tuition and fees (arts & sciences majors) + room and board for 2012-13. $1.0K = $1000

Question: Have you considered Canada?Most of Canada's universities are government-supported, and their tuitions for foreign students are usually competitive with the tuitions American public universities charge out-of-state students. Several major universities that are widely held in high regard are indicated on the map below. Of these, McGill University, University of Toronto and University of British Columbia (Vancouver) are generally recognized as the top three.

U of Victoria ● $16.3K+$6.7K

U of British Columbia $23.9K+$7.8K ●●

Simon Fraser$16.7K+$8.4K

U of Alberta$19.6K+$6.8K ●

● McGill $18.0K+$8.0K

● Dalhousie $15.7K+$8.8K

● Queen's $23.9K+$11.4K●

McMaster $20.5K+$9.2K

U of Waterloo ●$21.5K+$9.0K

U of Toronto $28.4K+$11.4 ●

Memorial ● $9.5K+$6.4K

● U of Calgary $19.2K+$6.8K

U of Saskatchewan$14.6K+$7.2K●

U of Manitoba● $12.7K+$8.0K

U of New Brunswick $14.7K+$7.9K ●

As of Fall 2012, $1 US ~ $1 Canadian. Figures shown are for annual undergraduate tuition and fees (arts & sciences majors) + room and board.

U of Ottawa$19.1K+$11.5K

●

McGill University is sometimes referred to as the “Harvard of Canada.” It's not quite as prestigious as Harvard, and being a public school, it is not as financially well off as Harvard or any of the Ivies. It is not even the oldest university in Canada – University of New Brunswick and Dalhousie University are older. But McGill is universally recognized as one of the top universities in Canada, if not the top school. The medical school at McGill is the oldest in Canada. And the section of Montréal where McGill is located is where much of Canada's wealth was once concentrated. Instruction at McGill is in English, and the English-speaking population is substantial in the largely French-speaking city. (Actually, half of Montréal is bilingual.) (Note: If you are interested in attending a university where instruction is in French, look into Université de Montréal or Université Laval in Quebec City.)

The University of Toronto is the oldest institution of higher learning in what is now the province of Ontario. It is a “collegiate university,” much like Oxford and Cambridge; the constituent colleges operate with considerable autonomy. Academically, there are many comparisons to be made with UC Berkeley: A research focus – 10 Nobel laureates have been affiliated with UT – and high-level academic expectations.

Many state and provincial universities are big schools, schools that have a reputation for treating students as if they were just one of many – because each student is one of many at that campus.

Many students can handle that just fine. But what if you wanted a college experience that is more intimate? What if you wanted to go to a small liberal arts college – or even a technical institution – where you won't be just another face in the crowd and the professors might actually know your name? What if your desire for these things trumped the potential culture shock of living in some of these small towns? What if you wanted all this – but can't quite afford Middlebury or Williams or Swarthmore? And what if you just wanted to attend a public school because you believe in the idea that education is a government responsibility?

Well, schools like that do exist. And the purpose of the rest of this presentation is to introduce you to a few of them.

Small(er) PublicLiberal Arts Colleges

First: What is a liberal arts college?You’ve heard of a few of the best known − Amherst, Swarthmore, Oberlin − but what characterizes one?

An approach to education that focuses on exposing students to a broad range of knowledge rather than preparing them for a specific career. As (ironically) the Yale Report of 1828 put it:

"Our object is not to teach that which is peculiar to any one of the professions; but to lay the foundation which is common to them all.”

A focus on teaching undergraduates rather than on doctoral students and research.

A small size − typically around 2000 students.

What is a public liberal arts college?Ostensibly, the only difference between a traditional liberal arts college and a public liberal arts college is governmental funding and control. But there often can be more differences due to the general differences between private and public schools. Private schools are often founded with a vision of what a school ought to be. Public schools, on the other hand, are founded (and their missions can later be changed) to meet a need of the community or the state overall. The mission of any school may change over time, but in general, private schools tend to stick closer to an ideal whereas public schools exist to meet a need.

So while some public liberal arts colleges stick fairly close to the traditional model, others stretch the model considerably. PLACs are more likely than their private counterparts to offer professional programs such as business, nursing or teaching. (A number of PLACs were originally founded as “normal schools.”) PLACs can often be several times larger than most of their private counterparts. An extreme example of this is the College of Charleston. The College of Charleston had been either a private institution or a municipal college for most of its history, and its undergraduate enrollment had typically been about 500. The state of South Carolina took it over in 1970, and since then undergraduate enrollment has grown to 11,000. (Its larger size is the only reason CoC is not included in this presentation.)

