Getting To Know: Hope College (MI)
Hope College (MI) is another member of the Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL). This 3,400 student, all undergraduate, liberal arts college has been a CTCL school since the first schools were chosen in 1996. Hope College is located in Holland, Michigan, a very nice surrounding community two hours from Chicago and has its own beach along like Michigan. I dropped an aerial photo of this beautiful campus up top and one of the Dimnent Memorial Chapel, the signature building, below. Jim Crawley, the college’s director of global recruitment, and I had a virtual conversation, which you can hear now
Hope College is one of three Christian CTCLs along with Hillsdale College (MI) and Wheaton College (IL).
Please know that there are different types of religiously affiliated colleges in the US. Several are members of the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). However, some like Hope and Hillsdale are not. I have visited several CCCU schools in my past working life, including Cedarville University (OH) and Taylor University (IN). Those schools require students to sign a declaration of faith as well as attend mandatory chapel services on campus. Hope College requires neither from its students. However, based on YouTubes that I watched, the chapel fills up for Sunday services.
Just over a quarter of all students at Hope are either undeclared in terms of their religion or members of a faith outside of Catholic or Christian teachings. However, Hope College also covers Christian aspirations proudly. The Campus Ministries office has many more programs and activities than you are likely to see at a school that has no religious affiliation, and even many that do. Hope College also emphasizes diversity and inclusion at a time when public institutions are walking away from it in many states.
Hope College has comprehensive academic offerings for a liberal arts college.
This school has much breadth for a liberal arts college. However, Hope College offers nine options to study engineering. That’s the same number as Lafayette College (PA), a popular school among students where I live, and Union College (NY), the first liberal arts college in the US to offer engineering. Hope College also offers four options to study education, majors in Exercise Science and Kinesiology, a bachelors in Nursing , four Music programs and three degree tracks in Religion. The college’s General Education requirements, called the Anchor Plan comprise a third to half of the credits for a degree. While there are more required courses than I have seen at other liberal arts schools, these requirements also make it possible for students to carry more than one minor.
Interesting to me:
- Hope College students carry a five-course load, more similar to a large research university. Most liberal arts colleges require a four-course load.
- Six credits (two courses) in religion are required, same as Jesuit schools that I have covered or visited. One course must have a Christian perspective. Hope students also explore faith and God further in a required Senior Seminar.
- The college requires only three credits (one course) in Philosophy. Other religiously affiliated schools I have covered or visited require six (two courses).
- Three courses related to diversity are required, much like I have seen at larger public universities.
I have visited only one other college like Hope: Grove City College (PA). Also a Christian college, and also not a CCCU school, Grove City College has a similarly extensive list of majors, especially with options in music, religion and exercise science. However, Grove City College does not offer nursing.
Hope College advertises a student-faculty ratio of 11 to 1. Just under 60 percent of all classes have fewer than 20 students. Less than five percent have over 40 students. But there’s a fair chance that they will have a few classes with between 20 and 40 students over four years.
The housing is part of the educational model.
Hope College has a three-year residency requirement. However, the college offers more apartment and cottage living options for upper-class students than one might expect to see at a school with 3,400 students. Three residence halls are all-female; women are 60 percent of the student body. One hall is all-male while the rest are co-ed. Greek life, which engages 15 percent of the student body, is incorporated into residence halls. Holland is a fairly well-to-do community with fairly reasonable rents. But it really makes little sense to be obligated to a lease when upper-class students have so many options on campus.
The educational model seems to work well for the students who found the fit.
The college retained 89 percent of the Class of 2027. Seventy-six percent of the Class of 2023 graduated on time, even with the interruption of studies due to the pandemic. The graduation rate is excellent for any college of any size.
Hope College is not an ultra-selective school.
The college accepted 80 percent of all applicants to the Class of 2027. The average GPA was a 3.9. Admissions are test optional and rolling. Test scores are about the same as students who chose a school like Michigan State, the University of Iowa or Iowa State. At present, 69 percent of the student body comes from Michigan. Illinois is next at ten percent, followed by Ohio at just over five percent.
Hope College works on a different pricing model than most private colleges.
Hope College advertises a lower sticker price of just under $55,000 for tuition & fees, room & board. The college has fixed tuition for the incoming Class of 2028 at $41,500/year for four years, before scholarships are applied. Sophomores. juniors and seniors pay lower tuition charges tied to the year that they entered. Merit scholarships range from $7,500 to $24,000/year though the larger awards are tied to test scores. It’s possible for an Illinois resident in the upper quarter of the class to pay less than they would to attend Michigan State, the University of Iowa or Indiana University-Bloomington if they are more interested in a smaller school. Merit awards are offered to about 40 percent of a freshman class. The average need-based award covers over half of the direct charges, which is quite generous.
Hope College has also introduced a tuition-free model, Hope Forward.
Under this model incoming freshmen has the option to sign a covenant to “pay it forward,” to please to make contributions from the heart after graduation, in exchange for free tuition and participation in a special living-learning community. Fifty-eight members of the Classes of 2025 and 2026 have agreed to make this commitment. The college’s goal is to have enough students commit to pay it forward in the present so that future students can attend tuition free. First announced just over three years ago, Hope Forward is also intended to help attract a move diverse student body. Today, interested students must complete a supplemental application to Hope Forward after they have completed the application for admission to the college. Jim told me more about the admissions process for Hope Forward in our conversation.
Athletics are important at Hope College.
The college competes in 23 NCAA D-3 (non-scholarship) sports, including football, and built some impressive athletic facilities. Cheerleading is also a competitive sport, which you won’t find at many schools this size.. The men’s and women’s swimming programs have been exceptionally successful while the women’s basketball program has won two NCAA titles since 2006. Hope competes in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA). The college has won the Commissioner’s Cup, the overall award for the most successful athletic program, 39 times, more than any other conference member school, and has taken the Cup each of the past three years. Hope College ranked 18th among all NCAA D-3 programs in the national Director’s Cup rankings as of April 1, 2024. The college ranked ahead of many far better-endowed schools including Bowdoin, Bates and the University of Rochester.
Conclusions
Hope College fits the typical profile among the Colleges That Change Lives. It offers achievable admissions, tries to be affordable, and offers academic opportunities and rigor that are found at more selective colleges. I admire the intentions behind the Hope Forward model. though it’s too early to tell if it will succeed. The campus has an expensive look and feel and the surrounding community does, too. However, while you don’t need to be Christian to come to Hope College, it helps to be Christian to take advantage of the extracurricular activities of a spiritual nature that are popular among the student body.
Report Card: Hope College (MI)
- Four-Year/Six-Year Graduation Rates: A/A
- Freshman Retention: B+
- Curriculum: A
- Costs: B+
- Comforts: A
- Community: B+
- Connections: A (Michigan/Chicago IL)/C (elsewhere)
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