Kenyon
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Anonymous
OK, NOVA mom. Just say you hate SLACs and keep it moving. |
Anonymous
| Not a good sign. Relative to New England schools they are endowment poor. Enrollment falling by over 6% and they increase hiring staff- mismanagement. Location not desirable. |
Anonymous
I think that this is a reasonable statement that even a fan of LACs could accept as reality. |
Anonymous
Kenyon College's concerted, and admirable, effort to increase to 2,000 students which actually resulted in a net loss of 110 students is evidence of this trend. Rightsizing is the wisest move for small, isolated Kenyon College at this time. In the future, Kenyon College should consider an alliance which would make Kenyon College a 2 year feeder school to an elite university like Emory at Oxford (Oxford, Georgia) is to Emory University. Any thoughts as to which university would be a good match with Kenyon College ? Maybe U Chicago ? |
Anonymous
+1. I'm a SLAC fan. My younger DD is a senior so we are in the midst of the whole college thing. In the beginning of her search, she was open to a SLAC but as time went on, she got away from that. She wants to attend a school that people have heard of and she doesn't want it to be isolated. I don't think she's alone in this. |
Anonymous
| Plenty of top 25 SLAC if not all of them are in strong fiscal health and are not subject to large Federal Funding cuts. Schools like Williams, Amherst, Colgate, Holy Cross, Davidson are very well known and all have significant endowments per student. Those schools also have great alumni networks that can help place grads in a tough economy. Kenyon might have its work cut out but so do Harvard and UChicago, |
Anonymous
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Kenyon has a well-known writing program but has had restrictions on number of English majors. Students could not sign up for needed classes and had to beg their way in. Why would a full pay student go to a college where the most popular major has such barriers?
https://kenyoncollegian.com/opinion/2022/09/high-enrollment-classes-not-attainable/ Current tour guides mentioned they also had to talk their way into classes. It’s an ongoing issue. |
Anonymous
| There was a chart in Dream School that showed Kenyon had the biggest dropoff in full pay students of any college in the US over the last decade. That's a problem. |
Anonymous
PP here. Had no idea it had grown to that amount. IIRC, was < $50 million in the 90s, which was a source of constant concern for the administration. |
Anonymous
I think the popularity of SLACs depends on the circles you run in. |
Anonymous
That’s exactly our situation. Parents are lac fans but DD drifted away from the idea as she learned more about schools. |
Anonymous
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It doesn’t help that the school is in the middle of nowhere.
quote=Anonymous]Hard times ahead. I could never understand DCUM’s love for this school—it’s just not that great. https://kenyoncollegian.com/news/2025/11/kenyon-personnel-to-be-reduced-as-student-body-decreases/ |
Anonymous
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Definitely a small school in an isolated location. Cold weather. Solid academics. Beautiful campus.
In my view, it might be a tough 4 years unless one studies abroad for at least two, maybe three, semesters during one's four year experience. Better if one is on an intercollegiate athletic team to enjoy bonding/comradeship and travel to other schools. |
Anonymous
| I grew up in Ohio and my grandparents lived in Gambier. Even I thought Kenyon was too isolated. You know you’re in the middle of nowhere when an Amish community springs up in your area. |
Anonymous
It’s nothing compared to the best LACs. Grinnell for one has an endowment four times larger. |