My Richmond Experience

Colleges & Universities University of Richmond
41

<p>“To my credit, UR made no effort to help with the education process.” What did you want them to do, hold your hand? You were a young (and hopefully bright, but that’s debatable) adult and you couldn’t look into colleges a bit more closely than you did? You’re spending the next 4 years of your life living there. Then you try to pass the buck off on the school, saying they didn’t help educate you enough on the school. Way to gain credibility. </p>

<p>Your (obsolete) arguments against Richmond were rebuked earlier in this thread.</p>

<p>As for jobs, I think this has been discussed as well and rebuked. See posts #22 and #30.</p>

<p>It sounds to me like you made the best choice for you in the end, but there’s no reason to dump on the school just because you didn’t care for it. If your argument was factual, then that would be one thing, but it’s not. And the really pathetic part of the whole thing is that as “transforming” as your UGA experience was for you, you haven’t commented once on any UGA threads and your moniker is based on UR. Must be a sad life to be so bitter about something years down the road that you spend time behind a keyboard vainly attempting to trash UR.</p>

42

<p>URdefect, I have no dog in this fight (my d decided not to go to Richmond). But what seems to be clear from your posts is that a small, liberal arts college was not for you. You are happy at a large university. That’s great. But not everyone wants to go to a large university, public or otherwise. That’s why people talk about “fit” and why it’s so important. The LAC list is not “seldom read”; it’s “seldom read” by people who don’t want to go to a LAC. It’s scrutinized by people who do.</p>

<p>From what I can tell, you’d have been no happier at Williams, Amherst or Swarthmore than you were at Richmond. That doesn’t make them bad schools; they’re just not for you.</p>

43

<p>Let us get some facts straightentened out</p>

<p>It was said, “UR is in top 3 of endowment per student.”</p>

<p>Institution ↓ Endowment per Student (2005)/ndowment per Student (2006)
in USD ↓
Princeton University $ 1,679,380. $ 1,900,000.[31]
Bryn Athyn College $ 803,626.[32] $ 1,770,994.[33]
Yale University $ 1,342,099. $ 1,751,927.[34][35]
Harvard University $ 1,291,051. $ 1,456,940.[36]
Grinnell College $ 893,666. $ 1,076,056.[37][38]
Stanford University $ 714,620. $ 946,944.[39][40]
Pomona College $ 837,825. $ 942,530.[41]
Swarthmore College $ 789,735. $ 841,000.[42]
Amherst College $ 698,469. $ 820,846. [2]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology $ 650,430. $ 816,161.[43][44]
Rice University $ 726,147. $ 801,984.[1][45]
Baylor College of Medicine $ 426,326. $ 790,002.[1][46]
Williams College $ 666,193. $ 783,000.[47]
California Institute of Technology $ 653,726. $ 757,873.[1][48]
Dartmouth College $ 475,859. $ 614,035.[49][50]
Wellesley College $ 557,243. $ 603,969.[51]
University of Notre Dame $ 481,738.[52][53]
Northwestern University $ 440,068. $ 418,202.[54]
Smith College $ 361,572. $ 405,737.[1][55]
Bowdoin College $ 404,955.[56][57][58]
University of Richmond $ 390,545.
Haverford College $ 387,785.[1][59]
Emory University $ 360,662. $ 380,937.[60]
Hamilton College $ 370,704.[61]
Duke University $ 350,727.[1][62]
Washington University in St. Louis $ 346,325.[1][63]
Claremont McKenna College $ 352,219. $ 327,543.[64]
Bryn Mawr College $ 322,261.[1][65]
Middlebury College $ 295,249.[1][66]
Carleton College $ 292,112.[1][67]
Brown University $ 285,187.
Vanderbilt University $ 253,812.
Davidson College $ 250,000.[68]
Washington and Lee University $ 220,962.
University of Virginia $ 182,331.
Wake Forest University $ 170,648.
Boston College $ 102,541.
Tulane University $ 94,108.
University of Delaware $ 72,376.
Georgetown University $ 67,217.
College of William & Mary $ 58,023. $ 63,773.[1][69]
UNC Chapel Hill $ 60,612.
Boston University $ 34,491.
University of New Hampshire $ 13,229.
University of Connecticut $ 10,682.</p>

<p><a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._colleges_and_universities_by_endowment[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._colleges_and_universities_by_endowment&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

44

<p>Someone wrote:
One measure of the satisfaction of a school’s grads is its alumni giving rate. The higher the alum giving rate the more pleased the school’s grads are with their alma mater.</p>

