“This season [in his Revisionist History podcast], Malcolm’s covered a lot of the problems in higher education. Today on the show: A solution. A big idea being tested at a little school on the shores of Lake Michigan. A school called Hope College, believe it or not, with an idea so crazy it just might work.” A Good Circle - Revisionist History - Omny.fm
I know people have strong feelings about Malcolm Gladwell, so I hope this thread focuses not on him, but on what Hope College is experimenting with: a generosity based, “pay it forward” tuition-free funding model they call “Hope Forward.” Once fully implemented, it will ask Hope’s students to give to the college upon graduation rather than requiring them to pay for their education in advance. Initiated by Hope College President Matt Scogin and launched in the summer of 2021, it has been piloted across the past two years by 58 students in two cohorts. Fundraising is ongoing to extend “Hope Forward” to the entire student body, estimated to take 10-15 years and require about $1 billion. Malcolm Gladwell’s “Revisionist History” Podcast Features “Hope Forward”
A couple background notes: Gladwell was invited after he was contacted by Mitch Albom. Albom is best known for his book “Tuesdays with Morrie.” Albom lives in Detroit and is also very involved with an orphanage in Haiti called Have Faith Haiti. They learned about Hope Forward and 4 of their Haitian high school grads applied and started last Fall. So Albom says he feels like a Hope College parent. Albom reached out to Gladwell, knowing of Gladwell’s interest in and critiques of present day college funding models.
Back in January 2019 while my youngest was deciding on colleges, I learned that Hope College was hiring a new president who was not an academic. That sounded strange and potentially worrisome to me, so I posted a thread about it. Looking back, it’s clear that the trustees picked Scogin specifically to shake things up and not continue the status quo. College Presidents who are not academics?
Also, just in case it’s not clear, my Hope grad '23 was NOT participating in Hope Forward. He got a great merit scholarship though.
It’s a great idea. Whether or not it is financially sustainable remains to be seen. I also wonder a bit about how the recipients will be chosen … will the focus be on those from backgrounds that will allow them (and their families) the flexibility to afford to give back more than a pittance? The Haitian orphans are a nice story to focus on, but Mitch Albom is both well off and well connected. Again, I think it’s an interesting idea, I hope it works - but I also hope it benefits students who would not otherwise be able to attend the college. If it doesn’t, that’s fine - but I would not want it held up as a model program if it doesn’t.
Hope Forward is certainly an interesting experiment. It will be interesting to see what if any effect the program has on increasing the visibility of the school nationally. The school’s strengths in undergraduate research is quite impressive since they are an undergraduate liberal arts college. It does seem like President Scogin is the kind of innovative leader that higher ed institutions need.
I’m not sure about the criteria for selection. @MACmiracle did your daughter go through the application process for Hope Forward? Looking at the website, I can just see that they say they have students from 13 countries and 24 states. Hope draws heavily from MI, IL, IN, OH, so they usually don’t have much geographic diversity and this may help with that. I expect that they are looking for the type of student who shows a desire to “give back” to their communities. Mitch Albom talks about how the kids at the Haitian orphanage very much take care of each other, and they described that in their applications.
My D applied for Hope Forward and was a finalist. There were a lot of finalists for maybe 20 spots, but it was still better odds than a lot of scholarship competitions.
I think the fact that she was not from a surrounding state triggered something on the app that then brought up the alert that she could pursue the Hope Forward application. I could be wrong but I got the feeling Hope Forward is being used to attract students for outside the region.
I don’t know if Hope Forward would enable kids who couldn’t otherwise go to college, get there, but it would certainly minimize debt.
If my D decided to attend Hope, I would have been very happy. They offered her scholarships and a financial aid award that was more generous than anticipated. My impression through the application process and our visit was that they really take care of their students. Holland’s cute downtown is adjacent to the campus and the beaches of Lake Michigan are a short drive away. Everyone we met on campus and in the community was friendly and helpful. D20 is my last of four kids and of all our college visits over the years, the students at Hope seemed the happiest.
My daughter was also a finalist for Hope Forward but wasn’t chosen. The parameters this past year were that applicants had to be out of the region.
MACmiracle and I have similar feelings about Hope, I would have been thrilled had D23 chosen to attend and I think anyone who is looking for a great liberal arts school and doesn’t mind or enjoys a Christian atmosphere, should look at Hope. Our cost was around 25K a year without any financial aid, just merit. It’s a beautiful campus, happy students, outstanding President, and Holland is adorable. My stinky kid just fell in love with Texas (?) and decided to attend Trinity instead.
I think that Hope Forward is not intended to be simply a replacement for need based aid or merit aid. Rather, the goal is to free students from the burden of debt so that they can pursue their liberal arts education and “find their purpose.” They give the example of someone who really wants to study philosophy but feels like they have to major in accounting or some other field to pay off their student loans. They want to remove that obstacle. A big theme at Hope is the idea of finding your purpose or calling in life and finding ways to give back or pay it forward.
I also agree with the observation that Hope College students seem extra happy. But they’re not ignorant or naive about all the problems in the world. President Scogin really believes in the name, Hope, as being the school’s watchword.
I listened to Gladwell’s podcast and Hope is apparently planning to have about 100 students or so in their “Hope Forward” cohorts when the program is up to full size. Sounds like it may take awhile to get the funding up to that level but they currently placing about 25 or so in each year’s cohort which seems like a good start.