<p>lookingforward wrote ““Repressive liberalism? With all the crappy colleges out there, many that kids get sooo excited about on CC (don’t make me name my least favorites) despite high prices, subpar educations, you want to rag on Antioch?””</p>
<p>Well, I would be hard-pressed to find a school more deserving of being “ragged on”.</p>
<p>Antioch was one of the top schools to go to when I graduated high school in 1972. I can’t imagine anyone today, esp. somebody in his 20’s, having an informed reaction either way about Antioch. </p>
<h1>77, I’m glad you find THE MESSAGE so powerful! Good for you:).</h1>
<p>Any school that finds itself in the unfortunate position of having to shut its doors (and there have been MANY) sadly leaves its current students in a bit of a bind. I agree with parent1986.</p>
<p>At least Wisconsin delivers the funds on time. Also state funding is now only 15% of the UW Madison budget and with over $1 Billion in research and $4 Billion in endowments and plenty of room to increase tuition which is well below the Big 10 average they will get through the downturn OK as they have many times before.</p>
<p>[Delayed</a> state payments cause headaches for Illinois public universities | Inside Higher Ed](<a href=“http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/01/27/delayed-state-payments-cause-headaches-illinois-public-universities]Delayed”>Delayed state payments cause headaches for Illinois public universities)</p>
<p>I have no doubt that Antioch was a sought-after destination in 1972. On the heels of the 60s years when counter-culture was king. Sadly for that type of school, the beauty of flower shirts, colorful VW buses and social free-for-all went by as their audience grew a tad less romantic and wiser. In the end, Antioch could not avoid the fiscal bankruptcy that resulted from years of mismanagement combined with academic and moral bankruptcy. Even clueless hippies figured out that there were better places than this parody of a school.</p>
<p>If Wisconsin is fine, what about California, specifically what’s brewing in the Cal State system?</p>
<p>I’d be surprised if the new Antioch survives in today’s climate. Not because of some fast reaction many have to its former idealism. But, let’s bite into the broader range of schools that draw attention for the experience of going to college rather than the intellectual challenges and growth or pre-professional prep, charge high rates and leave their grads in an unrecognized “bind.”</p>
<p>ps. nice visual, but what drew kids to Antioch was as much the coop system. Let’s get off the notion of moral bankruptcy, Obamatopia and other gauntlet flinging before this thread becomes political and gets shut down.</p>
<p>well, Wisconsin may be better off because they really are not over capacity with 1000’s wanting in. Actually they have several underused campuses and a declining HS population so some should be downsized or closed. Or they could sell slots to Cali instead of China.</p>
<p>Or some of the smaller Wisconsin schools could become single sex schools and this thread would have gone full circle.</p>
<p>Taking the look at endowments a step further:</p>
<p>School—Endowment—Students—Endowment per Student</p>
<p>Wellesley—$1,499M—2,411—$622,095<br>
Smith—$1,429M—3,113—$459,212<br>
Bryn Mawr—$671M—1,755—$382,395
Agnes Scott—$258M—883—$292,185
Scripps—$267M—950—$281,052
Mount Holyoke—$602M—2,200—$273,636
Hollins—$153M—1,018—$150,294
Spelman—$285M—2,355—$138,559
Sweet Briar—$75M—735—$127,891
Mills—$183M—1,555—$117,942
Barnard—$218M—2,360—$92,327
Simmons—$165M—1,912—$86,297
St. Mary’s—$128M—1,628—$78,624
Wesleyan College—$42M—645—$65,337
Meredith College—$79M—2,180—$36,238
Stephens—$26M—806—$32,258
Mary Baldwin—$31M—1,023—$30,300</p>
<p>Very hard for publics to stay single sex–see VMI, Citadel etc.</p>
<p>As I said endowment>ranking pretty close relationship.</p>
<p>Jym, great idea but then everyone would start speculating again about gays.</p>
<p>In Wisconsin they might be speculating about cows.</p>
