2020 US News & World Report College Rankings - St. John's drops

Beastie, I would add, and suspect you already know, lots of interventions that help are non-linear. Big difference between graduating with a sigh of relief and a changed self-concept that includes “I can do this.” Basic education example is asking the sixth grader who has struggled with reading to coach and mentor new readers, fundamentals drills becomes a sacred task instead of a reminder of weakness. We saw a parallel effect when we trained recovering people with substance use disorders in specialized counseling skills to work with people suffering from both mental illness and substance use disorder. Money matters but listening to students and wisdom and faith are also critical.
 
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It seems to me that the ranking could be greatly increased if a greater percentage of students graduated in 4 and 6 years. I would propose that honour students or students with a certain GPA act as mentors and tutors for those who sign up for assistance or those identified in the admissions process as having a higher probability of not graduating on time. This would be a huge win win for all parties involved. As I write I say to myself why not expand the program to include former graduates who have time on their hands , a certain expertise, have been successful in their field of work or just want to give back to the school or to young people. Such a program would cost the school nothing but could be a tremendous asset.
 
ASPIRE Mentor Program

The St. John’s University Aspire Mentor Program supports ambitious students who are striving to reach their professional goals through a one-on-one mentor relationship. Throughout this year long program, alumni mentors guide their mentees as they work to develop career-related competencies, learn about their industry of interest, and build confidence in their ability to achieve success. Mentors connect either in person or virtually 1-2 times per month regarding the students’ progress toward their goals, and other topics related to their professional development. This is an opportunity to truly make a difference in a student’s life and help them to launch their career.

Become a mentor and help your fellow Johnnies accomplish their goals.

Please contact Paulette Gonzalez at gonzalep@stjohns.edu or 718-990-6521 for assistance.
 
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The below link indicates that 29% of the St. John's University students are Pell Grant recipients.

According to the US News link there are 203 colleges that it lists as "Nation Universities" that have higher percentages of Pell Grant recipients than St. John's . US News identifies 86 Liberal Arts Colleges more than 29%, and 120 colleges classified by US News as "North Regional Universities" have a higher percent of Pell Grant recipients than St. John's.

Many, if not most, if not all of the SUNY and CUNY schools have more than 29% Pell students.

[URL]https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/economic-diversity[/URL]
 
In the link that Otis posted, there’s one other point that has me smh. How are we charging students $60K per year (including room and board)? I’m going through this process with my daughter right now, and that’s $8-10K more per year than Pitt, Penn St, Clemson and several other large respected schools that she’s looked at. In fact, that cost is closer to Michigan. How can we justify that with our mission? And I understand that financial aid plays a big role at our school, but it does at others as well. And yes, state schools have an advantage, but that doesn’t matter much to incoming students. At that cost, I find it hard to imagine anyone attending who is not getting financial aid. Maybe I’m missing something...just trying to understand, so I’m happy to hear from others who can set me straight on this.
 
[quote="Jnaw17" post=357858]In the link that Otis posted, there’s one other point that has me smh. How are we charging students $60K per year (including room and board)? I’m going through this process with my daughter right now, and that’s $8-10K more per year than Pitt, Penn St, Clemson and several other large respected schools that she’s looked at. In fact, that cost is closer to Michigan. How can we justify that with our mission? And I understand that financial aid plays a big role at our school, but it does at others as well. And yes, state schools have an advantage, but that doesn’t matter much to incoming students. At that cost, I find it hard to imagine anyone attending who is not getting financial aid. Maybe I’m missing something...just trying to understand, so I’m happy to hear from others who can set me straight on this.[/quote]

Those three schools are all state related schools and receive funding from their state to help defray the cost of tuition.

St. John's is a private university largely dependent upon donations that help with operating and capital expenditures.

To my knowledge, and JSJ would know better, about 95% of all SJU students receive some form of tuition reduction through academic or athletic scholarships or grants.

The retail sticker price of tuition, room and board is a key concern of several board members and there has been some dialogue of containing these costs.
 
[quote="otis" post=357866]The below Washington Post news article identifies a small but growing number of colleges that have attempted to take the “used car style of negotiating” out of college tuition by offering a lower base sticker price with less merit aid.

My understanding is that the maneuver has worked well for Utica College.

[URL]https://www.washingtonpost.com...-tuition-discounts-heres-what-happened-after/[/URL][/quote]

I think this is a great strategy, and allows parents and students to apply in confidence knowing what their bottom line will be. There's a lot of truth in that advertising by not offering the incentive of a grant or scholarship to entice applicants to accept given the amount of money they are "saving".
 
Thanks for the replies guys. Times have certainly changed, but I always felt like we were reasonably priced vs. other institutions (including the state schools). That no longer appears to be the case. It just concerns me that our rankings are slipping of late, and our costs are higher, even relative to many other schools. I’d like to see these optics improve so that St John’s gets back to being a better value for prospective students.
 
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St. John's posts merit scholarship $ are based on SAT scores

As seen below, any scores above the national avg of ~ 1050 (~ SJU's 25th percentile) gets a min of $15K off the sticker price. That helps boost SJU's overall SAT #'s which helps rankings....Getting merit north of $24K+ off a $40K tuition (w/o room & board) is not out of reach for those w/ 1200+. Room & board fees are always higher in NY than other states too... Sometimes close to $5K more.

[URL]https://www.stjohns.edu/admission/scholarships/merit-based-scholarships[/URL]
 
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RedStormNC wrote: St. John's posts merit scholarship $ are based on SAT scores

As seen below, any scores above the national avg of ~ 1050 (~ SJU's 25th percentile) gets a min of $15K off the sticker price. That helps boost SJU's overall SAT #'s which helps rankings....Getting merit north of $24K+ off a $40K tuition (w/o room & board) is not out of reach for those w/ 1200+. Room & board fees are always higher in NY than other states too... Sometimes close to $5K more.

Merit scholarships of $24K plus for SAT scores in the 1200s and an 88 HS average are extremely generous. My son had SAT scores in the upper 1200s and between a B and B plus average at an IB school in North Carolina and that didn't even get him into Davidson, Wake Forest or UNC Chapel Hill (all in cost for Davidson or Wake is close to $70K per year btw). He is very happy at Appalachian State so all is good, but SJU has some nice scholarships based on what my neighbor down here posted.
 
A comment from a non-SJU attendee perspective; I know more than a few SJU grads, including one of my closest friends (not the person I speak about in the next paragraph), and that, along with my exposure to many SJU alums on this board proves to me the quality of education available at the school.
One anecdote, during my coaching days, I selected a young man for the team who really had no business being kept, but his over the top hard work in tryouts, commitment to improving, and probably most important, his exemplary character manifested in rooting for and completely supporting his teammates made him an unusually valuable 12th man. He went to SJU and went on to become a very successful lawyer, successful monetarily but, not surprisingly, successful in the legal work he does free of charge for the elderly, veterans, anyone really who is less fortunate. He has a “second business”, almost all built up through word of mouth; and after he vets you and deems the need legitimate, is all in regardless of the cost. Luckily for me, he has chosen to keep me in his life and we have talked once a month or so since he graduated and went to college and very occasionally get together for dinner. I know the continuation of his growth into adulthood and his career was very much affected by his experience at St. John’s. That to me is much more exemplary of the quality education available at the school than any “list”.
 
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Hes made some nice hires but maybe Gempesaw himself is just a nice placeholder, but not really a transformative leader. The next President should be someone from Northeastern. A senior level person who was there during Northeasterns rise and knows the ins & outs of how to get there
 
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