What Does Affordable Mean?

I tell friends Snow College offers a nationally ranked education with exceptional graduation and transfer rates. And that it is very affordable! But what does affordable mean? Take a look at this chart. Snow College’s tuition and fees total $1,543 per semester. Add housing costs in Ephraim, which runs from $750 to $1,250 per semester. And keep in the back of your mind that most students at Snow College—do not have a car—they do not need a car to drive back and forth to school, part-time job and church because they can walk everywhere they need to go.

Ok, let’s put the savings aside that students bank for not having to pay for, maintain, insure and fill a car with gas and just look at tuition, fees and housing. The total cost for tuition, fees and housing at Snow College ranges from $2,293 to $2,793 per semester.

The bottom line: A student can attend nationally ranked Snow College—as a resident student—enjoying all the benefits of the full college experience, for less money than it will cost her to live in her parents’ basement and commute to any university in Utah.

In this economy we are all concerned about getting the best value for our dollar. Snow College offers the chance for students to enjoy the benefits of the full, residential college experience during the freshman and sophomore years and then transfer to a university for the last two years, all for less money.

Snow College has the Ideal Learning Environment

Let me begin with three facts.

1.  90% of the students attending Snow College in Ephraim live within close walking distance of campus.

2.  More than half of the faculty members live within walking distance of the campus.

3.  Snow College is set in a community with few distractions and where life for college students centers on the 50-acre college campus.

This combination of resident faculty and students in a community focused on the College leads to more student interactions with faculty members and an increase in co-curricular and extra-curricular activity. No other college or university in Utah has such an ideal learning environment.

Research supports the fact that residential students are more engaged in effective educational practices then commuter students. Kuth, Gonyea and Palmer, Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research and Planning, conducted one such survey of student engagement. They found, “residential students were more engaged in effective educational practices and—in all likelihood—were benefiting more from their college experience.” In particular, the study found that residential students have more interaction with faculty members and are more likely to take advantage of co-curricular activities, field trips and community service.

Jing Wang and Jonathan Shiveley from the Office of Institutional Research at California State University, Sacramento found that “students achieved much higher rates of retention and graduation, maintained better GPAs, and had higher good standing rates when they engaged in any [extra-curricular] activities.”

So there you have it. One of the reasons why Snow College students excel and have much higher graduation rates that its peers is because of the unique, residential learning environment.

New Student Living

Snow College is just now finishing its latest student housing complex. It will not be hard to pick it out as it is right at the College gateway on College Avenue--and besides, the next newest dorm building was completed way back in 1969. This is an extraordinary building and a great addition to our campus. It has 400 beds, game rooms, exercise room, two balconies, eight laundry rooms, public kitchens, sand volleyball, barbecue facilities and whatever else I am forgetting right now. 

Best College in the West!

Snow College Leads State in Scholarships for Utah Student Athletes

The Deseret News just reported that 597 high school students in the 2012 graduating class received a scholarship to play college athletics this fall. Most of the students are going to colleges outside of Utah. Of the students heading to in-state schools the largest number are going to be playing for Snow College. According to theDeseret News, “Snow signed in the most in-state kids with 21.” See Deseret News, June 29, 2012

After publishing this post we went back add added up the number of high school students in the 2012 graduating class who are coming to Snow College on athletic scholarship. The number is 38, which is higher than the Deseret News report. 

My American History Summer

I just returned from a wonderful two-week vacation. Instead of hiking 150 miles along the John Muir Trail—like I did last summer—I decided to do the intellectual equivalent. I enrolled in two intensive, weeklong, master degree level, American Government and History classes at a small liberal arts university in Ohio—Ashland University. My classes were taught by visiting professors. I came home with 13 books and about a thousand pages of other materials. I read much of it in preparation for the classes and during the weeks there, and I look forward to getting through the rest of it over the course of the next several months.

The faculty was outstanding: I took Civil War and Reconstruction from Mackubin T. Owens, U.S. Naval War College, and Lucas Morel, Washington and Lee University; and The American Revolution from Robert M.S. McDonald, U.S. Military Academy, and Scott Yenor, Boise State University.

I come home with a much greater appreciation and understanding of these two significant periods in our nation’s history, motivation to learn more, and a few ideas for the one class I teach at Snow College—American National Government.

CNNMoney Ranks Snow College 6th in Nation

Many organizations rank universities. Rankings of two-year colleges are rare. In a recent post I mentioned the Aspen Institute has twice ranked Snow College in the top 10% of all two-year colleges in America. Last week another ranking was just published. CNNMoney ranked Snow College 6^th in the nation. Not top 6%--number 6. (There are approximately 1,200 two-year colleges.)

According to CNNMoney “Not all community colleges are created equal. Figuring out which school will give you the best chance of transferring to a four-year college or university can be difficult . . . . But here’s a good way to start. College Measures, a join venture of the American Institutes of Research and Matrix Knowledge Group, has created a chart for CNNMoney to help students find the best options. Based on the percentage of students that graduated within three years or transferred to four-year colleges, they compiled a “success” rating for each community college in the U.S.” And then for 22 pages CNNMoney listed the ranking for various colleges. Snow College is on the top of the pile.

For a little comparison, U.S. News and World Report ranks universities. Five universities tied for the 6th place spot, including California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford, University of Chicago and University of Pennsylvania. Snow College is in the world of community colleges what CIT, MIT, Stanford, Chicago and Pennsylvania is in the world of universities.

Not bad!

This ranking is another great tribute to our faculty and staff who have created a very supportive, learning environment at Snow College. You can see the CNNMoney article at http://money.cnn.com/pf/college/community-colleges/?iid=EL 6/9/12