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How College Works
Constrained by shrinking budgets, can colleges do more to improve the quality of education? And can students get more out of college without paying higher tuition? Daniel Chambliss and Christopher Takacs conclude that limited resources need not diminish the undergraduate experience. How College Works reveals the decisive role that personal relationships play in determining a student's success, and puts forward a set of small, inexpensive interventions that yield substantial improvements in educational outcomes.
At a liberal arts college in New York, the authors followed nearly one hundred students over eight years. The curricular and technological innovations beloved by administrators mattered much less than did professors and peers, especially early on. At every turning point in undergraduate lives, it was the people, not the programs, that proved critical. Great teachers were more important than the topics studied, and just two or three good friendships made a significant difference academically as well as socially.
For most students, college works best when it provides the daily motivation to learn, not just access to information. Improving higher education means focusing on the quality of relationships with mentors and classmates, for when students form the right bonds, they make the most of their education.
At a liberal arts college in New York, the authors followed nearly one hundred students over eight years. The curricular and technological innovations beloved by administrators mattered much less than did professors and peers, especially early on. At every turning point in undergraduate lives, it was the people, not the programs, that proved critical. Great teachers were more important than the topics studied, and just two or three good friendships made a significant difference academically as well as socially.
For most students, college works best when it provides the daily motivation to learn, not just access to information. Improving higher education means focusing on the quality of relationships with mentors and classmates, for when students form the right bonds, they make the most of their education.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published February 17, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
July 22, 2014
This is quite possibly the most banal piece of social science/sociology of higher ed/ed theory ever conceived. It's 178 pages of truisms and, perhaps, an interesting insight or 2 (max) along the way. I credit the authors for their earnestness -- they really do think they're on to something and that theirs is a critique with transformative potential. But good golly, Molly, could theirs be a more Polly-Anna-ishly obvious critique? And could they not have ventured just one bold new proposal? No spoilers here. Suffice it to say, the proposals herein are of the blandest sort.
This book was published by Harvard U Press, and it was awarded the press' "prize for an outstanding publication about education and society"(!). I can only figure higher ed-themed manuscript submissions to the HUP formed an otherwise thin gruel this year, or that the press' award committee doles these prizes out to all comers. The only alternative, it seems, is that How College Works truly is an example of what passes for cutting edge in its field. If it is, then I would modestly urge that someone assess the efficacy of the training that schools of education provide. If this be social science (let alone award winning social science)...
This book was published by Harvard U Press, and it was awarded the press' "prize for an outstanding publication about education and society"(!). I can only figure higher ed-themed manuscript submissions to the HUP formed an otherwise thin gruel this year, or that the press' award committee doles these prizes out to all comers. The only alternative, it seems, is that How College Works truly is an example of what passes for cutting edge in its field. If it is, then I would modestly urge that someone assess the efficacy of the training that schools of education provide. If this be social science (let alone award winning social science)...
August 10, 2016
Short and easy to read, this is the definitive guide to learning how students experience small liberal arts colleges. Written about Hamilton College in New York, using research funded by the Mellon Foundation, this book is certainly a useful read for anybody that cares about small liberal arts colleges.
The authors clearly state that students are their basic unit of analysis, which distinguishes it from many books about higher education. Books about liberal arts colleges tend to be written by college presidents or high level administrators and focus much more on policy, and this doesn't. It's more finely grained than that. One might even argue that they miss or understate some of the benefits of institution wide initiatives. One of Hamilton's distinguishing aspects is its writing programs and the authors perhaps miss how that became so deeply embedded in the culture of the college by focusing so narrowly on students.
How College Works, happily, is not one of those books that considers liberal arts education in crisis or in need of defense, it instead just states with great detail how the impressive benefits that colleges like Hamilton bring to students (improving writing, speaking, critical thinking, confidence, etc.) come to be and how such colleges impact students for the rest of their lives.
The authors clearly state that students are their basic unit of analysis, which distinguishes it from many books about higher education. Books about liberal arts colleges tend to be written by college presidents or high level administrators and focus much more on policy, and this doesn't. It's more finely grained than that. One might even argue that they miss or understate some of the benefits of institution wide initiatives. One of Hamilton's distinguishing aspects is its writing programs and the authors perhaps miss how that became so deeply embedded in the culture of the college by focusing so narrowly on students.
How College Works, happily, is not one of those books that considers liberal arts education in crisis or in need of defense, it instead just states with great detail how the impressive benefits that colleges like Hamilton bring to students (improving writing, speaking, critical thinking, confidence, etc.) come to be and how such colleges impact students for the rest of their lives.