When you see [COPLAC] on a slide profiling a particular school, that means that the school is a member of COPLAC, the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges, a consortium of 27 such schools.

Since liberal arts colleges focus on the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences, there’s no point in applying if one is interested in a career in engineering or business, right? Well, in fact, there might be.

A small number of liberal arts-oriented schools do have engineering programs. And some liberal arts schools have 5-year (3+2) programs in conjunction with engineering schools, leading to a degree from each of the two institutions: A BA in physics from the liberal arts school and an MS from the engineering school in the chosen engineering discipline.

For those seeking careers in business, it is more common for a liberal arts school to feature a business major than any engineering major. But a business degree often isn’t necessary for a career in business. In fact, many employers like liberal arts majors because they tend to have developed communication and critical thinking skills during their college years.

One final note before we begin the PLAC section in earnest: At the end of the blurbs for some of the schools, you will see [CoD]. This means that the school is featured in Colleges of Distinction, a guide book and an accompanying website that seek to help students “…go beyond the rankings in commercially-driven lists.” Admittedly, Colleges of Distinction is not the most widely known college guide book, but the aims of its authors are similar to the aims of this section of this presentation, namely, to promote schools that:

Actively engage students in their own education Do a good job of teaching undergraduates by, among other things, having

professors (not graduate assistants) teach classes small enough that the professors might actually know their students’ names

Foster a sense of community where students can get actively involved Have a good placement records for employment and graduate school, and that

generally foster a sense among their alumni that their college years were well spent.

For two of the schools featured here, you will also see [CTCL]. This refers to another guide book and website, Colleges That Change Lives, which continues the work of the late Loren Pope in promoting schools that feature “a familial sense of communal enterprise” and “a faculty of scholars devoted to helping young people develop their powers.”

New College of FloridaSarasota, FL

As it's name implies, New College was meant to be non-traditional. Students receive narrative evaluations instead of grades (much like UC Santa Cruz used to do). Students' performance in individual courses only determine if they pass a “contract” for the semester – one must pass seven contracts to graduate. January is reserved for independent study projects, which are required to graduate. Despite the lack of grades and required courses, NCF has a very high success rate of getting their students into top graduate schools. A relatively high number of NCF students (considering the small size of the school) have won Fulbright scholarships. The campus itself includes the former Ringling mansion as well as a student center and cafeteria designed by I. M. Pei, and NCF has come up with novel uses for storm runoff and air conditioner condensate. If you require extrinsic motivation to succeed, this is not the school for you. But if you want to be challenged, and if you like the thought of a very small honors college environment, NCF may be worth a look. [CoD] [CTCL] [COPLAC]

Undergrads: 800No Grad StudentsTuition & Fees: $29.8KRoom & Board: $8.6K

State University of New York at GeneseoGeneseo, NY

SUNY Geneseo has become the “honors college” of the SUNY system. Among their many recognized programs are performing arts as well as physics, the latter of which operates a state-of-the-art particle accelerator, unusual for a school of its size. The biology program is also popular enough to draw plenty of pre-med wannabes. But the science majors at Geneseo need to be nearly as well versed in Western humanities − and just as able to write − as everyone else. Aside from academics, the town’s well-preserved early 19th century architecture and the legendary sunsets that can be viewed from campus are also selling points. The SUNYG sports culture? It mostly revolves around the hockey team. Geneseo was once named by Newsweek as one of its 25 Most Desirable Rural Schools, but although it’s located in a rural area at the western edge of the “Finger Lakes” district, it’s close enough to Rochester to have regular weekend bus service into civilization. [COPLAC]

Undergrads: 5500Out of…: 5700Tuition & Fees: $16.3KRoom & Board: $11.0K

An aside about the SUNY system: Aside from Geneseo, there are several small liberal arts colleges among the SUNY’s “University Colleges.” There are also 4 large “University Centers” – Binghamton, Stony Brook, Albany and Buffalo – a highly esteemed College of Environmental Science and Forestry and several small technology colleges (these are technical and professional training schools rather than true engineering schools). The out-of-state tuition + fees for each of these schools is about $16,000 per year.