<p>U.S. News & World Report reports that only 28% of the Richmond alums donated to the school during the prior year. That 28% rate ranked 92d among other liberal arts colleges in the country and was significantly lower than its peer institutions.</p>

<p>Richmond’s alumni giving rate lagged behind its academic peers (i) Sewanee—University of the South (TN), (ii) Whitman College (WA) and (iii) Occidental College (CA)…</p>

<p>US News ranks Richmond overall among liberal arts colleges tied with Sewanee—University of the South (TN) at #34 followed by Whitman College (WA)and Occidental College (CA).</p>

<p>Sewanee—University of the South had an alumni giving rate of 44%;
Whitman College alum giving rate was 46%;
Occidental College (CA) alumni giving rate was 45%;

  • all significantly higher than Richmond’s 28% alumni giving rate.</p>

<hr>

<p>Since then a new USNWR came out and the numbers fell.</p>

<p>Alumni giving is now 24%</p>

<p>The rank is now 147</p>

<p>The graduation rate estimated at 87% (for six years) was actually 83%.</p>

<p>Freshmen retention rate dropped to 91%.</p>

<p>Business program was ranked 71.</p>

<p>I am not one who has an interest in this battle, but want arguments to be supported by facts. If you wish to rely on USNWR as reason(s) to support your arguments, please use their figures accurately.</p>

<p>I would add what Princeton Review has written:</p>

<p>Rank List Category
#16 Homogeneous Student Population Demographics
#7 Little Race/Class Interaction Demographics</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/profiles/rankings.asp?listing=1022700&LTID=1[/url]”>http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/profiles/rankings.asp?listing=1022700&LTID=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

45

<p>Here’s an article from 2005 about how UR’s endowment works. The realm of college endowments seemed quite mysterious to me until I read this. It’s quite interesting.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p><a href=“University of Richmond”>University of Richmond;

46

<p>Father of the Boarder, please take a look at the Wikipedia link that you provided. UR is listed as of June 30, 2006, with an endowment of $1.388B. Dividing that figure by the roughly 3,000 undergrads (the actual number is a little less than that), you’ll find that the endowment per undergrad is $462,666, which places it just ahead of Notre Dame. The current endowment is approximately $1.6B, which increases the endowment/undergrad to $533,333. Given the lack of substantial graduate programs, a large majority of the endowment dollars go to the undergrads, whereas at schools with large grad programs, a large portion of the dollars go to the research associated with those programs.</p>

<p>From what I’ve been told regarding the USNWR numbers, the statistics lag two years. I think you’ll find that in the next two years, UR’s alumni giving rates will sky rocket under the new President. In fact, just two months into Dr. Ayers’ tenure, UR received a $9 million gift for a new international education building (to further build on Newsweek naming UR the “Hottest School” for International education). Additionally, of the class of 2006, over 50% gave back to the school, and over 70% of the class of 2007 gave back. Due to a few large donor families in the past, UR has never really reached out to the everyday alum, because they never needed the funds, and didn’t have to worry about playing the USNWR rankings games since they were #1 in the Master’s category for 11 or so years, by a wide margin. They’ve just recently really focused on participation rates and the old regime was so bad in many’s eyes, they would not give back until Dr. Ayers took over just two months ago.</p>

<p>For this year’s freshman class, only 38% were admitted, so that will really help in the next couple of years. The yield also increased. Given the lag in stats, coupled with a $10,000 tuition hike 3 years ago, which hurt our admissions numbers (which finally recovered this year to record highs), I really feel that UR is going to greatly improve on their rankings in the next couple of years.</p>

<p>Finally, Businessweek ranked UR’s undergrad business school as the 23rd best in the country. This was the second consecutive year they were ranked in the top 25, improving two spots over 2006. With the upcoming expansion of the B-school, I expect this ranking to continue to climb into the top 20 in the next couple of years, especially since our reputation is finally catching up (somewhat) to the level of educational excellence at the school.<br>
<a href=“http://bwnt.businessweek.com/bschools/undergraduate/07rankings/index.asp[/url]”>http://bwnt.businessweek.com/bschools/undergraduate/07rankings/index.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

47

<p>Father of the Boarder:</p>

<p>In your 8/29/07 post you referred to my July 28, 2007 post in this thread that cited US News statistics and you wrote:
“If you wish to rely on USNWR as reason(s) to support your arguments, please use their figures accurately”.</p>

<p>Please be advised that the information referenced in my July 28th post represented the most current US News stats then available; the 2008 stats were not released until August 16th and for that reason you should rest assured that the information I stated was accurate.</p>