January 20, 2016
The usual measures of colleges involve programs, courses, and faculty. Chamblis argues that these leave out the crucial dimension of student experience. When we look at college from the perspective of students, Chamblis suggests, the questions become: What do most students get from those cool programs and courses? How many of those stellar faculty do they actually study with?
When looked at from the perspective of students, Chamblis argues, the key issue in college is relationships: Who are my friends? Who are my mentors? The challenge for college adminstrators and faculty is thus to provide as many opportunties as possible for students to come into contact with transformative others: teachers, mentors, friends.
So far, I'm sold. But I'm not sure about how the argument spins out. Chamblis seems as taken by the relationships formed by sports teams and greek societies as by those between teachers and students. As someone who went to a liberal arts college and felt pretty distant from my fellow students, who largely came from a very different social class than I did, but who felt energized by my teachers, who were as interested in books and ideas as I was, I'm not convinced that all forms of connection are worth equal endorsement.
When looked at from the perspective of students, Chamblis argues, the key issue in college is relationships: Who are my friends? Who are my mentors? The challenge for college adminstrators and faculty is thus to provide as many opportunties as possible for students to come into contact with transformative others: teachers, mentors, friends.
So far, I'm sold. But I'm not sure about how the argument spins out. Chamblis seems as taken by the relationships formed by sports teams and greek societies as by those between teachers and students. As someone who went to a liberal arts college and felt pretty distant from my fellow students, who largely came from a very different social class than I did, but who felt energized by my teachers, who were as interested in books and ideas as I was, I'm not convinced that all forms of connection are worth equal endorsement.
February 4, 2023
"The fundamental problem in American higher education is no longer the availability of content, but rather the availability of motivation." Chambliss and Takacs make the case, based on a decade of research at Hamilton College, that what students need to succeed in college is 2-3 good friends and 1-2 great professors, and that without both these sufficient and necessary elements, they will leave unsatisfied and perhaps un-degreed. When students feel that their work matters to someone important, they rise to the challenge.
The most interesting finding, in my view, was how much impact, especially on students' writing ability, the first few weeks of college had compared with the rest of their college careers.
Why won't MOOCs overtake the traditional college? Because what students crave and what makes their learning possible is the face-to-face communication that occurs in a classroom and especially one-on-one with a professor in her office AND with friends in the dorm, on a study abroad trip, in the cafeteria, or at a party. Significant, wider networks of weak connections are forged in these places, and these wider networks lead to jobs.
The most interesting finding, in my view, was how much impact, especially on students' writing ability, the first few weeks of college had compared with the rest of their college careers.
Why won't MOOCs overtake the traditional college? Because what students crave and what makes their learning possible is the face-to-face communication that occurs in a classroom and especially one-on-one with a professor in her office AND with friends in the dorm, on a study abroad trip, in the cafeteria, or at a party. Significant, wider networks of weak connections are forged in these places, and these wider networks lead to jobs.
May 30, 2017
I'm reading this for a book club, but so far I find it pretty long-winded. There is a lot of information that seems pretty obvious without too much rigorous analysis (discourse or coding or otherwise, yet).
My boyfriend explained it best:
Me: I don't like this book.
Boyfriend: What's it about?
Me: [reads the back jacket cover of the book] "human interactions remain central to most students' college experience[s]."
Boyfriend: Yeah, partying. You could just look at their Facebook pages.
Bingo.
---
Now, I recognize there are interesting bits; one or two professors or friends can inspire and change a student's life. That's great to know.
My boyfriend explained it best:
Me: I don't like this book.
Boyfriend: What's it about?
Me: [reads the back jacket cover of the book] "human interactions remain central to most students' college experience[s]."
Boyfriend: Yeah, partying. You could just look at their Facebook pages.
Bingo.
---
Now, I recognize there are interesting bits; one or two professors or friends can inspire and change a student's life. That's great to know.
October 28, 2014
There were a few things in this book I found valuable for my work in higher education, but most of the observations were nothing new to me. The main thing I found disappointing was that they didn't flesh out their main conclusion - that the key to success is to put the "right" people together. That includes having the "right" teachers in freshman-level classes. Although they danced around the edges of it, the authors didn't say HOW to identify who the right teachers are. I guess that will come in the sequel.
December 26, 2014
Some good ideas, but not an overwhelming amount of unique content. I felt like the later chapters were repetitive of previous ideas and a little self-congratulatory.
December 1, 2019
How College Works is focuses on the student experience — really how college works for students, measured by long term student satisfaction. The College in question is Hamilton College in upstate NY. Hamilton has less than 2,000 students and a billion dollar endowment.