<p>I would say that Sweet Briar is at some risk of extinction going forward. Running out of money/endowment is a serious problem for a college, but running out of students brings things to a screeching halt rather quickly. Sweet Briar is down the enrollment range where that could become a problem.</p>
<p>There was a major conference on liberal arts colleges last month:</p>
<p>[The</a> Future of the Liberal Arts College](<a href=“http://sites.lafayette.edu/liberal-arts-conference/]The”>The Future of the Liberal Arts College)</p>
<p>There were 200 some attendees and speakers included the Presidents of Swarthmore and Lafayette (hosts), Williams, Pomona, Smith, Bryn Mawr, Vassar, Franklin & Marshall, Sewannee, etc.</p>
<p>Here’s some of the media coverage:</p>
<p>[In</a> the Media | The Future of the Liberal Arts College](<a href=“http://sites.lafayette.edu/liberal-arts-conference/in-the-media/]In”>In the Media | The Future of the Liberal Arts College)</p>
<p>Looking at endowments, SB is not in as much trouble as some other schools. </p>
<p>I am surprised more schools are not going under these days. With what private schools charge, I don’t see how some of them are making it. I am eyeing some local schools that I fully expect will tank in the near future.</p>
<p>I’m shocked at how low Barnard’s endowment is. Of course, they do not need to depend solely on their own facilities…</p>
<p>Wesleyan’s was shockingly low too, Consolation, IMO.</p>
<p>What is considered a strong endowment # for a student body of 2300?</p>
<p>cptofthehouse: I agree. I was actually wondering to which Wesleyan it referred. I thought perhaps not the one in CT, since it is not strictly a LAC.</p>
<p>As Consolation said, the facilities Barnard shares with Columbia are not counted at all, and they are extensive. The campus is only 4 acres so there is very little to maintain. TheMet ( both of them), Broadway, The Museum of Natural History, Columbia’s Butler Library, the New York Historical Society, the New York City Public Library, South Street Seaport, Wall Street were all learning sites for Barnard Classes without any cost to B to maintain. The Ballet and Lincoln Center Library, the New York Appeals Court and MOMA were too, come to think of it.</p>
<p>Sorry for being so defensive, but Consilation nudged me to put this figure into perspective. Oh Barnard women can also study free of charge at Julluard and Manhattan School if they qualify.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say that B offers more than W or S (or BM or MHC for that matter) just other things not reflected in endowment figures.</p>
<p>I find the title and implications of it troubling.</p>
<p>Barnard was begged to merge with Columbia but refused. Admissions rate was 21% this year.</p>
<p>As for death of colleges, I taught at Southampton College, a lovely school on eastern LI. It began as an independent school, was Incorporated into LIU and eventually by Stony Brook, but no one could make a go of it even though funds were poured in. I mourn it’s demise. Who wouldn’t love going to the Hamptons every day? It’s Latin dept. ended up at my S’s high school. What I conclude from this is that it’s an economically hard time for higher Ed. Attraction of students was not the problem.</p>
<p>Women’s colleges will stay in demand as ore and more women are edged our of seats as co-Ed institutions try to keep some kind of parity between sexes and women in college increasingly out number men. Many women will choose between schools lower on the feeding scale and all women’s institutions. (My D preferred Barnard to schools of equal rigor so I am not saying that is the only reason for the choice.)</p>
<p>As for the red herring of lesbianism, I find the cooments misplaced. One in ten people is gay, equal to Smith’s number. The reason men’s numbers are higher is that women are more likely to self-identify as bi for many reasons. Good for Smith and the other women’s colleges mentioned in this connection that women are free to be themselves in public. Brava.</p>
<p>The list of endowments was all women’s colleges. The Wesleyan College in the list is the women’s college in Macon, GA.</p>
<p>Wesleyan University in CT has a reasonably healthy endowment of $590M, or $203,000 per student.</p>