Colorado College and the Price of Success

Allison Sherry at The Denver Post just published an interesting article on Colorado College. The school has met with great success in recent years -- retention rates are at record highs, entrance exam scores are way up, and selectivity has improved. This past fall, only 26% of applicants were accepted. This all makes Colorado College compare well with the country's top liberal arts colleges. A success story, right?

Students, alums, professors and administrators aren't so sure. They are finding that something has been lost as the school becomes more "elite." By admitting all those high-achieving and high-ranking students, Colorado College isn't feeling like Colorado College anymore. Some students and employees have complained that the level of academic discourse has been hurt because fewer eccentric and quirky students are in the classroom. They are finding that the price of some types of excellence is homogeneity.

The concerns at Colorado College certainly mirror my own experiences -- it's often the off-beat students who don't have the straight "A"s who bring the most interesting perspectives to a classroom debate. What are your thoughts on this issue? Should Colorado College take more risks in their admissions decisions to try to preserve the lively and diverse educational environment of earlier years? And to push the question further, do the high admissions standards of the country's top-ranked colleges and universities actually take something away from the educations that students receive? Share your thoughts in the College Admissions Forum.

photo of Colorado College student hikers by abkfenris / Flickr