8 Percent of alumni give to Rutgers

[rutgersguy1]

This thread and the thread about the NJ upper middle class kids has more common than meets the eye. It's not the school, its New Jersey. Kids at all schools have the same issues kids at Rutgers have in getting into classes and getting shitty dorm rooms etc. Yet most of Rutgers grads stay in NJ, the most affluent state in the country, with the best job market in the country, with the best schools in the country, with the best culture in the country, in the most diverse population in the country etc., etc., etc., and can't squeeze a dime out of their pocket in support of the University that helped them get where they are. While kids in many other states freely give back to their alma maters.

When I read this I was wondering about that. I don't have experience at another school to really comment but is there anything different between the RU Screw and what goes on with bureaucracies at other large schools. RU Screw has the ring to it but is there a UNC screw, UVA screw, PSU screw, etc...Others who have experience with other large educational institutions can comment but is there anything really unique to RU with regards to this? I mean the bus system issues is one unique thing I could think of but outside that I don't know.

 

[RUfinal4]

part of this is NJ and socioeconomics along with politics.

Since the state provides funds to Rutgers they can force the school to give no advantage to 2nd and 3rd generation kids applying. As mentioned Rutgers gets a lot of 1st generation college kids. While affirmative action is not a rule in some cases the inner city minorities do get a nudge in college admissions to the state school over the upper middle class non-minorities.

What happens when a 2nd or 3rd generation kid gets denied Rutgers admission? Well, it is possible that the family who wrote donation checks each year will stop.

Now the 1st generation kid who may be from a blue collar family is not in a position to give donations. The parents may not be able to donate, unless they have become very successful.

It is a tough situation when you have a good student from an underprivileged minority community being compared to a similar student from an upper middle class community.

I personally do think there should be some kind of legacy policy but to what extent should it exist? Should they hold 100 slots each year for legacies that don't qualify via normal methods? Should a legacy just get a little nudge (like unofficially getting an extra .1 to their GPA and 20 points to their SAT)? Should family giving to the University over the years help their application?

 

[Phi_1055]

When I read this I was wondering about that. I don't have experience at another school to really comment but is there anything different between the RU Screw and what goes on with bureaucracies at other large schools. RU Screw has the ring to it but is there a UNC screw, UVA screw, PSU screw, etc...Others who have experience with other large educational institutions can comment but is there anything really unique to RU with regards to this? I mean the bus system issues is one unique thing I could think of but outside that I don't know.

I put my two kids through out-of-state public universities and we never had any issues or problems. My brother put four kids through different universities and the only one that gave him any headaches was RU. My sister had one at RU and one at TCNJ and only RU caused problems.

 

[RU Mike73]

Exactly. Unfortunately, too many of our alumni are blinded by some nonsense & hold a vendetta instead of trying to make it better.

Or are just plain cheap.

 

[RUJohnny99]

His parents are definitely giving him a full ride but he's not intentionally trying to take a 5th year. And being closed out of a class is not uncommon at many schools. It would be unfair to misquote this parent but her son is a physical therapy major and there seemed to be some sort of change in their program recently, but I really don't recall exactly how it affected the son's schedule but it did. Perhaps someone on this board knows more about that than I do.

Maybe the standards have gotten easier since I was on campus, but in the mid-90s PT was a 5 year program. Maybe helicopter mom forgot to mention she was told that in the dozens of meetings she's held with her ambitious kid's academic advisor.

 

[Scarlet Pride]

Fair enough, except I think the average season ticket holder has maybe 2 tickets. I know a lot who have just one.

How many of those single ticket holders have their own season ticket account? How many of them are pooled in with others under one name? I know several groups of people that pool everything together. Each one only counts as one season ticket holder and one donor.

 

[RUInsanity]

Love it when Penn St posters come here to tell us how bad the RU experience is for parents.