48

<p>I’m not sure what some of this spitting contest is all about but allow me to share a few observations of UR, having spent 30 years working in higher education and most recently touring with my dd to virtually every name institution east of the Mississippi.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Seems clear that UR is one of those infrequently found transition institutions. Speculative, but I’d bet my modest ranch that UR will be one of those institutions better and better known a decade from now than it is today. It’s striving to elevate both its niche and its rank therein. </p></li>
<li><p>See #1. To do that requires $$, and lots of it. Richmond has it as has been noted, and notably, virtually all of that endowment is being devoted to undergraduate education. Translated, not on grad assistantships, research endowments, etc. </p></li>
<li><p>A great location, and as they say in real estate … That’s an asset that can’t be bought.</p></li>
<li><p>One of the most attractive, well-planned, up-to-date campuses on the planet. Anyone that doesn’t like this campus, must be … Well, must be.</p></li>
<li><p>While the alumni giving is an issue, that’s mostly a function of not asking the masses, and not necessarily dissatisfaction. My guess is that UR is ramping up a previously “sleepy” alumni development operation, and that as UR becomes increasingly visible and recognized as a genuinely outstanding undergraduate school, they’ll increasingly get on board. At any rate, in terms of resources, in the immediate, shorter run, it makes relatively modest impact on resources available. Far more important is keeping Mr. Robbins happy and cultivating the growing economic forces there in Richmond, of which there are many. See #2. Location is nearly everything.</p></li>
<li><p>Andecdotally and of little import (aside from being symptomatic of a laissez faire admissions program), our admissions presentation from a very fine, nice young man about to be commissioned and deployed in the ARmy was absolutely terrible. He was well informed and insisted on telling us not only that which we should know and might like to know but also everything he did know. Just deadly overkill. But what that really indicates is they’ve not really taken this part of the process as seriously as the other assets and resources of UR merit. They should go and take some lessons from Furman or W&L, imo. They’ve got this down to a science, especially Furman. And if UR was not so set on elevating its higher education posture, well, it wouldn’t matter. But they are and it does.</p></li>
<li><p>Lastly, it’s important to recognize that perhaps UR’s greatest potential lies in the fact that unlike many institutions noted here, it’s essential business is undergraduate education, predominantly liberal arts (leadership and biz aside). This is a tremendous advantage in determining how resources are going to be utilized. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>btw, while the UR endowment piece noted earlier is interesting, especially for those less familiar with this topic/aspect of higher education, there is little novel about UR’s approach. Endowments maintain buildings, not construct them. They attract and fund students and faculty. They support library resources. They free up other assets to build sidewalks, pay electric bills, fund athletic and extra-curricular activities. That’s essentially a shell game, and the more shells the better. UR has ALOT of shells, thank your Robitussin and Phil Morris ciggies!
UR is a real gem, somewhat hidden, but its coming out party is beginning. I suspect this new president is going to make alot of people very uncomfortable as he strives to transform UR status quo.</p>

<p>Just my opinion, observations.</p>

49

<p>I find it amusing how a discussion of the merits of attending the University of Richmond has turned to money. For any incoming student:
A: Be prepared to shell it out
1: In exorbitant tuition; you will pay more to go to UR than you would to go to Harvard
2: Post Graduation: Richmond is a very aggressive fund raiser and you will be subject to their requests for life
B: If you choose to attend, your school’s value and reputation will only be weighed upon considerations of the endowment size and new buildings. UR students aren’t doing anything special, but the school must be good because new buildings are erected and the endowment is so damn high.</p>

50

<p>A) I don’t know where you are getting your numbers from, but according to their respective websites, Harvard costs $45,620/year, while Richmond is $44,784/year (give or take a little, depending on room/board plan). While these numbers are close, Harvard is still higher. Also, any college you attend, public or private, is going to solicit money from you, so how is Richmond any different?</p>

<p>B) Again, how is being judged by endowment size and quality of the buildings any different from any other school? Richmond is constantly working to improve itself, which in most people’s books is a good thing. Also, why do you say that “UR students aren’t doing anything special”? What is this based on? Prejudice?</p>

51

<p>URdefect’s comments are naive. Of course $$ is front and center to UR and every other institution. It’s merely a matter of where it comes from. btw, in the $raising profession, UR is notoriously laid back relative to the universe of higher ed. As noted earlier, they are picking up the pace, as they must and should. To imply that is somehow the “low road” and that there is some other “high road” that does not deal … constantly … with the issue of $$, fund-raising, budgets, etc. … well borders on naivete or outright silliness. </p>

<p>Anger is not pretty or logical. All about how one “feels” rather than how one should “think.”</p>