I looked at my Kindle copy. OK, I found the section. First, it talks about how Bates increased the “philanthropic culture” at the college, starting in the late 70s. Golden writes:
And,
The book was first published in 2006. No idea what the 2016 figures might be.
Bates is really hot right now. It didn’t catch my attention, because back in the day, when I was in high school, it was a fine, small liberal arts college–but not really “hot.” If the college followed this tactic, it worked for them. It also worked for Brown and Duke (which I did remember from reading the book.)
@periwinkle. Thanks for looking this up! I was surprised to hear about Jared Kushner.
Despite having the biggest endowment, Harvard seems to have a very active fundraising effort. This is clearly linked to admissions, especially those on the special list.
Indeed. There are over 500 people employed by Harvard doing development work between the different schools and various campaigns. The “Harvard Campaign” has a goal of raising $6.5 billion.
@Periwinkle , While it’s a little off the point, you’re so right about Bates’ meteoric rise. I suspect that while resources were critical, it was the vision (and ability to execute) that Elaine Hansen brought to her tenure as president that was most responsible for that change. If you visit that campus (and haven’t been there for some time), you’ll be overwhelmed by not just the changes in the physical plant, but the change in the energy as well.
I can think of other colleges which are much hotter than they were in the 80s. Colby, for example, is very hot right now in our area. Bowdoin, too. I can think of quite a few families in my circle of friends whose children are focusing on small liberal arts colleges than on large universities.
I don’t know if they did any tactical outreach to philanthropic families. It may have just been better marketing of these fine colleges.
Well, actually… Bowdoin was the hardest school in the country to get into in 1980 (as measured by % accepted, I believe.). But you’re right, known mostly in the northeast (and most of the students from New England.) Since it’s pretty consistently been in the top 5 LACs (in the ratings), it’s remained really selective and has attracted students looking for “prestige.” Colby and Bates have also benefited from their high ratings, I suspect. But then again, they’ve all worked at getting and maintainting them.
But to your point, there’s been a huge move by a lot of schools that used to be largely regional to develop"national". profiles. Most of them have always been excellent schools, but have primarily served their own regions. Stanford, WUSTL, Tufts are just a few that come to mind.
But changing who you are is hard without a good development program. The arms race for facilities has been unbelievable!. (I don’t recall if you’ve done the college tour thing yet, but WOW, not the facilities we had back in the day – sushi bars, beautiful spa-like gym facilities for the whole student body – not just the athletes, unlimited swipe dining halls, etc. And that’s before you get to labs, performance spaces, and libraries!) But the other thing that we learned is that up and coming schools are happy to buy their talent with merit aid, and I can’t think of a more expedient way to change a school (and its reputation.) Having a war-chest certainly helps with that.
One of the interesting things too is how as the Maine schools have gotten so popular in the Northeast, northeasterners have “discovered” their counterparts in Ohio, Minnesota, Iowa – to name a few. And vice versa. All rather fascinating. Personally, I’m curious to see what happens as the current boom of young people wanes. I suspect that international students will be happy to step in. But I fear I’m rambling and taking this thread in a different direction…
With high school graduates not looking to bounce back in numbers until at least 2020, every institution will need to step up their game to compete. UMaine announced a program where students will pay in state tuition from New Hampshire all the way down to New Jersey and Pennsylvania. All in attempt to pull students away from their state’s flagship university. This news release says they want diversity but I read the tea leaves as they want to ensure their beds are filled. https://umaine.edu/news/blog/2015/11/30/flagship-match-program-allows-out-of-state-students-to-pay-their-equivalent-in-state-tuition-and-fees/
@MAandMEmom , So glad you mentioned that thing with UMO! I heard on NPR that German universities let foreign students who are qualified attend for free because they’ve found that roughly 25% of them settle in Germany, and they need more young workers. What better way to find productive contributors? I was wondering if the state of Maine had similar objectives? I didn’t realize how extensive the program was, but know kids from my zip code who have found it very appealing. NJ has (generally) good public education (so can supply able candidates) and public universities that have too few places (if you listen to students). Interesting way of trying to breathe some life into your economy.
So when you wonder why everyone in Maine seems suddenly to be driving badly…
Well they don’t call us massholes for nothing:). I spend time in very southern Maine and we call it northern MA. I think Mainers cringe as they see the long line of cars making their way north every Friday night. All.Summer.Long. And the winter too for those of us that ski!