 

[RUJohnny99]

Really? A parent had to handle this for her college-age son? Once I went off to college my parents told me I was now an adult and would have expected me to handle something like this on my own. Her son may be in for a real rude awakening when he enters the "real world" after college. Is she going to go on job interviews with him, too?

Geez. PSUlyn makes me feel guilty for making my 7th graders work out their school issues without mom & dad stepping in.

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

Seems that people go out of their way to make up or find any excuse not to donate, even if it is only $25.

As long as they NEVER EVER complain about coaching or facilities on this site then they can do that... maybe.

 

[Scarlet Pride]

Always be wary of numbers quoted by schools.Many schools play with numbers to make them look better. That PSU number is wildly inaccurate and the Princeton number is no doubt an undergraduate alumni only number (leaving out the much lower percentages of graduate degree alumni).

For instance, many universities will only count the percentage of those alumni that have specifically been asked to give (by mail or phone or otherwise) vs. those that have given. This allows them to drop large numbers of alumni that have not given ever and or in an extended period of time from their calculations. Others report the numbers they want like Princeton. Others add an "alumni donation" into event fees. Others will run gimmicky low dollar donation campaigns to bulk up their percentages.

Rutgers has historically given clean data. Total number of alumni from all campuses and total number of alumni from all campuses that have made a donation. Rutgers giving rate is on par with many of its peers but does lag behind its aspirational peers like Michigan, UVA and others. Rutgers needs to increase the giving percentages but some of these comparisons make it seem much worse based on entirely false numbers and/or comparing apples to oranges.

The giving percentage is less important than total giving and average gift. You can say all you want about it reflecting student experience, loyalty, etc, but that isn't an equal measure across the board. As someone already pointed out, schools that cater to high wealth students will start out with an advantage. Those that have a high percentage of lower income and first generation students will always lag behind in giving. Studies have shown that to be true.

Again Rutgers needs to do more but the picture that is painted by some is way off base. It's the same as those that lament Rutgers not getting a $100 million gift yet as if they are commonplace.

 

[srru86]

Love it when Penn St posters come here to tell us how bad the RU experience is for parents.

Good job on the fundraising by the PSUers.

Not so good on the diversity. See if you can spot the differences.

Penn State University Park

Undergraduates 38,826

Ethnicity of Students from U.S.
0.1% American Indian/Alaskan Native
6.0% Asian
4.7% Black/African-American
6.0% Hispanic/Latino
2.5% Multi-race (not Hispanic/Latino)
0.1% Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander
79.2% White
1.4% Unknown


Rutgers NB/P

Undergraduates 33,900

Ethnicity of Students from U.S.
0.1% American Indian/Alaskan Native
26.4% Asian
8.0% Black/African-American
12.7% Hispanic/Latino
3.4% Multi-race (not Hispanic/Latino)
0.3% Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander
47.0% White
2.1% Unknown

http://www.collegedata.com/

 

[MozRU]

1. I lived in Jersey and now in Mass. Both are wealthy states. In both, the wealthy are not high on the State U's, IMO. Both value over paying for private schools. But seriously, where would GTown or Nova be without BBall?

2. I work with guys who did not grown up in those states and went to PSU and Mich and are vocal about donating. I guess when you are blind to those states issues, it fine to stop in for 4 years, return home, and think you are very cool.

*If Rutgers isn't serious about winning football, nothing will change. No, 8-5 and going to one of the 80 bowls isn't winning. Losing by 50 in those 5 loses isn't competing. Those paying to attend schools out of state are telling you that. Not Moz.

 

[Caliknight]

I used to give money every year, usually $200-$300 (not a fortune I know). Then, when my son applied to the school they made it so adamant that he will not get special privilege even though both his parents graduated from there. On the tour someone from the school told him to his face that he would not get any treatment and on the online application big alerts would flash on the screen saying he would not get treated differently but wanted his parents information for alumni fundraising only. I did not expect him to get special treatment and would not have respected the school if he had, but it was a slap in the face the way they handled it. There were other schools that we had family connections to - they said the same thing but not nearly as "in-your-face" and disrespectful about it. Really turned me off. Just my 2 cents.

