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one of the College’s Palamountain Scholarships. Mopsik’s father, Eugene, a Penn grad and executive director of a pho - to graphers’ trade association, was unswayed by money mat- ters. He avows “a deep personal commitment to higher edu- cation. It’s the best investment parents can make to allow their children to take maximum advantage of what life has to offer.” He says, “Skidmore’s value proposition was extra - ordinary: the resources per student were very inviting, the facilities were overwhelmingly good, the town had a lot to offer. Our family made a decision that we were going to do whatever we needed to.” Not everyone is as bullish as the Mop- siks about the value of a four-year degree. A recent New York Times article, “The Old College Try? No Way,” asks pointed questions: Why go into debt with no guarantee of a job? Why not undertake your own self-directed learning, as UnCollege.org recommends? Why not just drop out like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg, who made millions? The answer, it turns out, is clear and compelling. Apart from very rare exceptions, it pays to go to college. A 2010 College Board analysis calcu- lates that the median earnings of bachelor’s degree recipients working full-time in 2008 were more than twice those of high school graduates. By age 33, these higher earnings off- set not only the four college years spent outside the labor force but also the average tuition and fee payments at a pub- lic four-year university funded fully by student loans. Moreover, grads from liberal arts colleges say they feel bet- ter prepared for life’s challenges, including careers, than do those from private or public universities, according to a 2011


“I CAME TO SKIDMORE ON FINANCIAL AID AND HAVE BEEN FOREVER GRATEFUL TO THOSE WHO MADE THAT POSSIBLE.”


national study commissioned by the Annapolis Group, a con- sortium of leading liberal arts colleges. In the survey, 79% of liberal arts grads rated their college experience as highly ef- fective in pre paring them for a first job or admission to grad school, compared to 73% from private universities and 64% from national flagship universities. More striking was that 77% rated their undergraduate experience as “excellent,” as against 59% from privates and 53% from flagships. On vir - tually every measure known to contribute to positive out- comes—challenging professors, small classes, mentoring—the liberal arts grad - uates rated their experiences more highly than did university graduates. Additionally, liberal arts schools, while


representing just 3% of American higher education, produce a disproportionate number of successful graduates and lead- ers. A 2012 count showed that, per capita, liberal arts colleges turned out twice as many students who earned PhDs in sci- ence as did other institutions. A 1998 study found that liber- al arts schools turned out 19% of US presidents; 8% of the wealthiest CEOs and 8% of Peace Corps volunteers; 23%, 19%, and 18% of Pulitzer Prize winners in drama, history, and poetry; and many more.


The way forward At the end of the day, financial aid isn’t about numbers. It’s about the students who are transformed by a Skidmore edu - cation because of that aid. And therefore it’s also about the alumni, parents, and others who understand the value, not just to the student recipients but to the campus community as


STUDENT DEBT COMPARISON Average debt burden of borrowers, upon graduation in the class of 2011


Franklin & Marshall College Gettysburg College Dickinson College Bard College


Connecticut College


St. Lawrence University Union College Wheaton College SKIDMORE COLLEGE Bates College


Trinity College Hamilton College Colgate University Kenyon College


Sarah Lawrence College Vassar College Oberlin College


$31,617 $29,067


$26,928 $26,897 $26,545 $26,270 $26,252 $25,778


$21,000 $20,706 $20,367 $20,262 $19,721 $19,480


$18,360 $18,150


$16,813


16 SCOPE SPRING 2013


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