Running head: A FINAL LOOK AT DAVIDSON COLLEGE 1
A Final Look at Davidson College
Doug Connors
Pennsylvania State University
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For students deciding whether or not to attend to an institution of higher education in the
United States, and if so, which institution should they choose and why or why not, is not as simple of set of questions as it appears. The choices are many when it comes to choosing an institution, but all choices are not available to all students. The United States Higher Education system is not an equal opportunity system. This paper will look at one of the many Colleges in the United States, Davidson College in North Carolina, where if you are one of the select numbers of students to be able to attend, you will live a college experience that all people would be able to experience in an optimal world.
History
As a student and as an employee, Davidson College offers the very best experience for all, though it wasn’t always that way. Founded in the pre-industrial era by the Presbyterian
Church in 1837, with land bought from the family of Revolutionary War Commander Brigadier
General William Lee Davidson, for whom the college was named, Davidson College faced financial difficulties in the 1850s until 1856, when a $250,000 donation by Maxwell Chambers changed their fortunes (Powell, 2006). This $250,000 donation took Davidson from financial problems to the wealthiest college south of Princeton. Wealthy as they may have been however, the students then, as they are now, were of a select group. Today the students are selected based on academic standing, but, in 1856 they were also selected by race and gender. At the time, institutions in the United States were still segregated and only on May 5, 1972 did Davidson
College vote to allow women to enroll as degree students (Powell, 2006). Much has changed regarding access to Davidson College but that does not mean there is access for all.
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Present Day
Davidson College is still selective in who they admit as students. A four year private, not- for-profit institution as classified by the Carnegie ranking system, Davidson is a Baccalaureate
College with an Arts and Sciences Focus. To be classified in such a manner an institution must have at least 50% of all degrees being Baccalaureate in status with less than 50 Masters Degrees and 20 Doctorate degrees awarded. In terms of an undergraduate profile, in the Carnegie
System Davidson College is classified as a “4year full-time, more selective, lower transfer in” institution. To earn this ranking in the Carnegie System an institution’s students must have at least 80% enrolled in a Bachelors degrees, and based on test score data the students must place within the 80-100Th percentile of selectivity of baccalaureate institutions thus indicating the institution is more selective in its admissions. In addition, fewer than 20% of entering students are transfer students. The result of these rankings is an institution that is very selective in whom they accept when taken into consideration that they have less than 2000 students and approximately one quarter of those are varsity athletes (The Carnegie Classification of
Institutions of Higher Education, 2014).
One of the areas Davidson College is not selective, that is a major benefit to their students is as it relates to a prospective student’s finances. With tuition, room and board cost totalling approximately $63,000 annually it would appear that Davidson College would be a possible institution for the financially secure (The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of
Higher Education, 2014). However, Davidson College is the first institution to remove student loans from their financial support. Davidson College uses a grant and work placement system to ensure that any academically capable student demonstrating financial need will receive 100% of A FINAL LOOK AT DAVIDSON COLLEGE 4
that need without the use of loans (The Davidson Trust, 2016) This is an example of things private institutions with an endowment of $660 million can do.
Being as Davidson College is a private institution, solely for undergraduate education, they only receive only 2% of their core revenues from government. This is of course distinct from State run universities. The majority of the core revenues for Davidson College are received through returns on investment 55%, private gifts 23% and their own tuition and fees
20% (IPEDS Data Centre, 2014). With such little dependence on government funding Davidson has much more flexibility in terms of where they decide to direct their resources. Though it may not always be in the students’ best interest when institutions have this sort of control, Davidson appears to have a great handle on how they direct their resources. Attending an institution such as Davidson that directs 38% of their core expenses on instruction is very fortunate. This allows
Davidson to attract and retain some of the top professors in their respective fields, which of course has a direct impact on the students that attend classes from these professors. A campus climate in which 90% of all faculty members are tenured or tenure track positions is distinct, beneficial, yet also a decreasing reality across a lot of U.S Higher Education Institutions (IPEDS
Data Centre, 2014)
In addition to money spent on instruction Davidson College, they are spending 23% on
Student Services and 25% of their spending is on institutional support (IPEDS Data Centre,
2014). Student services are an important aspect of the college experience and the investment in these services is helping to create happy graduates, which in turn become happy donating
Alumni. Davidson College is one of the nation’s leaders in that 60% of their Alumni give money every year (IPEDS Data Centre, 2014). It is clear that the investment that Davidson College is making in their students is creating positive returns. A FINAL LOOK AT DAVIDSON COLLEGE 5
Also positive and distinct as mentioned previous is that so little (20%) of Davidson
College’s core revenue is tuition driven (IPEDS Data Centre, 2014). This is certainly not typical of a lot of private institutions.