That is awful. And I disagree. Legacy students should absolutely get special treatment. It won't happen at RU, but it sure does at some schools ranked higher than RU.

 

[srru86]

But seriously, where would GTown or Nova be without BBall?

Catholic and St. Joes.
Or as I tell my SHU friends, "Without RU turning down the Big East back in the day you'd be St Peter's with a mediocre law school.

 

[rutgersal]

There is something wrong with that number.
The number of seats at HPSS that require a seat gift is greater than 8% of our living alumni.

True, people can hold multiple seats, and not all football ticket holders are alumni, but it's just too low to even make sense.

I would like to see it broken out by class year, or at least by decade. Is this an older alumni problem, or a younger alumni problem. Of course Rutgers has grown so rapidly that the younger alumni far outnumber the older ones.

Not true. There are 31,000 season tickets sold. Not all of these tickets require a seat gift. Even if you assume these are individuals and add on Audi club seats etc, you come up with less than 35,000. The number of living alumni given is 455,000. 10% of this is 45,500. 8% is 36,400. So, as far as I'm concerned, the numbers are in the ballpark.

 

[Scarlet Pride]

That is awful. And I disagree. Legacy students should absolutely get special treatment. It won't happen at RU, but it sure does at some schools ranked higher than RU.

It won't happen at RU because it's a public university and they have taken the position that making admissions decisions based on bloodlines is not equal opportunity. I don't know if the state specifically forbids it by law but I know the university considers it a forbidden practice based on legal reasons.

 

[RUScrew85]

Heh heh lots of mentions of the RU Screw in this thread.

 

[rutgersal]

Fair point, Blue, but to me the % of alums who give is less important than the number and amount of major gifts. The % stat is useful as a reflection of the demographics of alums (first generation college kids) and of their views of their RU experience (apparently negative) , but even if 30% gave and most of the gifts were small it would be immaterial to RU's ability to do what it needs to do to upgrade facilities, etc. to attract the top students and increased 5 of affluent kids it needs to make a leap to the next level. It's kind of a viscious cycle or Catch-22 here.

Yes, but if people gave only a minimal amount, of $25, our US News ranking would be significantly boosted. Just getting alumni to give something is the first step. Later on, it'll be easier to ask people to increase their donation. Our ranking should be on par with MD and PSU, IMO, but instead, we're down the list. Rutgers should be sending automated emails to alumni, asking them to give.

 

[RU85inFla]

When I read this I was wondering about that. I don't have experience at another school to really comment but is there anything different between the RU Screw and what goes on with bureaucracies at other large schools. RU Screw has the ring to it but is there a UNC screw, UVA screw, PSU screw, etc...Others who have experience with other large educational institutions can comment but is there anything really unique to RU with regards to this? I mean the bus system issues is one unique thing I could think of but outside that I don't know.

I can comment on UF and FSU and the answer is yes. They are big schools. They are tough to get around in. My son graduated as a stats major from UF and after trying for ungodly amounts of time I had to get on the phone and threaten to sue them if they didn't let him in the one class he needed to graduate. The class was an OR class (stats elective) offered in engineering I think. My other son is at FSU and is supposed to graduate in May but is locked out of two classes he needs to graduate. He visited two different advisors when he was back at school and now has to take a day off of work (working as a Physical Therapist assistant) to drive out to tallahassee - 3 hours both ways - to try and get this resolved because they don't answer the phone in a timely manner between patients.

You hit the nail on the head. Folks from NJ think this only happens to them and gives them an excuse to not support Rutgers. It happens everywhere. To not support your University is sad.

