LAC for Chemistry that offers generous merit aid

College Search & Selection
41

Admission-wise, Earlham has marginally higher test score ranges, but Kalamazoo has slightly higher HS GPA and class rank profiles. That should suggest a slightly higher success rate at Kalamazoo (HS record tends to be more predictive than test scores of college academic success), but not as large as mentioned above. Both claim to meet 94-95% of need, but NPC runs suggest that both will be unaffordable for students from low income (full Pell) families (though Kalamazoo looks worse). However, both appear to have a significant merit component in their financial aid (nearly all students at both get some grants or scholarships), so they could be more affordable for students from low income families who earn whatever merit or semi-merit based aid they give.

It looks like Earlham enrolls a significantly higher percentage of Pell grant frosh than Kalamazoo (36% versus 27%). But both have similar percentage of Pell grant overall undergraduates (27% versus 24%), suggesting that Earlham has difficulty retaining Pell grant students in particular.

Unlike many other cases, the difference in graduation rates between Earlham and Kalamazoo is not significantly explained by the usual factors (incoming student academic profile, financial aid, incoming student financial profile) that explain much of the difference in graduation rates generally.

42

Reed College also hits most of your marks. Excellent chem department, very intellectually curious student body, plenty of rain (we are talking Oregon here) and top flight academics/faculty all around. While the school does not offer merit aid, it does offer generous need-based financial aid

43

@ucbalumnus

Kalamazoo’s median parent income is 137k, much higher than Earlham’s 85k. That will account for some of the difference in graduation rates.

Looking at income and four year graduation rates at schools (smaller schools, mostly LACs that are not very selective) that are on our radar that have similar median parent incomes as Earlham:

College of Idaho 82k/55%, Wartburg 83k/65%, Earlham 85k/60%, Guilford 86k/43%, Cornell College 91k/65%, Florida Southern 93k/46%, Canisius 97k/63%, Whittier College 97k/60%, Hollins University 98k/55%, Lake Forest 98k/66%, Coe College 98k/60%, Westminster (UT) 104k/45%, Juniata 108k/67%, Whitworth 109k/64%, McDaniels 110k/63%.

Looking at LACs closer to the median income of Kalamazoo:
Dennision 160k/77%, St. Olaf 140k/84%, Kalamzoo 137k/77%, Bard 134k/69%, St, Lawrence 134k/82%, Wheaton (IL) 144k/81%, Centre College 131k/83%, Southwestern University 125k/69%, Augustana College 123k/70%.

Again, the median family income correlates with the graduation rate and needs to be taken into consideration when comparing graduation rates.

Also, using test scores for comparisons is problematic with test optional colleges. Both Kalamazoo and Earlham are test optional. I believe it is safe to assume that those that do not submit scores are below the median and probably below the 25% range. The CDS does not contain the data to determine what percentage of students are not submitting scores.

44

One difference may be the better financial aid provided by Bates. Bates has fewer students with Pell grants, but those students have a graduation rate far higher than Earlham’s. 92% of Bates students with Pell grants graduate within 6 years as opposed to 55% of Earlham students with Pells. Earlham covers 94% of need on average; Bates covers 100%. That doesn’t seem like a big difference but it may be enough to have an impact for some students. According to the Project on Student Debt Earlham students on FA graduate with more debt on average than Bates students.

I find it interesting that Bates student with Pell grants and/or Staffords graduate at a marginally higher rate than students without them (93% vs. 88% in 6 years). I’m not sure what that’s about, but it does put the lie to the idea that graduation rate (at least at this one college) is correlated with income.

45

Of course, Earlham and Bates could be defining need differently. NPC results for a student with low income ($29k) parents shows a substantially lower net price at Bates (~$6k) than at Earlham (~$13-15k, semi-merit-based).
https://npc.collegeboard.org/app/bates?sessionId=HeEFZ9Jmc1Qpl4ZYgKec
https://npc.collegeboard.org/app/earlham?sessionId=U2VsMggRPmw1VytJcPZu
https://npc.collegeboard.org/app/earlham?sessionId=vUL3R8SETaU9LggIr1x1

So perhaps Bates’ much better financial aid for its small number of Pell grant students (11%) removes the problem of dropping out for money reasons that is a common reason for dropping out, while Earlham’s worse financial aid results in more of its Pell grant students (36% of frosh but only 27% of all undergraduates) dropping out.

