Spotlight on Ripon College

This week's spotlight takes us 80 miles northwest of Milwaukee where we find the 250-acre campus of Ripon College. Ripon, Wisconsin, a small town of about 7,500 people, is a fitting location for this intimate liberal arts college.

The college has a strong liberal arts curriculum that has earned it a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Central to the curriculum is Ripon's "Communicating Plus" program which emphasizes written and oral communication, critical thinking and problem solving. To support the program, Ripon employs a small army of trained student tutors to staff the Collaborative Learning Center. The results of these efforts are impressive--Ripon has a retention and graduation rate that is significantly higher than most colleges with similar locations and student profiles (students don't need straight "A"s to get admitted to Ripon).

Ripon is also a good value. Nearly all students receive financial aid, and in 2006-7 the average college grant was $12,373. The $23,323 tuition (2007-08) may not seem cheap, but it's not bad when compared to private liberal arts colleges of similar quality. With a 13 to 1 student / faculty ratio and an average class size of 20, Ripon students will get a lot of personal attention.

If you'd like to learn more about Ripon College, check out the Ripon profile and visit the official Ripon website. If you're familiar with the Ripon, please share your impressions in the Ripon discussion thread in the College Admissions Forum.

Every week I spotlight a great college that might be off the radar of college applicants. If you'd like to recommend a school for a future spotlight, please do so here in the forum.