re: Informative read about Auburn from the Wall Street Journal $$$

That sort of quality growth among the student body doesn’t happen by accident, and it doesn’t happen unless your university administration invests heavily in the latest technology, top faculty, updated housing options, student amenities and post-graduate opportunities. Those things cost money.

But the true measure of a university comes in two forms: 1. The value of the education received, and 2. The return on the educational investment.

In both regards, Auburn University ranks as one of the best in the nation. According to U.S. News’ 2024 rankings of the best colleges in America, Auburn grades out as a top-50 public university and landed at 177 on the list of “best value” universities. (There are more than 2,600 public, four-year universities in America.)

The fact is Auburn has bettered itself by investing in itself. It has expanded its academic offerings while also keeping pace with the ever-evolving needs of modern students. For example, the Journal piece makes a big deal of “luxe” campus housing, featuring “flat-screen TVs” (as if there is another option for TVs today), but it doesn’t mention that on-campus housing is harder to get into than a Taylor Swift concert. Open units are snapped up within minutes during enrollment periods and the university has been forced to contract with private apartment complexes to meet housing demands.

With this growth, though, Auburn officials realized an area of concern – its scholarship offerings and means-based tuition assistance. By some measures, no financial area of the university has grown faster over the past decade.

In 2013, Auburn awarded just $1.5 million (adjusted for inflation) in need-based aid. Last year, it handed out $8.4 million. That’s a 460-percent increase. At the same time, scholarships and fellowships have increased by nearly 25 percent, going from $168 million in 2013 to $209.4 million in 2022.

The fact is Auburn University has done nothing substantially different to grow its student population and better its academic standing than any other university in America. It just seems to have done it better than most.