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Meeting the Challenge: - The Council of Independent Colleges

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Serving Students Well:<br />

<strong>Independent</strong> <strong>Colleges</strong> Today<br />

by Alvin P. San<strong>of</strong>f<br />

<strong>The</strong> independent sector <strong>of</strong> American higher education is filled with<br />

a vast, astonishing, and sometimes bewildering assortment <strong>of</strong><br />

colleges and universities. CIC member institutions fully reflect<br />

that diversity. Some have given <strong>the</strong> curriculum an environmental focus,<br />

o<strong>the</strong>rs emphasize traditional religious thought and values, and still o<strong>the</strong>rs<br />

blend academics and work in a seamless mix. “Educational experimentation<br />

is much stronger at small colleges,” says David Breneman, dean <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

Curry School <strong>of</strong> Education at <strong>the</strong> University <strong>of</strong> Virginia and author <strong>of</strong><br />

Liberal Arts <strong>Colleges</strong>: Thriving, Surviving, or Endangered (1994). A small<br />

college, Breneman adds, is able to prosper by assembling “a student body<br />

with a strong focus on a particular aspect <strong>of</strong> education.”<br />

In addition to <strong>the</strong>ir academic diversity, virtually all <strong>the</strong> CIC members<br />

strive for diversity in <strong>the</strong>ir student bodies. This can take <strong>the</strong> form <strong>of</strong><br />

racial, ethnic, geographic, academic, religious, or gender-based diversity—<br />

and usually a combination <strong>of</strong> some or all <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se factors.<br />

Yet despite <strong>the</strong>ir differences, CIC member institutions have a great<br />

deal in common. <strong>The</strong>y share not only <strong>the</strong> goal <strong>of</strong> feeding <strong>the</strong>ir students’<br />

minds but also a deep concern about values and ethics. As a result, alumni<br />

<strong>of</strong> independent colleges are almost three times as likely as graduates <strong>of</strong><br />

public institutions to believe that <strong>the</strong>ir college experience was extremely<br />

effective in helping <strong>the</strong>m develop moral principles, and <strong>the</strong>y are more<br />

than twice as likely as public university alumni to say <strong>the</strong>y experienced an<br />

integration <strong>of</strong> values and ethics in <strong>the</strong> classroom.<br />

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