SJU under Harrington has done an amazing job improving the campus plant - many beatiful new buildings and dorms.
They offer scholarships and grants to 95% of students in attendance. However, the infrastrcuture is clearly second rate.
I'll vouch for us being on this list. Our school offices are the absolute worst. So undermanned for the amount of students we have.
I agree that they do a great job with students who come from underprivileged households and make it affordable to them. My mother was the daughter of immigrants and came to St. John's because it was affordable and she had no money. Now, being a middle-class white guy, it is incredibly hard to go here or any other private school since they won't give me government aid or grants.
I made better academic schools (Villanova, Fordham) but didn't get any merit-based scholarship money from them and their tuiton's were both in excess of 20K more per year than St.John's tuition. As much as I and every other student complain about our tuition, it is nothing compared to other local Catholic schools. Is the education I am getting worth the 150K in loans I will leave with? No. I could've gone to Baruch and paid it all off in cash and got an equal education. I'm not sure if would come here if I had to choose over again, but I have enjoyed my time here very much and will enter the job market more than prepared and with ample opportunity to succeed in my field.
Although helping the poor is at the core of the Vincentian mission, it is an aspect that keeps us from becoming an academic institution at the level of other Catholic schools. It is a touchy trade-off and you really can't have it both ways. Although I would love to go to a high-level academic school, the diversity at St. John's is unmatched and I think it adequately prepares the students for life in the real world. If I had gone to Fordham or Nova, I wouldn't know how to deal with people who don't speak English well, have different ways of doing work than I do, etc. but after going to St. John's you really get a grasp of what the real world is like, and that is something that can't be matched by other schools comprised completely of rich white kids walking around in sweaters with dress shirts underneath, playing frisbee, comparing rolex watches and discussing if their parents should buy them a benz or a BMW as their graduation present (all things I noticed while on Fordham's campus last weekend).
After growing up in a predominantly white area, it was a real culture shock the first couple of months at St. John's. I had never been in a class with someone whose native language wasn't English before or even hung out with someone who wasn't white. After going through my experience at St. John's I now have an appreciation for people from all walks of life while my friends who went to different schools don't get that type of experience and they have to get a crash course on it when entering the real world. That coupled with the small class-size, opportunities for internships, etc. are the true advantages of a St. John's education.
It is also great that alumni like you are looking out for the current batch of students. That is the type of connection you get at St. John's that cheaper schools do not offer.