 

[sct1111]

His parents are definitely giving him a full ride but he's not intentionally trying to take a 5th year. And being closed out of a class is not uncommon at many schools. It would be unfair to misquote this parent but her son is a physical therapy major and there seemed to be some sort of change in their program recently, but I really don't recall exactly how it affected the son's schedule but it did. Perhaps someone on this board knows more about that than I do.

There is no such thing as a physical therapy major. You need to go to 3 years of post grad PT school to get a DPT degree to practice physical therapy. Maybe he was an exercise science major. I was an exercise science major and it's true that many of the classes were extremely full and filled up fast and it is a credit intensive major. However, I was able to finish in 4 years with 2 minors by taking summer classes at my community college and had AP credits which let me sign up for classes a day earlier than most of my peers. While it's true that Rutgers does you no favors with their over saturated classes and advisors who don't really help, as a college student you have every resource yourself to figure it out yourself.

I can see how it is frustrating though. I had multiple encounters in my Rutgers academic career with incompetence from administration and student services.

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

For the last time:

Legacy students are for Private Schools. It is rarely used by state schools in the United States.

There is also a legal argument against legacy preferences in public schools, which argues that they violate the Nobility Clause of the U.S. Constitution by creating a hereditary privilege.

http://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_lawreview/vol84/iss6/2/

 

[RickDaglessMD]

So I graduated NB in 2010 and graduated from Camden law in 2013. While my donating capacity is limited right now due to debt and saving for a wedding, my intent as of this moment is to give targeted donations to the athletic department and law school only, but not the university at large. Maybe that will change as time goes by.

For one thing, the RU screw is very real. And to a point, that's understandable, it's a university of 50K or more counting grad students, so stuff is bound to happen. But the response from anyone in administration when anything happened was extremely off-putting. At best, they were ambivalent, and at worst they were downright hostile. Then, add that with all the normal inconveniences of going to a large school. Buses are late, and it takes forever to get across campus. Classrooms are relics from the 1960's. Little stupid stuff that, taken by itself isn't so bad, but when added together becomes a problem, and it's not too hard to see why students become disenchanted with the school and are reluctant to donate even as little as $20.

Most importantly, as has been discussed in various posts, there's no real identity to the school. There's nothing about Rutgers that I felt made my experience unique from one that I could have gotten anywhere else. I took my classes and I participated in extracurriculars, but there just never seemed to be that feeling of campus-wide unity and community like you see at other large state schools. And I think that's the biggest problem. The need to work on the brand identity and packaging the school, not just to the pool of applicants, but to the current students as well.

All of this was in stark contrast to the law school. Granted, the law school was much, much smaller, but there was always that feeling of community and identity, and collegiality between students and administration.

 

[RUJMM78]

The fact that over 90%of alumni don't even contribute $25 a year is a very bad perception problem and very similar to the reaction of top tier NJ recruits having a disconnect with Rutgers.Marketing and media relations need improvement.

 

[BigLou]

Good job on the fundraising by the PSUers.

Not so good on the diversity. See if you can spot the differences.

Penn State University Park

Undergraduates 38,826

Ethnicity of Students from U.S.
0.1% American Indian/Alaskan Native
6.0% Asian
4.7% Black/African-American
6.0% Hispanic/Latino
2.5% Multi-race (not Hispanic/Latino)
0.1% Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander
79.2% White
1.4% Unknown


Rutgers NB/P

Undergraduates 33,900

Ethnicity of Students from U.S.
0.1% American Indian/Alaskan Native
26.4% Asian
8.0% Black/African-American
12.7% Hispanic/Latino
3.4% Multi-race (not Hispanic/Latino)
0.3% Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander
47.0% White
2.1% Unknown

http://www.collegedata.com/

Diversity numbers really have nothing to do with this thread but I know how much you enjoy dinging PSU. To put some context to these numbers lets compare each school to the state as a whole:

Rutgers - as compared to the State as a whole:
Asian RU - 26.4%, NJ 9.2% (RU at 287% of State)
Black - RU 8%, NJ 14.7% (RU at 54% of State)
Hispanic RU 12.7%, NJ 18.9% (RU at 67% of State
White RU 47% NJ 57.6% (RU at 82% of State