SUNY is not CUNY:The City University of New York is a separate system from SUNY and, understandably, it does not offer the intimate small college experience. But it does offer the opportunity to study in New York City at a reasonable cost (out-of-state tuition is $485 per unit). Its flagship institution is City College, and its most academically highly-regarded schools are the liberal arts-oriented Hunter College and the business-oriented Baruch College.

Undergrads: 7400Out of…: 8200Tuition & Fees: $16.1KRoom & Board: $12.5K

SUNY OswegoOswego gets plenty of snow; perhaps that’s why this campus has produced quite a few TV weathercasters. The library houses an extensive collection of letters and papers of Millard Fillmore, one of American’s worst presidents. Oswego is another school where hockey is king. Note: SUNY Oswego does have a reputation as a party school. [CoD]

St. Mary’s College of MarylandSt. Mary’s City, MD

St. Mary's College is officially designated by the State of Maryland as its public honors college. The school is small and the professors are accessible and highly regarded by students. The dining hall is highly regarded, too. During the senior year, students are expected to complete a St. Mary’s Project, which may be a research project or a creative expression in the arts. There are a number of “green” initiatives on campus – from LEED silver-certified Goodpaster Hall to the campus composting to the geothermal system. St. Mary's City is located on the estuary of the St. Mary's River near where it empties into the Potomac River, which in turn empties into Chesapeake Bay nearby – so aquatic activities are popular. St. Mary's City was the 1st capital of Maryland in the 17th century. The area is 2 hours from Washington, D.C., or Baltimore – but you'd need a car. Newsweek once rated SMC of MD as one of the 25 Most Desirable Rural Schools in America. [CoD] [COPLAC]

Undergrads: 2000Very few grad studentsTuition & Fees: $27.6KRoom & Board: $11.3K

University of North Carolina at AshevilleAsheville, NC

Forget your preconceptions about the South; UNCA is a long way from Tobacco Road. Asheville, a medium-sized city (~80,000+) situated in the Blue Ridge Mountains, has a reputation as an artsy town that attracts creative types. To a certain extent, Asheville, including UNCA, has a reputation as something of a hippie haven, although “hipster” may be more like it. So given its setting, it should come as no surprise that students are required to take a three semester humanities core that covers a broad range of both Western and Eastern texts. Politically, students at UNCA are reputed to be as liberal as students at any college anywhere; there's plenty of activism on campus. UNCA is also attractive to outdoor enthusiasts, is often cited as a “green” campus, and it’s Environmental Studies program consistently makes the Fiske Guide to Colleges’ list of “…pre-professional programs with unusual strength in preparing students for careers.” [COPLAC]

Undergrads: 3800Out of…: 3900Tuition & Fees: $19.7KRoom & Board: $7.6K

University of Minnesota − MorrisMorris, MN

Situated in a small town on the farmed-over prairie of western Minnesota, the Morris campus of the University of Minnesota was once the location of a U of M agricultural college, and an American Indian boarding school before that. (In fact, in order to acquire the Indian school’s property, U of M had to promise that Native American students would always be educated there tuition-free. This is why Native American students make up almost 10% of the student body, UMM’s main claim to diversity.) UMM is one of the greenest college campuses anywhere; two wind turbines provide most of the electricity for the campus, and there is also a biomass plant. The sciences are strong; biology and chemistry are the 2nd and 3rd most popular majors. Nearly half of UMM graduates go to graduate school of one kind or another. The annual spring jazz festival is a big deal. Morris is not close to a major metropolitan area, but there is a weekend shuttle to Minneapolis. [COPLAC]

Undergrads: 1900No graduate studentsTuition & Fees: $12.6KRoom & Board: $7.3K

University of Mary WashingtonFredericksburg, VA

UMW is the only university named for a US President’s mom, a vestige of UMW’s former status as the women’s college for the University of Virginia. Another likely vestige is the high female-to-male ratio at UMW. Befitting it’s location, UMW is one of the few schools that offer a BA in historic preservation. The debate program is very strong, especially policy debate. Seniors are required to fulfill the experiential learning requirement, designed to challenge students to go outside of the bounds of the typical classroom. The honor code is a big deal here, but overall the atmosphere on campus is generally described as relaxed and friendly. [CoD] [COPLAC]

Christopher Newport UniversityNewport News, VA

CNU, named for a turn-of-the-17th century English pirate, opened its doors in 1961 as an extension campus of William and Mary. In 1996, the administration of CNU started the process of transitioning CNU from an “overgrown community college” to a competitive university. It has expanded its campus and its academic programs and is now seen as an up-and-coming university according to many college rankings. Spirit abounds, and attendance at football and (both men’s & women’s) basketball games is pretty good for a D-III school. The dorm facilities are highly regarded, too. Randall Munroe, of xkcd fame, majored in physics.

