There’s a new face — a very purple one — on the coveted U.S. News & World Report‘s Top 100 list of colleges.
Texas Christian University squeaked in at No. 99.
The report lauds TCU for its mentoring professors, vibrant academic community, and updated facilities, and describes it as friendly and diverse.
I just asked a 25-year-old Fort Worth woman who graduated from the school four years ago how she views the school.
She recalled her time fondly and agreed with the positives mentioned in the report, but said the school’s worst trait was greed. TCU raised its tuition about $3,000 each of the four years she attended.
“If you enter under one tuition you’d expect it to stay the same every year,” she said.
Instead of leaving with an expected $18,000 in debt, she owed $30,000.
But she feels lucky. She knows other TCU grads with school loans approaching $100,000.
“Academically, it’s a great school,” she said. “Small classes. Easy access to your professors, stuff you don’t normally get at an undergraduate school. It looks good on your resume. People in the area know it, and it’s powerful as far at future networking. But I would suggest doing at least one year at community college to cut the costs of your basics.”
The only other drawback: The social scene was rather snooty for people who aren’t interested in — or can’t afford — to join a sorority or fraternity.
“If you’re not interested in that, it’s difficult to get involved socially, especially for girls,” she said.
The greatest TCU graduate of all time: “Mister Cowboy” Bob Lilly, a consensus college All American who became the first draft pick ever taken by the Dallas Cowboys, won a Super Bowl, earned a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and even more impressively became the first inductee into the Cowboys Stadium Ring of Honor.
Wow, great blog post Jeff. Sure is insightful! In all seriousness, it’s good for Fort Worth to have a college gaining national attention.
Wow! TCU is a college? I thought it was a corporation. You know, like, Enron or XTO.