The book is one of those books which make three or four essential points, and then fills out the rest of 200 pages with repetition and anecdotes, but the key points are important, and not necessarily obvious or intuitive. The key to improving education in a college, the author’s think, is found less in the organization of programs than in the deployment of people.
The most important component to the student experience is human contact — starting with the friends they make. The most important period for establishing friendships and social contact is in the first weeks of school. The friendships students make not only sustain the students through their college years, but are often viewed by alumni as the most valuable results of their college experience.
Careful planning by a college (and the students themselves) can enhance students ability to expand their social network. Sports, clubs, musical and theater experience and other inter mural activities involving many students help expand student contacts, as do long dorm hallways in freshman and sophomore years, shared bathrooms, dining halls, and other communal locations around campus.
Another strong influence on long term student satisfaction is faculty mentorship, particularly for female students. This may take relatively little effort from the faculty. As little as one dinner at a faculty member’s home can make a significant difference in how the student responds to the college.
Other student decisions are also subject to early influences. Picking classes and even majors is often a random opportunistic process. The most important decision point to picking classes may be scheduling. The most important factor in picking a major may be the first professor a student has in a field (which may be a result of scheduling). A great freshman year professor will draw students to her field like flies. A bad one will send students running to other majors. One lesson in this is to schedule the best teachers to teach freshman, and give them the most desirable time in the day. Keep the poorer professors for senior seminars. They may be more fun to teach, but they are of little import to the student’s overall experience.
The selection process is particularly acute in STEM class. Some students won’t take STEM at all. Others are dissuaded from all STEM classes by one poor professor in a freshman class.
Small (seminar) classes are also vastly overrated. If the student faculty ratio is fixed, then for each small class there is a correspondingly large class. If the large class is excellent, it affects many more students. Again, put the best profs in the large classes.
The book is one of those books which make three or four essential points, and then fills out the rest of 200 pages with repetition and anecdotes, but the key points are important, and not necessarily obvious or intuitive. The key to improving education in a college, the author’s think, is found less in the organization of programs than in the deployment of people.
The most important component to the student experience is human contact — starting with the friends they make. The most important period for establishing friendships and social contact is in the first weeks of school. The friendships students make not only sustain the students through their college years, but are often viewed by alumni as the most valuable results of their college experience.
Careful planning by a college (and the students themselves) can enhance students ability to expand their social network. Sports, clubs, musical and theater experience and other inter mural activities involving many students help expand student contacts, as do long dorm hallways in freshman and sophomore years, shared bathrooms, dining halls, and other communal locations around campus.
Another strong influence on long term student satisfaction is faculty mentorship, particularly for female students. This may take relatively little effort from the faculty. As little as one dinner at a faculty member’s home can make a significant difference in how the student responds to the college.
Other student decisions are also subject to early influences. Picking classes and even majors is often a random opportunistic process. The most important decision point to picking classes may be scheduling. The most important factor in picking a major may be the first professor a student has in a field (which may be a result of scheduling). A great freshman year professor will draw students to her field like flies. A bad one will send students running to other majors. One lesson in this is to schedule the best teachers to teach freshman, and give them the most desirable time in the day. Keep the poorer professors for senior seminars. They may be more fun to teach, but they are of little import to the student’s overall experience.
The selection process is particularly acute in STEM class. Some students won’t take STEM at all. Others are dissuaded from all STEM classes by one poor professor in a freshman class.
Small (seminar) classes are also vastly overrated. If the student faculty ratio is fixed, then for each small class there is a correspondingly large class. If the large class is excellent, it affects many more students. Again, put the best profs in the large classes.
May 17, 2019
There is nothing earthshaking about the findings of this decade-long, social science study of student experience at Hamilton College in upstate New York; but I am gratified that so many of the authors’ assessments line up with common-sense notions that I’ve reached on my own during more than forty years of college teaching. One reason I think the authors have it right is that I teach at a conservative religious college with open admissions, seemingly at opposite poles from the authors’ own secular, highly selective institution.
The authors elaborate the following basic ideas in remarkably lucid prose:
1. crucial student decisions are often “shaped by minor contingencies of scheduling, availability, and happenstance.” (156)
2. early college experiences are often the most decisive.
3. students need to find friends among their peers quickly, and old-fashioned, long-halled dormitories are one way to encourage them to do just that.
4. students need to encounter good teachers early in their college career.
5. most students need to find a faculty mentor—not to be confused with their academic advisor, who is often just a cipher.
6. small gestures on the part of faculty (even simply learning student names) can have a profound impact on student development.