Undergrads: 4500Out of…: 5200Tuition & Fees: $21.6KRoom & Board: $9.0K

Undergrads: 4800Out of…: 5000Tuition & Fees: $20.1KRoom & Board: $9.9K

Ramapo CollegeMahwah, NJ

Ramapo College, the school that is officially designated as New Jersey’s Public Liberal Arts College, is located in a relatively affluent suburb of New York City. Like TCNJ, there are virtually no large lecture hall classes. Their stated mission revolves around the “Four Pillars”: interdisciplinary curriculum, international education, intercultural understanding and experiential learning opportunities. [COPLAC] Undergrads: 5700

Out of…: 5900Tuition & Fees: $21.6KRoom & Board: $11.6K

Undergrads: 7900Out of…: 8600Tuition & Fees: $16.0KRoom & Board: $9.9K

Salisbury UniversitySalisbury, MD

Admittedly, the city of Salisbury is not the nicest part of Maryland’s Eastern Shore. But the campus it-self has been getting much, much nicer over the past decade or so, and this school’s program and repu-tation are on the rise, too.[CoD]

The Evergreen State CollegeOlympia, WA

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening said of his alma mater that it was “...a hippie college, with no grades or required classes, that drew every creative weirdo in the Northwest.” Groening was at Evergreen in the 1970s shortly after it opened in 1971, but much of the ‘60s ethos remains. The school motto is the Latin translation of “Let it all hang out.” Rather than taking several classes per quarter, students at Evergreen take one full-load interdisciplinary course per quarter. Students receive narrative evaluations rather than letter grades. Incoming students agree to the Evergreen Social Contract, which obligates students to value freedom of thought and expression and to treat every member of the community in a civil manner. The campus property itself, located in the state capitol of Olympia, includes a forest and a beach – the latter is generally considered “clothing optional.” It is the kind of school that a student who really embraces what Evergreen is about will get a lot out of − but it’s not for everybody. [CoD] [CTCL] [COPLAC]

Undergrads: 4500Out of…: 4800Tuition & Fees: $19.0KRoom & Board: $9.2K

How do these schools compare with schools you’ve heard of?Direct comparisons are tricky, because different types of schools have very different things

to offer. But here is how they compare using that “Middle 50% Range” Metric.(Sources: US Department of Education, SFUSD)

Click on the graphic above to see the full chart on the web and peruse it at your leisure.

School Location# of

Under-grads

Total,Incl.

Post-Bac.Tuition & Fees Room

& Board

SAT/ACT* Mid-50%

Critical Reading

SAT/ACT*Mid-50%

Math

SATMid-50%Writing

CO-PLAC

CoD

University of Montevallo Montevallo, AL 2500 3000 $17.9K $6.5K 18-24 20-28

University of Sci and Arts of OK

Chickasha, OK 1000 1000 $13.2K $5.3K 20-27 18-24

University of IL at Springfield Springfield, IL 3100 5100 $18.3K $8.2K 20-26 19-25

Richard Stockton Coll. of NJ Galloway, NJ 7200 8100 $18.7K $10.7K 470-570 490-600 470-560

SUNY Fredonia Fredonia, NY 5400 5700 $18.2K $10.5K 480-580 490-590

SUNY Cortland Cortland, NY 6400 7300 $16.2K $11.4K 510-590 480-560

SUNY Brockport Brockport, NY 7200 8400 $16.1K $10.3K 470-570 490-580 460-560

Southern Utah University Cedar City, UT 7200 7700 $17.0K/$8.6KWUE $6.0K 19-26 18-25

Fort Lewis College Durango, CO 3800 3800 $17.6K $7.9K 19-25 18-24

Winthrop University Rock Hill, SC 4900 5900 $24.7K $7.3K 470-580 480-570

Humboldt State University Arcata, CA 7400 8000 $7.6KCA $10.9K 460-580 450-570

SUNY Plattsburgh Plattsburgh, NY 5800 6400 $16.1K $10.1K 470-550 480-560

University of Wisc. − Superior Superior, WI 2600 2800 $15.5K $5.9K 19-24 18-24

Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA 7700 8700 $7.4KCA $9.2K 450-560 460-570

