<p>My son is a Pell recipient at Amherst College. He has mentioned there are students there whose families have tons of money, but it’s been just kind of an aside. There are also students there with far less than he has. His only spending money is from his work-study job, and he isn’t inclined to work many hours so he gets by on next-to-nothing. (His choice to just be working 4 hrs a week at this point. He could work more and be able to have more walking-around money, but I guess he prefers actually walking around to earning walking-around money.;))</p>
<p>Amherst is a small town and what there is to do there (go out for pizza, maybe catch a movie in town every now and then) is all inexpensive enough that students aren’t shut out from doing that… some, no doubt --including my son-- can’t do it as often as others. I’ve never heard him express even the slightest concern over who has what, who wears what… but he’s a guy and it’s all jeans and t-shirts and sneakers for him and all his friends.</p>
<p>As to kids going away on skiing vacations over break, it doesn’t seem the kids he knows well do anything like that. Mostly they go home and hang out at mom and dad’s house – since we live so far away they have sometimes taken him along to go hang out at their mom and dad’s house.</p>
<p>But Amherst has made a special effort to find kids from lower and middle-income families (real middle income, not CC middle-income), so my son certainly isn’t alone in having limited resources. Virtually all students live on campus and room & board rates are the same for everyone. Who gets the better dorm rooms is a matter of class rank and lottery.</p>
<p>The college has provided him with substantial grant support, no loans, an additional grant to pay his health insurance, and along with all that material support is just an open expression of welcome to students from all backgrounds. It feels like they really walk the talk.</p>
<p>^^ Though there’s not much in Amherst-proper, could it be that Amherst, UMass and Hampshire students w/ a few more $$ go to Northampton to socialize? (Sushi at Zen in Noho is almost as expensive as in NYC.) Maybe that’s why the spending isn’t as visible on and near campus?</p>
<p>Also, I wonder whether the emphasis on internships means than more students are engaged in some productive endeavor during winter break, instead of extended expensive vacations? </p>
<p>But the eating out and the vacation trips are less an influence on the campus “feel” than what happens on the campus itself (hence my refernce to housing and meal plans) - - and some campuses are know for not having/wanting ostentatious displays of wealth. I know that many of D’s friends could afford expensive designer sunglasses and handbangs, but that’s neither their individual style nor the campus style.</p>
<p>I’m sure kids with more money can do lots of things if they want to… like going to expensive restaurants in Northampton… but I guess my point is that that kind of segregation of activities/social classes is not part of my son’s experience of the school. Maybe he just hangs out with the other working shlebs, but my sense is that it is not a meaningful part of a student’s daily experience there. It may be, like you say, a cultural thing at the college. But I think the college itself has done a lot to foster a more egalitarian culture on campus.</p>
<p>I would nominate Grinnell. Since college life revolves around the campus (not a lot of clubbing going on in small town Iowa) and this rather wealthy school sponsors tons of speakers, big-name artists in concert and many other events–all free–nobody has to spend much to fully participate in the college social life. </p>
<p>I think my son’s had a positive experience at Reed College in Portland, OR. Much of socializing and hanging out is done on campus or at nearby houses rented by students. The Reed “bubble” means that students don’t leave campus a lot. Even when they do, the cost of living in Portland is affordable enough that even nice restaurants are relatively affordable. The on-campus cafes will put purchases on the Student bookstore account, which allows students to pay them off when financial aid comes. </p>
<p>Additionally, there are fully paid trips and off-campus outings paid for by the Grey Fund. My son has gotten to go on overnight trips to the beach, theater outings, etc. Oh, and for fees that come up, the school has worked with my son to have him pay for them when he could; for example, they advanced him the money for the annual dorm registration fee when he couldn’t afford that.</p>
<p>I’m kinda surprised at the difference in noimagination’s list between Harvard/Yale/Princeton. I wonder if that’s random coincidence, or what would create such differences since they seem to have pretty similiar FA and attract similar students?</p>
<p>I think Grinnell is an example of how a location (remote/rural) and school size (small LAC) can aid in the development of be more egalitarian campus culture (sponsoring a lot of free activities doesn’t work so well if you have to compete w/ big city life). But many kids don’t want to go to Iowa. And it would be a shame if the only place to find a more egalitarian culture were in remote/rural areas that the 18-22 yr olds find unattractive.</p>
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<p>“I think the college itself has done a lot to foster a more egalitarian culture on campus.”</p>
<p>'rentof2, how has the Amherst admin done this?</p>
<p>It’s made clear in all their literature, it’s a frequent theme in public testimony given by the college president, they are maintaining their generous need-based aid and need-blind admissions policies (even in these days when others are tweaking their own, although I grant they are better able to afford to do so and don’t disparage those that can’t), there are freshmen orientation and other campus-wide events focused on themes of inclusion, they admit a comparatively high number of Questbridge students, they heavily encourage (and finacially support) community engagement programs, they have a more diverse student body ethnically and socioeconomically than their peer schools, and they’ve also recently adopted special programs to attract community college transfers and students completing their military service.</p>
<p>It’s just kind of woven into the fabric of the place. They probably have to work hard at it because they were historically such a bastion of education for the well-heeled. There is an intergrated institutional committment to changing that profile, and they have been surprisingly successful.</p>
<p>Berry College was founded to provide higher education for poor students from the mountain communities. Alumni and students contribute time and labor for campus projects and maintaining the tree shaded campus grounds.</p>
<p>I was going to suggest Berry College, but I haven’t had experience with it in so long, I was afraid things had changed. Historically Berry College was generous with aid, especially to students from the surrounding areas (where I went to high school) and very aware of the special issues of students who were coming from impoverished backgrounds. If it’s still that sort of space, then I would suggest it for your list.</p>
<p>While my son ultimately chose to go elsewhere, we were very impressed by Harvard’s sensitivity for the needs of low-income students. They had funds to pay for low-income students winter clothing as well as a system where low-income students could make online reservations for free tickets at campus events. We’ve noticed at Yale that the housing people appear to have put at least two low-income students together when making freshman suite assignments. It is nice not to be the only one in the suite who can’t afford to leave campus during the shorter term breaks.</p>
<p>'rentof2, hangin w/ the well-heeled can certainly have its advantages. Like Amherst, D’s tip-top tier day school put its considerable money where its mouth was offering generous finaid packages (no loan), paying for after -school and some summer programs popular among full-pay students, pro-rating on-site music lessons, etc. The girls were taught from day one to refer to the elevator operators as “Mrs. - - -.”</p>
<p>Granted a college/uni is different than a K-12 program, but in the college search I am careful to look for similar initiatives. Is there generous and non-competitive funding for internships? Does finaid follow if a student opts for a study abroad prgm operated by another US college/uni? Has the college/uni replaced traditional school year study abroad with extra-fee, short-term foreign study (for which there is no finaid)? Are the superior dorms or rooms available at an additional fee? </p>
<p>It is great to talk the talk, but at many colleges/unis, there’s a disconnect b/w the rhetoric and the programming (not suggesting this is the case w/ Amherst). As you said, it should be woven into the fabric.</p>
<p>(Interesting that Amherst is now working w/ community colleges - - I believe Smith and MHC have been doing this for some time.)</p>