7. a few professors often have a vastly disproportionate influence over a large numbers of students.
8. the benefits of a residential college include learning how to engage in appropriate social relationships and how to develop sound habits of work and thought.
9. because education demands personal relationships, people themselves are more important than strategic planning, student learning assessments, or technological innovation.
One anecdote: a decade ago I interviewed many older alumni of my own school for the college archives. When I asked what aspect of the institution they thought had changed for the worse since their attendance, many mentioned the elimination of family style meals at which attendance had been required and seats had been assigned and then rotated. What seemed curious to me at the time now makes perfect sense. By assigning and rotating dining common seats, the college had limited the influence of cliques, indefinitely prolonged what today is a comparatively limited window of opportunity to make new friends, and better encouraged the identification of individuals with the entire college community.
The authors elaborate the following basic ideas in remarkably lucid prose:
1. crucial student decisions are often “shaped by minor contingencies of scheduling, availability, and happenstance.” (156)
2. early college experiences are often the most decisive.
3. students need to find friends among their peers quickly, and old-fashioned, long-halled dormitories are one way to encourage them to do just that.
4. students need to encounter good teachers early in their college career.
5. most students need to find a faculty mentor—not to be confused with their academic advisor, who is often just a cipher.
6. small gestures on the part of faculty (even simply learning student names) can have a profound impact on student development.
7. a few professors often have a vastly disproportionate influence over a large numbers of students.
8. the benefits of a residential college include learning how to engage in appropriate social relationships and how to develop sound habits of work and thought.
9. because education demands personal relationships, people themselves are more important than strategic planning, student learning assessments, or technological innovation.
One anecdote: a decade ago I interviewed many older alumni of my own school for the college archives. When I asked what aspect of the institution they thought had changed for the worse since their attendance, many mentioned the elimination of family style meals at which attendance had been required and seats had been assigned and then rotated. What seemed curious to me at the time now makes perfect sense. By assigning and rotating dining common seats, the college had limited the influence of cliques, indefinitely prolonged what today is a comparatively limited window of opportunity to make new friends, and better encouraged the identification of individuals with the entire college community.
April 19, 2018
Interesting book that may have been better as a series of essays, articles, or blog posts. Compelling info that seemed a bit redundant at times. The biggest takeaways: people matter more than just about anything else, seemingly small/inconsequential choices can have a huge impact, and people matter just about more than anything else.
Wasn't a long read at just about 200 pages, but could have been more succinct. Or maybe I missed the abridged version someplace. An explanation of the methodology and qualifications is appropriate, but made for dry reading at times. I'd want that in a peer reviewed article, I'd want a mention of it during a presentation, but here I didn't care. Report your findings and recommendations.
Depends on your source and why you are reading, but I enjoyed it. Currently, I'm a PhD student and a part-time instructor and the audience wasn't always clear. I think students, instructional faculty, and administrators would all have some positive takeaways, but it wasn't clear whom the authors were addressing when. I believe reworking the organization would help.
Wasn't a long read at just about 200 pages, but could have been more succinct. Or maybe I missed the abridged version someplace. An explanation of the methodology and qualifications is appropriate, but made for dry reading at times. I'd want that in a peer reviewed article, I'd want a mention of it during a presentation, but here I didn't care. Report your findings and recommendations.
Depends on your source and why you are reading, but I enjoyed it. Currently, I'm a PhD student and a part-time instructor and the audience wasn't always clear. I think students, instructional faculty, and administrators would all have some positive takeaways, but it wasn't clear whom the authors were addressing when. I believe reworking the organization would help.
September 15, 2018
An interesting and thought-provoking read on student experiences of college, and how individual faculty and administrators can intervene to improve those experiences, and thus education. That causality -- that student experience will indeed have a measurable and significant on the education that faculty see as central to the mission of the institution -- is one of the authors' main claims. By their own admission, they don't spend much time on issues of systemic inequality that drastically affect students' ability to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by college. But the work is well-researched and clearly animated by an earnest desire to see college communities succeed, students and faculty and admin alike. As a member of the academic precariat, I found both reinforcement for despair and reason for hope here.
June 14, 2017
This is the best book I've read on higher education. It highlights the importance of RELATIONSHIPS and reiterates that our students are people, not numbers! I highly HIGHLY recommend this to anyone who works in higher education or parents of future college students. It is a privileged viewpoint because the students that the book follows are at an elite private institution; nevertheless, their points ring true for every college student and every institution.