PSU - as compared to the State as a whole:
Asian PSU 6% - %, PA 3.1%% (PSU at 194% of State)
Black - PSU 4.7%%, Pa 11.5% (PSU at 41% of State)
Hispanic PSU at 6 %, Pa at 6.3% (PSU at 95% of State)
White PSU 79.2% Pa 83.2% (PSU at 95% of State)

While RU is more diverse, PSU does not fair as badly as you would think when compared to Pennsylvania as a whole. In each case, Asians are over represented at the expense of all other groups.

 

[Scarlet Pride]

The fact that over 90%of alumni don't even contribute $25 a year is a very bad perception problem and very similar to the reaction of top tier NJ recruits having a disconnect with Rutgers.Marketing and media relations need improvement.

I don't see any similarities between the two. And is it a perception problem when you consider that 90% of alumni from the overwhelming majority of universities do not contribute to their alma mater?

 

[LandingLane]

technically, if you have a season ticket with a seat fee attached, you are giving too. for my two seats in 108, $50 each. my donation is required and not voluntary. so puts a little more perspective on that 8% number.....

 

[mdk01]

For the last time:

Legacy students are for Private Schools. It is rarely used by state schools in the United States.

There is also a legal argument against legacy preferences in public schools, which argues that they violate the Nobility Clause of the U.S. Constitution by creating a hereditary privilege.

http://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_lawreview/vol84/iss6/2/

That's pretty tenuous legal argument. And the fact is that Michigan and UVA give legacies a boost. An interesting case is UNC. They give legacies preference if they are applying from out of state. No break for North Carolina residents. Love that tuition differential.

 

[Scarlet Pride]

So I graduated NB in 2010 and graduated from Camden law in 2013. While my donating capacity is limited right now due to debt and saving for a wedding, my intent as of this moment is to give targeted donations to the athletic department and law school only, but not the university at large. Maybe that will change as time goes by.

For one thing, the RU screw is very real. And to a point, that's understandable, it's a university of 50K or more counting grad students, so stuff is bound to happen. But the response from anyone in administration when anything happened was extremely off-putting. At best, they were ambivalent, and at worst they were downright hostile. Then, add that with all the normal inconveniences of going to a large school. Buses are late, and it takes forever to get across campus. Classrooms are relics from the 1960's. Little stupid stuff that, taken by itself isn't so bad, but when added together becomes a problem, and it's not too hard to see why students become disenchanted with the school and are reluctant to donate even as little as $20.

Most importantly, as has been discussed in various posts, there's no real identity to the school. There's nothing about Rutgers that I felt made my experience unique from one that I could have gotten anywhere else. I took my classes and I participated in extracurriculars, but there just never seemed to be that feeling of campus-wide unity and community like you see at other large state schools. And I think that's the biggest problem. The need to work on the brand identity and packaging the school, not just to the pool of applicants, but to the current students as well.

All of this was in stark contrast to the law school. Granted, the law school was much, much smaller, but there was always that feeling of community and identity, and collegiality between students and administration.

This is actually a great example of making much about nothing. You say the RU Screw is real but everything you mention it is pretty much a symptom of all large institutions - particularly public ones. It's not unique to Rutgers. Do you think students have glowing reviews about the bus system at others schools? Or the average classroom? I've spent time on over 100 college campuses speaking with students, staff, and faculty. The complaints you hear are very similar across the board.

Which brings us to another point you make that there's no real identity to the school that makes it unique. What tangible differences do you see at other schools? Or is it just a feeling? A feeling that as an outsider you may think exists but as a student at that school may not exist at all.

I think we have a tendency to project an image on other schools as some magic place where everyone loves the school, the facilities are amazing, and life is grand. If only Rutgers was like this school or that school but yet we like to talk about how people perceive Rutgers as a public ivy the further you get from NJ. And we complain about NJ residents who don't know Rutgers think of it as less than it is. See others can project an image on Rutgers too.