It is hard to argue the percentage of money being spent on Institutional Support (25%) when the finances, satisfaction and overall success of the institution operate at the level of
Davidson College (IPEDS Data Centre, 2014). Rated 9th in the Nation as a Liberal Arts
College, #16 as a Best Value School, #2 as Best Undergraduate Teaching and the #1 Most
Innovative School speak for itself, the leadership of the institution is doing a great job (U.S.
News and World Report, 2015).
The “College Leadership” group at Davidson College is comprised of: Board of
Trustees – 30-45 members, 4 elected by Alumni, 5 members are ex-officio, remainder of the members are elected by trustees themselves. At least 25% will be a member or affiliate of a
Presbyterian Church congregation.
President
Principal Executive Staff consisting of:
• Vice President for College Relations
• Vice President for Finance and Administration
• Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid
• Vice President and General Counsel
• Associate Vice President for Planning and Institutional Research
• Director of Athletics
• Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean of Faculty and Professor of Biology A FINAL LOOK AT DAVIDSON COLLEGE 6
• Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students
• Director of Facilities and Engineering
• Vice President for Strategic Partnerships
• Chief Information Officer(Davidson College Leadership, 2016)
It is distinctive that Davidson College has a quite large amount of Senior Management positions for an institution with less than 2000 students. It also of note that the Board of Trustees via their private nature does not have any representatives from the State of North Carolina, they govern themselves in what could be characterized as a “very closed shop”.
Author’s Conclusion
Institutions such as Davidson College that invest significant amounts of resources into their Professors, almost an equal amount into services for students, offer a high level of education all while offering a need-blind admission policy and being able to offer 100% of financial need without the use of loans represents the ideal college experience for myself personally. In the perfect world, all institutions would have the financial viability to offer such opportunities for all students; under graduate and post graduate.
Learning about Davidson College has made me come to a realization that the small private, highly residential institution is where I feel I fit best as my career advances. I believe the ability to be able to work at an institution that really invests in the undergraduate student, and rewards their faculty and staff for their well- deserved efforts creates the ultimate in career rewards. I am disappointed however that these advantaged situations are only available to such a select few. My goal will be to gain employment at such an institution; however, I have a pretty solid notion that it will not be easy. The reality of gaining employment at a school similar to A FINAL LOOK AT DAVIDSON COLLEGE 7
Davidson College will be a challenge as I suspect they are as selective with their hiring choices as they are selective with the students that they admit.
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References
Davidson College Leadership. (2016). Retrieved from Davidson College: https://www.davidson.edu/about/college-leadership
IPEDS Data Centre. (2014). Retrieved from IPEDS Data Centre: https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/InstitutionProfile.aspx?unitId=acb4b3aeb3b0
Powell, W. S. (2006). Davidson College. Encyclopedia of North Carolina. Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States: University of North Carolina Press.
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. (2014). Retrieved from Carnegie Classifications: http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=198385&start_ page=lookup.php&clq=%7B%22ipug2005_ids%22%3A%22%22%2C%22ipgrad2005_i ds%22%3A%22%22%2C%22enrprofile2005_ids%22%3A%22%22%2C%22ugprfile200 5_ids%22%3A%22%22%2C%22sizeset200
The Davidson Trust. (2016, November 26). Retrieved from Davidson College: The Davidson Trust: https://www.davidson.edu/about/distinctly-davidson/the-davidson-trust
U.S. News and World Report. (2015). U.S. News and World Report . Retrieved from U.S. News and World Report - Higher Education: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/davidson-college-2918