LUTHER COLLEGE > Happenings > Luther News > Luther among Teagle Foundation’s ‘baker’s dozen’ of the nation’s high-achieving liberal arts colleges

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March 18, 2005

Luther among Teagle Foundation’s ‘baker’s dozen’ of the nation’s high-achieving liberal arts colleges

Luther College is one of a baker’s dozen of the nation’s best-performing liberal arts colleges listed in a study commissioned by The Teagle Foundation.

The study singles out colleges that achieve exceptional results in educating students. It evaluates the educational performance of the nation’s top 105 liberal arts colleges by looking at graduation rates and percentage of students that advance to earn doctoral degrees, and then referencing those numbers to the financial assets of each college.

Luther was one of the 13 colleges listed in the report as an “overachieving college,” an institution that has an exceptionally high graduation rate, has a high percentage of students who go to earn doctoral degrees, and achieves those high numbers through the efficient use of available resources.

In addition to Luther, the colleges listed among the Teagle Foundation’s baker’s dozen are (in alphabetical order) Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill.; Austin College, Sherman, Texas; Barnard College, New York, N.Y.; Bates College, Lewiston, Maine; Bennington College, Bennington, Vt.; Furman University, Greenville, S.C.; Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pa.; Knox College, Galesburg, Ill., St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minn.; St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn.; Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, Calif.; and Wofford College, Spartanburg, S.C.

The list was part of a Teagle Foundation published article by Bob Connor titled “A Report on a Study by Roger Kaufman and Geoffrey Woglom on Graduation Rates and Ph.D. Production in Liberal Arts Colleges.” The article is available on-line at www.teaglefoundation.org.

The Teagle study lauds the baker’s dozen colleges for their wise and efficient use of resources. The median net assets per student of the colleges is about $92,000, which is about one-tenth of the net assets per student of the nation’s wealthiest private liberal arts college.

The report concludes that the reasons the selected colleges are high-achievers are related “directly to campus cultures” that engage students in learning, help them grow intellectually, and create a robust intellectual life on campus that results in students “catching fire” academically. “The question…was not how much money these colleges had but what they were doing with it,” the report states.

“Luther is pleased to be recognized by the Teagle Foundation for the quality and vibrancy of our academic program,” said Luther President Richard Torgerson. “The teaching and learning culture of our campus engages students, makes them aware of their academic abilities, and gives them confidence to ask questions, seek information, discern solutions and celebrate results.

“Our goal is to graduate young men and women who have a passion for learning, analytic thinking and responsible action that will serve them not only during their college years but throughout their lives,” he said.

“I'm delighted but not surprised to see Luther among Teagle's ‘baker's dozen’ of colleges,” said Luther Dean William Craft. “Luther is a college that uses its resources well, and central among them is a faculty of teaching scholars and artists. Their sharp minds, their devotion, their determination to challenge and support each Luther student -- united with the great promise and diligence those students bring -- is the reason for this achievement.”

The Teagle Foundation, established by Walter C. Teagle, longtime president and later chairman of the board of Standard Oil Company, focuses on providing grants that promote liberal education and collaborative work among colleges and universities, especially emphasizing student learning and the systematic assessment of results.

The Foundation places special emphasis on seeing that students have a challenging, wide ranging and enriching college education. The Foundation encourages colleges to develop broad and intellectually stimulating curricula, engage students in active learning, set clear goals, and systematically measure progress toward those goals. It supports undergraduate colleges that maintain high standards and achieve good results with limited resources.

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