University of ME at Farmington Farmington, ME 2200 2300 $18.2K $8.5K 440-570 440-540 460-570

Midwestern State University Wichita Falls, TX 5500 6200 $9.6K $6.2K 450-560 480-560 430-530

Western State Colorado Univ. Gunnison, CO 2000 2200 $16.3K/$11.5K $8.7K 18-24 18-24

Keene State College Keene, NH 5100 5300 $19.7K $8.8K 450-550 450-550 450-550

Southern Oregon University Ashland, OR 5900 6700 $21.5K/$10.0KWUE $9.2K 450-580 440-550

Shepherd University Shepherdstown, WV 4200 4400 $15.1K $9.1K 460-560 450-550

Eastern Conn. State University Willimantic, CT 5300 5600 $21.3K $9.9K 460-550 450-550

Mass. College of Liberal Arts North Adams, MA 1700 1900 $17.5 $9.3K 440-560 450-550

Henderson State University Arkadelphia, AR 3400 3800 $12.5K $6.3K 18-25 18-24

University of Hawaii at Hilo Hilo, HI 3500 4100 $17.8K/$9.1KWUE $8.0K 420-540 430-560 410-520

Eastern Oregon University La Grande, OR 3900 4300 $13.2K/$10.3KWUE $8.7K 430-540 430-540

CSU Monterey Bay Seaside, CA 4800 5200 $6.2KCA $9.2K 420-540 420-540

A few more schools of this ilk:Mid-50% range of SAT or ACT* scores for entering first-year students at these schools are comparable to those at CSU schools.HSU, SSU and CSUMB are included for comparison and are italicized. *Approximate correlation between ACT and SAT scores can be found here and here.

CA = CSU tuition for California residents. WUE = Tuition for eligible students through WUE program of WICHE.CoD = Schools that are featured in Colleges of Distinction. COPLAC = Schools that are members of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges.

And Don’t Forget Canada!In most of Canada, small undergraduate-focused schools akin to American liberal arts colleges are not common. But in one region in particular − the Maritime provinces − such schools are actually the norm. Of the next four schools profiled here, three are in the Maritimes; the fourth is a small Anglophone school in the province of Québec. Checking Maclean’s Canadian university rankings may give you some other ideas. (Maclean’s is a Canadian news magazine akin to US News & World Report.) Many schools make a “Common Data Set” available; you can use these to compare schools. (But you can’t use SAT scores; Canadian schools generally don’t require the SAT.)

The Maritimes

Mount Allison UniversitySackville, NB

Ironically, the first people who can see first hand how Mt. Allison University values personal attention are those who are denied admission; rejections include a handwritten note explaining specific areas of weakness. (Personal hand-written notes are included with acceptance letters, too.) Mt. Allison University is regarded by many as the top primarily-undergraduate university in Canada. It has produced 50 Rhodes Scholars over the years, a high number for such a small school. Although Mount Allison has a strong reputation in the sciences, it is best known for its arts, fine arts and music programs. It is home to the oldest university art gallery in Canada, and the arts scene in Sackville is pretty vibrant overall. Mt. A. also offers an aviation degree, unusual for a school of this type. Of historical interest: Mount Allison was the first university in the British Empire to confer a bachelor’s degree to a woman (1875).

Undergrads: 2500Very few grad studentsTuition & Fees: $15.9K (Can.)Room & Board: $8.4K (Can.)

Saint Francis Xavier UniversityAntigonish, NS

Most schools sell class rings to their graduates-to-be, but no school makes the class ring a point of pride like St. Francis Xavier does. Seniors are awarded their X-Rings in a ceremony that takes place on the feast day of St. Francis Xavier. St. Francis Xavier students rate their school extremely high in terms of professor accessibility and overall satisfaction with their educational experience. The sense of community on campus is strong to the point of sometimes being called an “X-cult.” The university offers many strong programs in business, the arts and sciences and information systems. Some of the more unique programs: Aquatic Resources, Celtic Studies and Jazz Studies. The athletic teams are actually called the X-Men (and X-Women)! The campus is home to the Coady International Institute, which promotes innovative approaches to international development. Antigonish is home to the longest-running Highland Games festival outside of Scotland.

Undergrads: 4200Out of…: 4600Tuition & Fees: $14.7K (Can.)Room & Board: $9.0K (Can.)

