Texas Ed Spectator

From my basic list of colleges.

Gustavus Adolphus College is a liberal arts college in Minnesota with a relatively high graduation rate, high admittance rate, and a large endowment. I didn’t see anything especially compelling about the school from available public information. My overall impression, which could be totally wrong, is a school that provides lots of individual attention to students but that the students aren’t necessarily challenged and haven’t really come together as a community.

• 72% graduation rate
• Median SAT 1165
• $16,250 Student Related Expenditures per FTE
• 60.5% degrees awarded in Arts and Sciences
• 79.7% Admitted
• Princeton Review reports 35% attending graduate school
• US News College Rankings report an endowment of over 96 million dollars and an alumni giving rate of 31%

Gustavus Adolphus – Why Choose Gustavus?

Gustavus is known for its academic quality. It’s the most important feature of a college—you are, after all, going to college for your education. You can measure Gustavus’ academic quality many ways: faculty credentials, curriculum options, average class size, graduation outcomes, hosting a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, and more.

Notable Programs

Curriculum II – Academics – Gustavus Adolphus College

Curriculum II, which is limited to sixty students, is an integrated sequence of courses focused on the development of the Western tradition with comparisons to non-Western cultures, the examination of values, and the theme of the individual and community. Retreats and trips to the Twin Cities for cultural events also foster a sense of community within the group.

Flags

• Only 3.1 % under-represented minorities (what do you expect, it’s Minnesota)
• The Princeton Reviews’ Student Says section states that apparently the school has a reputation for drinking and the administration is cracking down on it. This could explain the relatively high number of liquor law violations reported on campus in the College Navigator. This doesn’t necessarily mean that students drink more on the Gustavus Adolphus campus than others; it could mean that the administration is trying to do something about it as oppose to others.
• Comments at Student Reviews suggest some serious problems with it’s residential department.

Selections from the campus newspaper, The Gustavian Weekly

On diversity:

Is Gustavus a college for Lutherans or a college for all | Gustavian Weekly

Though the religious make-up of the college remains primarily Lutheran, the Gustavus community is experiencing a great deal of change, facilitated by its Lutheran background.

“The college’s attitude— which is long standing— is an openness to religious diversity. While we will be, for the foreseeable future, focused on our Lutheran traditions, the Lutheran tradition of higher education is inclusive of other religions,” said President Peterson.

Even though the college officially welcomes all, there is still work to be done.

Diversity appears to be on the campus radar.

Study abroad:

Study abroad program put to the test | Gustavian Weekly

This year, the way students pay for study abroad programs has changed. Students are now paying more to study abroad, which has lead to some criticism. Previously, students studying abroad simply paid Gustavus tuition. This year, however, students must pay Gustavus tuition and a program fee that varies with each program.

The previous system had inherent problems, said Pat Quade, Interim Director of International Education at Gustavus.

“Students were paying Gustavus tuition, and most of that went with them to the program. The fallacy with that is that the college doesn’t close when a student goes off campus. The budget is predicated on [a set] number of students paying tuition and the college was sending all of that tuition away for a number of students, which meant that there was not enough money left to cover the maintenance of the college, to pay staff and faculty,” said Quade. “We had to change. The other options weren’t very good: close the college or limit the number of students.”

Given the rate of alumni giving, decent but not great endowment, and above average student expentitures, you have to wonder about priorities and financial management.

On college rankings

Gustavus left unranked | Gustavian Weekly

For many prospective students, this can lead to some confusion on how to decide which school to attend. In order to help prospective students make this difficult decision, various organizations release college rankings every year. Gustavus usually places very well in these rankings. However, one of the largest of these, U.S. News and World Report’s annual ranking, left Gustavus unranked due to an error by the college.

Given that a growing number of liberal arts colleges are refusing to participate in the U.S. News and World Report’s rankings, I wonder about the student’s commitment to the liberal arts ideal over it’s reputation.

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