March 7, 2018
I question some of their methods (i.e., what questions were asked in the interviews? why edit the transcripts? why discount demographic variables from the analysis and not probe deeper there? did you talk to a linguist?) but overall it has some interesting insights/takeaways. I disagree completely with their idea that teachers can't improve/change so we shouldn't bother to try, but I see why they reduce their recommendations to the basics in the end.
November 16, 2018
Conclusion: people, not programs.
September 30, 2020
A good intro to higher education for me. Love the emphasis on the importance of people.
August 8, 2024
Had to read this for school. Hated every moment.
December 18, 2017
As an enrollment services professional, I am always looking for ways to bring the academy to life for the students and families we recruit. This book provides the results of an in-depth research study at a small liberal arts college in New York. The results of the study are simple — students want to be engaged with their faculty and staff.
September 2, 2014
This is a thought-provoking book and I liked it very much. It attempts to determine what we (faculty, administrators, students) can do to make the college experience better for students. This book, as opposed to most books on learning that I read, did not focus on pedagogy but rather on the entire experience. Chambliss argues, based on student and alumni surveys, that learning takes place not only in the classroom; in fact, the most important outcomes of college is based on face-to-face interactions in dorms, in student groups, in coffee shops and, even, in classrooms. Hence the essential task is to have students meet key people, in key places, at key times in their college career.
As a faculty involved in governance, I'm still thinking about, especially, the notion of how to use the "best teachers for maximum impact" and the "arithmetic of engagement" argument. These two issues really suggest quite different ways of allocating our scarce resources (faculty) - I also wonder how this kind of thinking affects people's incentives. Is it really realistic to put our "best" (how to define this is a whole other can of worms) professors in large introductory courses so that our "worst" can take it easy in small seminars, teaching their favorite little topic? The same is true for advising and extracurricular activities?
As a faculty involved in governance, I'm still thinking about, especially, the notion of how to use the "best teachers for maximum impact" and the "arithmetic of engagement" argument. These two issues really suggest quite different ways of allocating our scarce resources (faculty) - I also wonder how this kind of thinking affects people's incentives. Is it really realistic to put our "best" (how to define this is a whole other can of worms) professors in large introductory courses so that our "worst" can take it easy in small seminars, teaching their favorite little topic? The same is true for advising and extracurricular activities?
August 2, 2014
Every summer, I try to read at least one book that's recently come out regarding my chosen profession of higher education. Often, they are scathing criticisms of what is wrong with higher ed. This one, refreshingly, does not fall into that category. Based on research done at Hamilton College, a place very similar to Gettysburg College, the authors conclude something that most student affairs people have known all along-- students need friends to thrive; the social part of college is essential to the learning part. Friends, and later , adult mentors, make he biggest difference in success and thriving in college. One of the single greatest predictors of satisfaction in college is whether a student has ever been invited to the home of a professor ( perhaps even an administrator!)
As a student affairs person, I have to say I didn't learn much from the book, although I enjoyed the reminders. Even in our line of work, it is easy to become enamored with new programs, new approaches to the work. These authors have some smile, but radical, advice. Find out who is having the greatest impact on students and out the most students into contact with that person. This ought to be required reading for every professor and academic administrator!
As a student affairs person, I have to say I didn't learn much from the book, although I enjoyed the reminders. Even in our line of work, it is easy to become enamored with new programs, new approaches to the work. These authors have some smile, but radical, advice. Find out who is having the greatest impact on students and out the most students into contact with that person. This ought to be required reading for every professor and academic administrator!
May 16, 2014
This is an excellent read for any higher ed professional, especially those who have a lot of contact with first and second year students. It's particularly useful for those of us who work at small private colleges, as the authors are both affiliated with a similar institution (Hamilton College), which is the basis for their research and conclusions.
January 5, 2016
Some good insights (e.g. assessment) but no real surprises for liberal arts college faculty. Very repetitive; surprised that the role of social media was not considered as a significant part of student experience.
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August 1, 2014378 C4459 2014
January 5, 2015
Interesting to read from the perspective of my alma mater written by a f0rmer professor. Gave me things to think about for some of the projects we are working on.
July 12, 2016
"It's all socio-emotional, stupid" is not a hard sell with this reader.
April 24, 2015
Excellent and clear view of college through the student's eyes. All college administrators should read this book.
(Coincidentally my first Kindle book completed - way late to the dance).
(Coincidentally my first Kindle book completed - way late to the dance).
April 15, 2016
Official read for the Ashesi retreat in May 2016. An easy read, all about a small liberal arts college in upstate New York. With lessons for all of us.
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June 27, 2018Useful account of this research team's study of their own college's student experience. Translatable to similar colleges (small liberal arts residential). A good read.
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