Gustavus Ranked Top 30 in the Nation

 Did you hear? Very deserved recognition for our wonderful institution! We know, as a private liberal arts institution, we strive incredibly hard to make Gustavus affordable.  If you're curious to see how much Gustavus will cost for you then fill out our Net Price Calculator on our website.  

   Gustavus Adolphus College has been recognized by MONEY Magazine for excellence in four separate categories in its 2016-17 Best College Rankings. The College ranks in the top 30 on the magazine’s lists of Most Affordable Private Colleges, Best Colleges for Merit Aid, Best Colleges that Add the Most Value, and Best Colleges You Can Actually Get Into. Gustavus is also listed as 74th overall out of 705 institutions on MONEY’s Best Colleges list.
    Gustavus ranks 28th on the list of the 50 Most Affordable Private Colleges, which comprises high-quality private schools that score best for affordability. Through financial aid packages or tuition prices, the total cost of a four-year education at colleges on the list is below the average for private colleges. Each of the colleges on the list also ranks in the top half of MONEY’s overall rankings.
    On MONEY’s list of the 50 Best Colleges for Merit Aid, Gustavus comes in at 29th. The list highlights colleges that have merit aid budgets, average at least $6,000 in grant aid per year, and award merit aid to at least 20 percent of undergraduate students. The College’s 29th place ranking is the best in Minnesota on the merit aid list.
    Gustavus ranks 28th on the magazine’s list of the 50 Best Colleges That Add the Most Value. MONEY uses what they refer to as “a comparative-value grade” to assess how each college helps students achieve better-than-expected outcomes based on their academic and economic background. The rankings take into account graduation rates, earnings, and student loan repayment data. Gustavus also ranks first in Minnesota on the added value list.
    For MONEY’s list of the 50 Best Colleges You Can Actually Get Into, the magazine compiled colleges with rigorous academics that admit at least 51 percent of their applicants. Gustavus, whose incoming class generally averages a 3.7 high school grade point average and 27 composite score on the ACT, ranks 22nd.
    Overall, the College is 74th out of the 705 colleges and universities on MONEY’s Best Colleges list. The methodology includes rankings based on quality of education, affordability, and outcomes, with each of the areas counting for one-third of the total score.
    “MONEY Magazine’s rankings focus on how outstanding colleges provide affordability and a strong return on investment,” Dean of Financial Aid Doug Minter ’79 said. “We’re proud to support students from all walks of life as they seek a challenging and rewarding educational experience on the hill.”

Gustavus Explores Digital Humanities through Mellon Grant

Gustavus Adolphus College is using a three-year, $100,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation to implement January Interim Experience courses that explore the digital humanities. The six courses offered this month emphasize collaboration, are project-based, and explore how digital

media shapes meaning and can be used to research and present to both academic and broad public audiences.

“Digital humanities offer opportunities for students to incorporate and utilize technology inside and outside the classroom,” said Glenn Kranking ‘98, professor of history and Scandinavian studies. “It’s not about re-imagining the humanities, but using modern tools to apply different lenses to analyze and show data.”

The six January Interim courses cover everything from “Food and Communication” to “Digital Literature: Editing and Publishing an Online Literary Magazine” to “Local and Global Depictions of the War on Drugs.”

Now in its first year, the Mellon grant is designed to support offerings for sophomore students entering their fifth semester. Gustavus elected to offer the courses during January term because it allows for intensive study and focus on the subject. The number of course offerings are scheduled to increase to eight next year and 10 in 2018. Faculty who wish to teach a January digital humanities course fill out an application and attend a weeklong summer workshop once they are selected.

“The digital humanities classes offer students an opportunity to develop through their coursework a reflective, integrative, and more focused understanding of the connections and possibilities underlying a liberal arts degree. This will be immensely helpful as students move toward graduation and beyond,” Associate Provost and Dean of Arts and Humanities Paula O’Loughlin said.

The digital humanities are a natural fit for a generation of students who have been described as digital natives. “Our students are using technology every single day,” Kranking said. “This is a way that we can connect students’ technology skills with the academic disciplines and give them something to show to employers or graduate schools as examples of what they can do.”

One other benefit of the Mellon grant is that it exposes faculty members to the digital humanities. “It’s introducing professors to these ideas, approaches, and methodologies with the hopes that they will then bring the digital humanities back to their other classes,” Kranking said.

Kranking is also applying the digital humanities to his own research on the movement of populations from Estonia to Sweden. “I had all of the information before, but now I’m interacting with it in a different way and can draw different conclusions,” he explained. “By building a digital map, I can explore the dynamics of the migration, search by age range or profession, and visualize the data.”

“This is a new way to reach more people,” he continued. “Oftentimes the work of academics is consumed only by other academics. By incorporating digital projects, we can reach a broader audience.”

Visit the Gustavus digital humanities website to learn more.  

Article Courtesy of Gustavus.edu.  Questions or concerns, please contact Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication JJ Akin, jakin@gustavus.edu  

Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication