(04-09-2018 03:08 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote: (04-09-2018 01:57 PM)CliftonAve Wrote: Oberlin attracts and caters to a certain demographic of student who is into extreme political advocacy. Only 7% of their student body are from Ohio. They have larger number from NY, CA and Illinois. As long as there are rich people who self-loathe, they will continue to send their kids to schools like Oberlin.
Considering Barnard and Radcliffe, two of the seven sister schools, were absorbed by the Ivy school they accompanied, I don't think the future is that certain for places like Oberlin. There is a point where the derivative, even as rich and competitive as they are, box themselves out.
Again, there have been some woes over at the mighty Swarthmore, even with their $2 billion endowment, that the apps aren't what they used to be. It doesn't help that they are among the stingiest schools in the country.
At the center of places like these are how schools aren't giving anything back to their students. And, I don't think this generation gives a rip for these Ivy-like schools because...they aren't among the sacred eight. Sure, there's still plenty of old money sorts out there...it isn't what it used to be. And, clearly, at Oberlin, it's showing.
I see both sides of the coin on this issue.
There's still definitely an anti-"state school" sentiment among an elite subsection of the population. As an anecdote, my co-worker's niece attends a prominent private high school in the Los Angeles area (e.g. a place where Hollywood producers/directors/actors and pro athletes drop off their kids) and her college application list consisted of Dartmouth and around 15 liberal arts schools including the likes of Oberlin and Kenyon. From her niece's perspective, the thought of going to a University of California school seemed "beneath" having gone to such a tony private high school even though all of those UC schools have significantly tougher admissions standards than any school on her college list besides Dartmouth. (Seriously - getting into Berkeley and UCLA were always tough, but now getting into the rest of the UC schools have turned quite insane in terms of selectivity.) The East Coast is even worse since most Californians that aren't in a complete bubble actually do respect the in-state UC schools (whereas affluent New Yorkers seem terrified of sending their kids to SUNY schools). It's a little less of an affliction in the Midwest, South and Southwest with the Big Ten/ACC/SEC/Big 12 schools, but you still see it from time to time.
I don't think a place like Swarthmore is in danger at all - that school is still in that top of the top elite class of liberal arts institutions with Amherst and Williams where people that "matter" (e.g. the Wall Street titans and DC power-brokers) put it at or even above the Ivy League schools. Contrary to your statement, there isn't a slowdown in applications at Swarthmore - it had a 14% increase in applications this year and had its lowest acceptance rate ever at 9%:
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/p...80330.html
Ultimately, whether those schools are well-known by the plebeians of society is largely irrelevant to that class of schools. If you want a really high paying job at an investment bank, hedge fund or management consulting firm, then those schools are incredible feeders to those industries (with them being better per capita feeders than even the Ivies) that make the $70,000 per year cost of attendance still seem to provide a justifiable return on investment.
Oberlin isn't quite in that same category for most academic subjects, although it's certainly an elite school for the performing arts. It probably has a bit more risk since its Midwest location isn't as tied into the power centers of NYC and DC, there is a lot stronger regional competition from Big Ten schools and other public universities (e.g. Miami of Ohio, Pitt, etc.), and its performing arts strength doesn't translate as much to the Wall Street/DC/Silicon Valley/Hollywood nexus that people pay $70,000 per year cost of attendance to break into. People don't just give you jobs because Oberlin is on your resume in a way that they might if you have Swarthmore on your resume (and once again, I'm talking about the prestige-oriented industries like finance, politics, law, etc.). Still, there is going to be a critical mass of people like my co-worker's niece that simply won't go to a state school because it's a state school, so places like Oberlin that are on the next tier of top national liberal arts colleges will still likely have an audience.
Even though Oberlin may have to adjust temporarily due to some missed enrollment targets, they at least have the academic reputation and endowment to make a pivot. Note that this past year seemed to be a yield issue - its acceptance rate is under 30%, but it didn't get as many enrolled students as anticipated. Oberlin probably needs to relent a little bit on its acceptance rate and it would likely make up the enrollment issues.
That's a far different problem than less prestigious liberal arts colleges that aren't getting enough *applications* at all. Those are the schools that are most at risk since they may not be able to fill their classes even at a 100% acceptance rate. Note that this isn't just a private school issue - "directional" public schools are feeling quite a bit of pain, too, especially in the slower population growth Midwest.