Bishop's UniversitySherbrooke, QC

Bishop’s is located in Lennoxville, a historically English-speaking (but now bilingual) community that, along with other nearby communities, recently merged with the larger, mostly French-speaking city of Sherbrooke. Bishop’s is one of three English-language universities in the province of Québec (McGill and Concordia, both in Montréal, are the others). It is another small university that emphasizes close working relationships with faculty in a small residential setting and instruction in the liberal arts and sciences. The Williams School of Business is well respected. Its academic programs are broadly based and stress the inter-relationships of disciplines rather than their specializations. The campus features its own wildlife refuge. A word of caution: Bishop’s does have a “party school” reputation.

Undergrads: 1800Very few grad studentsTuition & Fees: $18.9K (Can.)Room & Board: $7.6K (Can.)

There are more small schools out there that you might be interested in − schools that are not necessarily liberal arts-focused, or even undergraduate-focused. They may have remained small because of geographic remoteness or because some offerings outshine others. Or the school could simply be relatively new.

University of NorthernBritish ColumbiaPrince George, BCUndergrads: 2900 Out of…: 3600Tuition & Fees: $17.7K (Can.)Room & Board: $6.2K (Can.)Notable Programs:Environmental StudiesNatural Resource Mgmt.

University of LethbridgeLethbridge, ABUndergrads: 6800Out of…: 7400Tuition & Fees: $12.2K (Can.)Room & Board: $5.2K (Can.)Notable Programs:NeuroscienceAddictions Counseling

University of ColoradoColorado SpringsColorado Springs, COUndergrads: 8000Out of…: 10100Tuition & Fees: $17.9KWUE T&F: $14.6KRoom & Board: $9.7KMid-50% ACT Eng.: 20-26Mid-50% ACT Math: 19-26Notable Programs:Engineering, Business

Rutgers−CamdenCamden, NJUndergrads: 4700Out of…: 6400Tuition & Fees: $26.9KRoom & Board: $11.4KMid-50% SAT CR: 480-580Mid-50% SAT Math: 490-600Mid-50% SAT Writing: 490-570Notable Programs:Business, Law

University of PrinceEdward IslandCharlottetown, PEUndergrads: 4000 Out of…: 4300Tuition & Fees: $12.7K (Can.)Room & Board: $9.6K (Can.)Notable Programs:Veterinary Medicine,Biology, Business

Trent UniversityPeterborough, ONUndergrads: 7500Out of…: 7900Tuition & Fees: $18.3K (Can.)Room & Board: $9.2K (Can.)Notable Programs:Forensic ScienceEnv. Resource Science

University ofMichigan−DearbornDearborn, MIUndergrads: 7200Out of…: 8700Tuition & Fees: $22.9KRoom & Board: N/A*Mid-50% ACT Eng.: 21-27Mid-50% ACT Math: 21-26Notable Programs:Engineering, Business

N/A* = No campus housing available.

University of Alabamain HuntsvilleHuntsville, ALUndergrads: 5900Out of…: 7600Tuition & Fees: $21.1KRoom & Board: $8.2KMid-50% ACT Eng.: 22-30Mid-50% ACT Math: 21-28Notable Programs:Engineering, Business

Emily Carr Universityof Art and DesignVancouver, BCTuition & Fees: $12.7K (Can.)Room & Board: N/A*

N/A* = No campus housing available.

Or perhaps you’re interested in going to a school that specializes in the visual arts. Or the performing arts.

Alberta Collegeof Art and DesignCalgary, ABTuition & Fees: $15K (Can.)Room & Board: $10K (est.)

Nova Scotia Collegeof Art and DesignHalifax, NSTuition & Fees: $13.9K (Can.)Room & Board: $8.3K (Can.)

University of North CarolinaSchool of the ArtsWinston-Salem, NCTuition & Fees: $20.7KRoom & Board: $6.1K(performing arts)

MassachusettsCollege of Artand DesignBoston, MATuition & Fees: $27.5KRoom $ Board: $12.6K

PurchaseCollegePurchase, NYSee Profile

Ontario Collegeof Art and DesignToronto, ONTuition & Fees: $18.6K (Can.)Room & Board: N/A*

Or perhaps you see yourself studying engineering or the applied sciences. And rather than going to a large institution, you would prefer a smaller school that focused on such academic pursuits. Wouldn't it be absolutely ideal to go to MIT or CalTech?

