A DIFFERENT WAY TO LOOK AT COLLEGES THAT CHANGE LIVES-PART II

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1 A DIFFERENT WAY TO LOOK AT COLLEGES THAT CHANGE LIVES-PART II In this first whitepaper, we will take a look at the Southern schools that appear in Loren Pope s Colleges That Change Lives. Previously, we reported on the schools in the Northeast. Future whitepapers will cover schools in other regions. The Southern schools on Pope s list include: Agnes Scott College (GA) Birmingham-Southern College (AL) Centre College (KY) Eckerd College (FL) Emory and Henry College (VA) Guilford College (NC) Hendrix College (AS) Lynchburg College (VA) Millsaps College (MS) New Florida Rhodes College (TN) Among these schools, Centre College is among the top 50 National Liberal Arts colleges selected annually by U.S. News and World Report. It is also currently ranked as the 15 th Best Value among private liberal arts colleges by Kiplinger s. Centre ranks second among Southern national liberal arts schools. Birmingham-Southern is also one of Kiplinger s 50 Best Values among private liberal arts colleges. New Florida is the only publicly-supported liberal arts school in Pope s book. It is also Florida s public honors college, one of only two in the country. All of these schools are co-ed, except Agnes Scott, which is a women s college. The first thing to look at for each school is freshman retention rates and graduation rates. However, we have to look at them differently than we would a large public university. Being small, private schools, as opposed to state schools that answer to politically appointed trustees, each school has more freedom to design its academic program around the students it wants. However, while a bright, mature student may find that their choice of school fits like a glove, it is reasonable to expect others to find out that they were wrong. Also, given that these schools are private schools, it is more likely that costs would be an issue and that in bad economic times students might choose to transfer to less expensive schools. A freshman retention rate of 85 percent and a six-year graduation rate of around two-thirds would be reasonable under both circumstances. However, because these schools are small and private, as well as more tight-knit communities, the four-year graduation rate should be better than most state-supported universities. The school should have more of a vested interest in seeing that their students graduate on time. To date, only 18 flagship state universities have a four-year graduation rate of 60 percent or better, but there are also seven smaller state schools: James Madison University, Washington

2 University, Ramapo New Jersey, The, St. s College of land, SUNY-Geneseo, The New Jersey that have four-year graduation rates in excess of 60 percent. The achievement of the smaller schools should be our benchmark, since they are more similar in size and liberal arts focus than the larger state schools. Below are the available freshman retention rates and graduation rates from the school s latest ( ) Common Data Set, unless otherwise noted School Freshman Retention Rate Four-Year Graduation Rate Six-Year Graduation Rate Four-Year Graduation Rate for Flagship State University in Same State Agnes Scott 79% 59% 68% Georgia 54% Birmingham- Southern 82% 71% 98% Alabama- Tuscaloosa 38% Centre 92% 84% 86% Kentucky 33% Eckerd 79% 63% 69% Florida 59% Emory and Henry 70% N/A 57% Virginia

3 85% 82% Guilford 76% 49% 58% North Carolina- Chapel Hill 76% Hendrix 86% N/A 60% Arkansas- Fayetteville 35% Lynchburg College 73% 44% 52% Virginia 85% 82% Millsaps 79% N/A 68% Mississippi 34% New College 84% 57% 68% Florida

4 59% Rhodes 90% 73% 76% Tennessee 31% It can be seen that some of these schools are located in states that have top-performing flagship state universities, namely Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. These states have attractive private options as well. However, many of those options, such as Davidson and Wake Forest in North Carolina, or the Richmond and Washington and Lee in Virginia, have more competitive admissions processes than Loren Pope s schools. Florida, Georgia and Kentucky also offer merit-based scholarship programs to encourage their students to remain instate. It can also be seen that some of these schools have freshman retention rates below 80 percent. This suggests that the students who left the school might have found that it was too demanding or not the best fit for them. When a school such as Guilford is located in a competitive marketplace of public and private schools, not only in North Carolina, but quite possibly in nearby states, they need to define the student who is their best fit through their marketing. A school that loses more than 20 percent of its freshman class has to replace their losses with transfer students, who are more likely to graduate, in order to be more stable fiscally. It must also be noted that the schools for which we could not find four-year graduation rates provided no Common Data Set, nor the graduation information on the Web sites. We had to use the data from the latest U.S. News Guide. It is disconcerting when a school does not make this information available, especially a private college. As one example, the Millsaps College site advertises the school s high ranking among Mississippi colleges, as reported by Forbes and and the Fiske Guide to Colleges. Given that there are only 15 four-year colleges and universities in Mississippi, and that the flagship state university has such a low four-year graduation rate, the bragging point is weak. Next is to look at costs. Since these schools consider the same student as their flagship state schools, it is worthwhile to compare the indebtedness that their students would incur at the private school versus the leading public school in their home state. To make these comparisons, we will use the debt-to-credentials ratio, also known as the debt to degree ratio. Developed by Education Sector, a non-partisan, non-profit public policy organization based in Washington D.C., this ratio measures the average amount that a student must borrow in order to complete

5 their degree, instead of the average indebtedness incurred by each student whether they graduated or not. The following contribute to a lower debt-to-degree ratio: Low base tuition and fee charges for all students Generous merit-based and/or need-based scholarship programs A high four-year graduation rate School Debt-To- Degree Ratio Debt- To-Degree Ratio for Flagship State University in Same State Difference Agnes Scott $25,798 $8,350 $17,448 Birmingham- Southern Georgia $16,130 $18,817 Alabama- Tuscaloosa ($2,687) Centre $17,539 $14,176 $3,363 Kentucky Eckerd $21,411 $6.087 $15,324 Emory and Henry Florida $31,496 $7,082 $24,414

6 Virginia $10,555 Guilford $23,713 $7,644 $16,069 North Carolina- Chapel Hill Hendrix $38,029 $16,903 $21,126 Arkansas- Fayetteville Millsaps $19,237 $16,629 $2,608 Mississippi Lynchburg $7,082 $29,467 Virginia $10,555 New College $8,872 $6.087 $27.85

7 Florida Rhodes $14,051 $14,404 ($353) Tennessee Rhodes College, in addition to being a top-performing school it s retention and graduation rates are quite comparable to schools with stronger brand recognition outside of the South is the best value among Pope s Southern schools. It is not only a better value, in terms of assistance and leaving students with minimal indebtedness, then the Tennessee, but also the Alabama, the Arkansas, the Mississippi and the Kentucky. Students who live in those states and would prefer a quality liberal arts education over attending their home state university might want to take a look at Rhodes, if they also want to stay in the South. Those who live in Alabama, Kentucky or Mississippi might also find that their top liberal arts school is a good value compared to their home state university, as long as it is the right fit with their academic interests and learning style. A school s unique approach to a liberal arts education might not always transfer over to the next school.