46

The amount of financial aid certainly does impact the graduation rates of students.

Also, looking at the percentage of pell students is very different than looking at the median family income. There is a huge bump of students that are admitted just below the pell cutoff so colleges can count them in their pell statistics. Google this for an interesting bar chart that illustrates this. It seems just about everything is subject to being gamed.

47

I think you’ve made progress by arriving at the schools in #22, @GrizzlyBearMom. With respect to potential additions, I suggest your daughter consider Denison, St. Lawrence, Mt. Holyoke, Smith and Wheaton (MA). If she were to like two or three of these colleges, then her core group will have expanded to near a sufficient number of schools.

48

Thank you for the many ideas as well the posts that have illustrated ways of evaluating colleges.

@merc81 , my daughter has recently told me “no woman’s colleges”, which is a little disapointing. After looking over the list I showed her she would be interested in pacific northwest as well as midwestern locations.

It is challenging to sort all the options out and I really appreciate all your help.

I have a question – on a family vacation to DC last Thanksgiving week, we spent a couple hours taking a tour of Gettysburg college. She liked it a lot but mentioned that it seemed “too rich”. That is the only LAC we have toured. How does that college compare to Wooster, Earlham, Kalamazoo, Beloit, and others mentioned in the thread above?

49

You’ve gotten great advice. Most of the “Colleges that Change Lives” schools will have solid chemistry departments and solid merit. I would think Knox, Allegheny and Juniata would be good choices.

Also with high stats, look at St. Lawrence, Hobart and William Smith, and Dickinson. Also look at Muhlenberg. (These are outside that consortium).

50

Addressing the numbers of @Nocreativity1 and @ucbalumnus

You can’t just look at Pell grants, but at first-generation, international, and linguistic/ethnic diversity factors.
For example, poor kids from Tibet, and kids from undocumented families in the USA don’t qualify for Pell Grants, but Earlham consistently ranks in the top 10 nationwide for including those students, and providing them with the aid they need, despite their exclusion from federal and state aid processes.

So… Earlham College may have a lower 4year graduation rate, but it is a small school and because they put their money-where their mouths are when it comes to diversity, and accept non-traditional and international students who may need longer to graduate.

In my experience, I have seen that Earlham does not compromise on the standards, but offers extra support for those students and -instead of cutting off their aid after four years, extends it so they can complete their course of study and graduate.

And, according to my son, their recent retention numbers were impacted by the canceling of the football team, which resulted in the many members of the team transfering to schools where they could play. And also reflect some recruiting issues with the coaches not communicating clearly that the school is not a “sports culture” school, and the athletes not being happy when they learned that. My son is an athlete (not football) and… Out of 8 students who enrolled with my son and played on his team, six of them had never visited and just enrolled based on experience with the coach. All six of them transferred to more sports-focused and more conservative schools. My son and one other student who had visited and wanted Earlham College, rather than just a place to play their sport… remained. I find that very poor recruiting policy on the part of the coaches. Unacceptable, really.
However- that issue has been addressed with a new AD, a new assistant AD, and several new coaches.

All of my students (including my son) who have attended Earlham College have graduated in 4 years and most were admitted into their first choice gradschools. All were either in grad school or employed the year after graduating.

I know the stats for other schools mentioned less well than I know Earlham, since I am an Indiana educator and work with elite low-income students, many of whom choose Earlham. But, I am sure they need to be contextualized in much the same way.

The problem with numbers that some people like to use is that, if you take them out of context, they are very misleading.

51

@GrizzlyBearMom I have a D17 who applied to a number of LACs and we were also seeking merit. My info is now slightly dated but here goes: she applied to a total of 9 schools, 6 of which were LACs. She found the supplemental essays manageable. Of those, Wooster and St Olaf were the most generous for merit (up to 50% of total cost of attendance). Macalester and Dickinson then offered max merit of 20K, which these days, would leave close to $50K to cover if they haven’t increased that amount. Last year, I heard of merit awards at Oberlin at around 30-32K (potential STEM majors seem to get a bit more, but that is an anecdotal impression based only on a few examples). Grinnell’s maximum merit these days is about 1/2 tuition or a bit higher. You could do very well for merit at Lawrence and Beloit, both in Wisconsin.

