Middlebury Suffering with larger class sizes and enrollment

[Anonymous]

Unsurprising with the recent issues pertaining to a deficit, but this is still sad to see by an elite liberal arts college with the competitive advantage of an intimate educational setting. Potentially this could affect higher-tier LACs like Amherst, Pomona, or Swarthmore?
Source:https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2025/11/save-small-class-sizes

[Anonymous]

Sounds about right. They need the money, bad.

[Anonymous]

35 students in a class is still quite small, and if you come from a public high school, that’s close to normal, granted most probably came from private. These kids need to stop whining because there is little difference between 20 and 35 in a college class, even 9 and 20 or 35. If they can’t find a way to speak up or use AI to cheat on readings, that tells you more about student. Welcome to the real world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:35 students in a class is still quite small, and if you come from a public high school, that’s close to normal, granted most probably came from private. These kids need to stop whining because there is little difference between 20 and 35 in a college class, even 9 and 20 or 35. If they can’t find a way to speak up or use AI to cheat on readings, that tells you more about student. Welcome to the real world.

I noticed that part about needing small classes to force accountability with preparation. That doesn't sound like kids are excited to go to school for the vibrant small classes, does it.

[Anonymous]

PP. The newspaper (different article) also says the Monterey Institute of international Studies is closing in 2027.

[Anonymous]

I think 35 kids in a room built for 20 is the bigger problem than the actual headcount. Dragging chairs into the room and climbing over each other, etc. Especially for the price. Hopefully it's just a few classes.

[Anonymous]

Honestly who would want to pay all that money for public school class sizes? Shouldn’t the small class sizes be the draw of a place like that?

[Anonymous]

The Middlebury Campus newspaper has been taken over by a bunch of ultra-liberal snowflakes who complain, complain, complain. Sad.

They provide no evidence to support their claim. Of course it's an editorial, so I guess they can say whatever they want.

[Anonymous]

Suffering? GMAFB.

[Anonymous]

The closing of the program in Monterey is significant. I know of a few people who attended and went on to be high profile translators across government.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Middlebury Campus newspaper has been taken over by a bunch of ultra-liberal snowflakes who complain, complain, complain. Sad.

They provide no evidence to support their claim. Of course it's an editorial, so I guess they can say whatever they want.

You can find a very quantitative article about this topic, but you just sound a bit allergic to journalism…
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2025/10/large-class-sizes-impact-faculty-student-experience

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unsurprising with the recent issues pertaining to a deficit, but this is still sad to see by an elite liberal arts college with the competitive advantage of an intimate educational setting. Potentially this could affect higher-tier LACs like Amherst, Pomona, or Swarthmore?
Source:https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2025/11/save-small-class-sizes

Wow. this is not what I expected of a LAC.

"The college proudly boasts our 9:1 student-to-faculty ratio and our average class size of 16 on its website and on every tour. But this has not been reflective of our Middlebury experience for years, and the college announced in the spring that it is raising its target enrollment to balance its budget."

"Some have been asked to bring their own chairs, cramming into rooms not meant to accommodate so many people. This is an especially prevalent issue in increasingly popular departments, and not enough has been done to resolve the issue."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unsurprising with the recent issues pertaining to a deficit, but this is still sad to see by an elite liberal arts college with the competitive advantage of an intimate educational setting. Potentially this could affect higher-tier LACs like Amherst, Pomona, or Swarthmore?
Source:https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2025/11/save-small-class-sizes

Does Pomona or Swat have a deficit? Pomona's endowment is double the size of Mid despite having roughly half as many students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:35 students in a class is still quite small, and if you come from a public high school, that’s close to normal, granted most probably came from private. These kids need to stop whining because there is little difference between 20 and 35 in a college class, even 9 and 20 or 35. If they can’t find a way to speak up or use AI to cheat on readings, that tells you more about student. Welcome to the real world.

Extensive research has shown that the ideal class size to facilitate learning, discussion, and engagement is 16 students. So yes, 20 is a lot better and just a few more than the ideal size, rather than 35 (which is double the ideal size).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Middlebury Campus newspaper has been taken over by a bunch of ultra-liberal snowflakes who complain, complain, complain. Sad.

They provide no evidence to support their claim. Of course it's an editorial, so I guess they can say whatever they want.

You can find a very quantitative article about this topic, but you just sound a bit allergic to journalism…
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2025/10/large-class-sizes-impact-faculty-student-experience

"Concerns from more than a dozen students ..."

Sounds like the college is experiencing a sudden change in what students are majoring in, and will need to adjust faculty distribution based on these changes. The article also notes that Middlebury is going from 2,800+ students down to 2,650. Surely that will help, no?