Well, you can't (in all probability).

But while those two schools may be the most elite small engineering- and applied sciences-focused schools, they aren't the only ones – and a few alternatives happen to be public schools that offer a high-quality education and may well be more affordable than their private counterparts, even for out-of-state students.

Presenting...

Small(er) Public Engineeringand Applied Sciences Colleges

Colorado School of MinesGolden, CO

As its name suggests, Colorado School of Mines was born of the gold mining in the Colorado Territory in the latter half of the 19th century. Mines is still one of the few institutions that has the broad expertise in resource exploration, extraction, production and utilization that it does, but it broadened its focus a long time ago so that it has become a very well respected overall engineering school. Mines stresses its core engineering curriculum, believing that engineers are engineers first, and practitioners of their specialties second. Overall, professors expect a lot of their students. The emphasis at Mines – and this is true of most of the schools presented here – is on engineering practice rather than theory. Employers seem to like this; the job placement rate and average starting salaries for Colorado School of Mines grads is high. CSM and the city of Golden abut the Front Range just west of Denver; the opportunity for outdoor activity abounds.

Undergrads: 4000Out of…: 5500Tuition & Fees: $30.7KRoom & Board: $9.2K

South Dakota School of Mines and TechnologyRapid City, SD

SDSM&T, which also began as a mining school, owes its existence to its proximity to the Black Hills, site of an 1870s gold rush. It owes its Department of Defense funding for the cutting edge research being done by its Advanced Materials Processing Center to its proximity to Ellsworth Air Force Base. Materials is one of the four research areas that SDSM&T specializes in; the others are energy, underground science and science education. Additionally, the Electrical and Computer Engineering department conducts significant research in applied electromagnetics and microwave technology. SDSM&T offers some distinctive degree programs at the MS level; its atmospheric science program is nationally recognized, and it is one of the few schools to offer any degree in robotics or in paleontology – the Museum of Geology is an important research center for the study of large vertebrate fossils.

Undergrads: 2000Out of…: 2300Tuition & Fees: $11.5KRoom & Board: $5.9K

Montana Tech of the University of MontanaButte, MT

Unlike the schools presented in the previous 6 slides, Montana Tech does not award the Ph.D. (yet), thus the emphasis is squarely on undergraduate education. Also, while men still outnumber women, the ratio at Montana Tech is more like 3:2 (significantly lower than the previous 6). Several engineering programs at Montana Tech – geological, geophysical, mining, metallurgical and petroleum – are reminders of how important resource extraction is in Montana. But students can also study more general engineering, scientific and mathematical fields, or business or nursing, and can do so at a school where small classes and hands-on learning are the norm. Montana Tech’s Career Services Office has a very high job placement rate. Butte’s location in the Rockies just west of the Continental Divide means that opportunities for outdoor recreation abound, but there’s plenty to do on campus, too, which students are alerted to by email.

Undergrads: 1900Out of…: 2100Tuition & Fees: $18.1K**T&F with WUE: $9.0KRoom & Board: $7.5K

Oregon Institute of TechnologyKlamath Falls, OR

OIT is another institution that focuses on undergraduate education rather than Ph.D.-level research, with the emphasis being on hands-on learning and practical design principles. In addition to several traditional engineering programs (mechanical, civil and electrical), OIT offers programs such as geomatics and renewable energy engineering. OIT is the only completely geothermally-heated college campus in America, and it is planning to go entirely off the power grid in a few years. Although as rigorous as any, the engineering program at OIT is actually pretty small; in terms of degrees awarded, the engineering technology program is larger and the health care technology program is 3 times as large. The main OIT campus is located in Klamath Falls, close to the California state line.

Undergrads: 3900Very few grad studentsTuition & Fees: $23.7K**T&F with WUE: $11.7K Room& Board: $8.4K

How do these schools compare with each other and the Cal Poly Schools?Here is how they compare using that “Middle 50% Range” Metric.

(Sources: US Department of Education, SFUSD)

Click on the graphic above to see the full chart on the web and peruse it at your leisure.

"If all you want is a good education (and you want that more than you want a name-brand degree), you can get a good education just about anywhere."

Paul MarthersFormer Dean of AdmissionsReed College

The moral of the story is: Don’t be obsessed with getting into “The Right School”. Just find a school that’s right for you. Maybe − just maybe − you’ve found one here.

The End