Many of these midwestern LACs have a lot of students from CA.

You might also look at public universities that have honors programs like UT-Dallas, ASU, U of Arizona, etc. that offer merit for OOS students with strong stats.

Good luck!

52

@BB “The problem with numbers that some people like to use is that, if you take them out of context, they are very misleading.”

I tried the keep the numbers in context by making a direct comparison versus a standardized criteria among several peer schools. @BB is wrong in suggesting these stats are related to the football team. The football announcement took place at the completion of this year’s season and are not reflected in the common data set I referenced.

Context can also be implied by the narrator. I am reasonably confident that @Ucbalumnus has no ties or connections to Earlham. I have absolutely no ties to Earlham with a child at an Ivy and one at a mid 50ish Northeast school not even remotely connected to Earlham or any of the schools mentioned. I am however troubled by Earlham’s finances being described by the schools board of directors President as “unsustainable”, persistent deficit spending and lack of a clear path forward.

I respect @BB and her emotional attachment to Earlham given her son’s attendance. I do think however that published numbers and words should be given greater consideration in spite of protestations to the contrary.

Reasons or excuses be they what they are Earlham’s self published numbers indicate 1 of 3 students who matriculate fail to graduate after 6 years (as BB points out some kids at Earlham may need longer given the school’s admissions policies).

Here are the numbers as reported by Earlham (the trend can be found on Earlhams home site where the provide access to historic common data sets). I will not offer “context” the numbers speak for themeselves.

https://earlham.edu/media/3963756/2018-19%20Common%20Data%20Set%20Final%20-%20No%20Cover%20Page.pdf

And the Earlham Football announcement which was in November of this year:

https://www.southbendtribune.com/sports/college/earlham-college-suspends-football-program-after-straight-losses/article_a0180472-5b89-599e-b518-678bd26bc94b.html

Common data set suggests a trend of fewer graduates annually but this post ran through 2012 matriculation class (6 year graduation May 2018) so not reflective of football news. I defer to BBs first hand knowledge perhaps it will further negatively impact graduation rates but that would be speculative.

53

Stonehill? It’s Catholic, but that seems like it’s okay for your d.

54

@GrizzlyBearMom , re: Gettysburg… It is a bit more homogeneous than some (but not all) LACs. Pretty white, middle to upper middle class, more kids from the states near it. So your D’s read was probably accurate. Earlham, for example, is quite different from it. Denison has the same vibe for the “dominant culture” but has been much more successful in attracting students who are outside that so has more variety on campus.

I think it’s important at LACs to understand the vibe because while they all have students who are not part of the dominant culture, it is ultimately going to be something you have to live with every day. You don’t have to fit in, but you can’t be chafing at it.

55

I think a problem with LACs, especially those in small towns, is that the offerings may be limited. If a school of 1500 offers chemistry and math and history and English and music and art, they are all going to be smaller departments. I graduated from a high school with 4000 students, so had a choice of 5+ languages, several different band, orchestra, choirs and musical groups, any sport you could think of, business classes, etc. A college with 1500 or 2000 students just can’t be everything to everyone.

I think the consortiums solve this problem a little, especially if one of the schools is big (like UMass). When checking out the LACs, just make sure the departments you are interested in are big enough.

I’m not surprised a large number of students (especially athletes) who never saw the school transfer after arriving at a small school, especially a rural one. The reality is a lot different that the impression forms from the internet or brochures. Athletes transfer all the time because of playing time, issues with coaches, not being what they expected, or just getting a better offer.

56

Many private LACs could be characterized as “rich kids’ schools”.
Their sticker prices are very high; they generally offer no (or few) pre-professional programs (e.g. for ag, business, or nursing).

One metric that might be helpful is the percentage of students receiving need-based aid, along with the average amount. Also, the NYT has analyzed family income characteristics of many colleges.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/college-mobility/gettysburg-college

However, two colleges with similar student demographic profiles can be quite different in academic/social/political atmosphere.

