Posted by USF ALUMNA on 6/3/2009, 7:56 pm, in reply to "Re: and......"
I concur with what has been said by Donscentral, Don and Dons69. When I arrived at USF, we were told that our class had the highest GPA and SAT scores in the history of the school. It was many years before those scores were matched. We were a baby boom year so it was a time when parents were required to educate their children simultaneously with the school system.
USF has high academic standards and many people I have met would love to go there but they are blown away by the cost. The majority of the students need financial aid. Occasionally, I run into alumni who have children who were able to go to USF. There are some alumni who make excellent money and they are ineligible for aid. They also have other children to support so balancing education and its cost becomes a monumental task.
USF has provided and continues to provide a quality education. Every day of my life, I utilize some skill that I learned at USF in the classroom and on the campus. Father Smyth, one of our many brilliant Jesuits, taught a course on historical methodology and research. That has impacted me in every job (paid or volunteer). The philosophical courses honed my reasoning skills (and I accidentally ended up with a minor in philosophy and the planned one in English).
When I have had the opportunity to speak with students currently enrolled, I am impressed by their intelligence and their dedication to the University. Our alma mater is turning out a graduate that we all can be proud of. I have encountered some in the working world and I have watched them develop as successful and humane people as well as dedicated workers.
That statistic is a number that does include whatever factors need to be considered.