57

@Nocreativity1 - The Earlham football team had no season this year.
Readers just should be aware that you don’t like Earlham and that, although you repeatedly have claimed you don’t know anything about the school personally, you have posted negative things on every post that I have ever seen Earlham mentioned. So – there is no point in us debating the issue, any further
The OP can pursue the schools that seem interesting to her daughter and consider their merits independently…
But it seems fair to make her aware that you have stated that you don’t know anything about the school at all AND that you jump on every thread where the name comes up to say questionable things.

58

On another note @ucbalumnus makes a good point:
While none of the east coast schools I listed in my original response offer merit money, they actually do have extremely(!) generous financial aid policies for low-income students.

I saw the OPs aspirational budget and thought perhaps merit-money would be an interest, but… if you believe that you will qualify for aid, those schools may be a good option to look into!

If your financial situation is such that you aren’t counting on financial aid, but hope for Merit-money, then it is the midwestern schools that you may want too look at. They have lower price-tags (simply due to location, because the educational quality is superb) and offer merit money. Wooster and Earlham both “stack” aid and merit, if that matters to you.

Also, the midwestern schools I named are in the top percentiles (nationwide) for their achievement in the Sciences, and Earlham and Beloit are in the top 1% for grad school admission and completion rates!

59

@GrizzlyBearMom
I wonder if this will be helpful to you? It is a few years old, but these lists actually change very little from year-to-year; when you are talking about the top schools, the traditions are pretty consistent. And… anywhere in the top 50 is in the top 1-2% nationwide.

This list is specifically a list made from the CDS of the undergraduate records of students who went on to complete PhDs in the Sciences. Your student may not want to pursue a PhD, but, generally speaking, a list like this is a really good indication of the most successful science programs in general.

So… in the event that you might be interested in taking a look, I thought I would link it for you:
http://www.thecollegesolution.com/50-schools-that-produce-the-most-science-and-engineering-phds-2/

On another note, I usually suggest my students look at 5-8 schools that they might really like to go to. (Although there are sometimes reasons to consider more, and sometimes reasons to not need to apply to that many. It depends on the students’ situations and the schools on their lists… In recent years, we have started to understand that there can be potentially be negative effects from applying to an excessive number of schools – especially for those who are planning to file the FAFSA. )

60

@BB "according to my son, their recent retention numbers were impacted by the canceling of the football team, which resulted in the many members of the team transfering to schools where they could play. "

You were refuting my citation of Earlhams published common data set “6 year graduation rate at of 67%”, by suggesting it was a result of the football team suspending its season. I am not debating you, just highlighting that the 1/3 not graduating stat I quoted was from last years CDS and would not have incorporated the football effect you reference. I know they didn’t have a season, I also know it didn’t impact the CDS numbers linked to (as should you if you would look at them).

In fact the 6 year graduation rate from Earlhams own website indicates a similar 1/3 failing to graduate per the common data set 4 years ago and throughout the last 4 years. Here are samples…

https://earlham.edu/media/2591498/CDS_2015-2016%20-%20Final.pdf

https://earlham.edu/media/3518489/CDS_2017-2018_FINAL_withoutcover.pdf

You then attempted to besmirch my character by saying the numbers I provided were out of context. I am presenting raw data fromEarlhams own website. You are creating the inaccurate context!!

Please acknowledge that Earlhams recently posted CDS states that their 6 year retention rate is 67% and that it had nothing to do with your son’s observation about the football team (and that this has been the approximate grad rate for the last 5 years per Earlhams own site).

I agree I have never set foot on the campus but the numbers are the numbers and you are distorting the “context” by creating a false football narrative to excuse Earlham grad rates. How do you “contextualize” the CDS grad rate from the last 4 years (all in that 2/3 range… certainly not football related?

Let’s not call each other names but allow a student to consider the CDS stats for what they are…facts. The factual and documented reality per CDS is that over the last 5 years 1 in 3 matriculated Earlham students fails to graduate in 6 years.

Lastly, Per @BB comments even more students may leave the school and fail to graduate based on the football season being suspended. Her words not mine.