 

[Phi_1055]

FWIW, the President of the Rutgers University Foundation thinks the campus buses, the administrative red tape and customer service issues are issues that impact alumni donations.

"There are explanations for the relative lack of alumni participation. Although most former students will say they got a first-rate education at Rutgers, they will also point out that the student experience wasn’t so great. For many students who graduated from one of the schools at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, for instance, it might have been dealing with the buses, or the chronic entanglement in administrative red tape, or the general sense of a lack of customer service. These negatives have been addressed. “As students graduate with a great education and a great experience, it will be easier for Rutgers to invite them to make gifts,” says Kessler, pointing out that the foundation and the Department of Alumni Relations have teamed up to begin a student philanthropy and engagement program to raise awareness early in students’ academic careers to help them understand the value of giving and its role in funding Rutgers."

http://magazine.rutgers.edu/features/playing-the-percentages

 

[vkj91]

Love it when Penn St posters come here to tell us how bad the RU experience is for parents.

This. Why do you guys continually debate a women who only comes here to complain about RU or talk about how great PSU is? Ignore her and maybe she will leave like she promised months ago.

 

[mal359]

Weren't there a lot of Rutgers alumni who opposed "big time" sports? That culture is also still alive and well among current undergrads; they probably would have gone to Penn State or UConn if they wanted to go to a school that worshipped the football and basketball teams. Rutgers is neither of these schools, and that's something to be embraced.

 

[RUfinal4]

Diversity numbers really have nothing to do with this thread but I know how much you enjoy dinging PSU. To put some context to these numbers lets compare each school to the state as a whole:

Rutgers - as compared to the State as a whole:
Asian RU - 26.4%, NJ 9.2% (RU at 287% of State)
Black - RU 8%, NJ 14.7% (RU at 54% of State)
Hispanic RU 12.7%, NJ 18.9% (RU at 67% of State
White RU 47% NJ 57.6% (RU at 82% of State

PSU - as compared to the State as a whole:
Asian PSU 6% - %, PA 3.1%% (PSU at 194% of State)
Black - PSU 4.7%%, Pa 11.5% (PSU at 41% of State)
Hispanic PSU at 6 %, Pa at 6.3% (PSU at 95% of State)
White PSU 79.2% Pa 83.2% (PSU at 95% of State)

While RU is more diverse, PSU does not fair as badly as you would think when compared to Pennsylvania as a whole. In each case, Asians are over represented at the expense of all other groups.

Could some of this be where the PSU system steers some of the minorities to the satellite campuses? If a minority from Philly is just below the borderline maybe PSU directs them to the PSU campus locally while wait listing at the main campus where RU may use affirmative action to put that kid over the borderline.

 

[JerseyShoreKnight]

I admittedly don't know anything about the RU Screw but I do know at least two parents of current students who have vowed not to give a dime to RU past what they are required to pay for tuition. They feel that their kids were duped by being forced to take five years to complete their bachelors instead of four because of the schedule of offerings and being closed out of classes. Their kids are taking fluff classes because they can't get into the classes they need. I will say that I know this definitely occurs at other large institutions and is not just a RU problem, but that is one issue that I've heard about that has some folks tearing their hair out. Will it affect how those kids donate when they graduate? Don't know.

I actually transferred to RU after getting my Associate's at my local CC. I am one of 4 children and for a while my parents had 2 children in college at the same time (I'm their 2nd). They needed a way to save and saw that I had my eye on RU. Simplest way was to go to CC (which my aunt conveniently worked at so she could answer all of our questions) and have my credits transfer over. Problem was that, despite me being in my 3rd year when I arrived at RU, my Associate's did not fulfill all of the pre-reqs for my major/school so I was viewed as a sophomore. I needed an extra semester to graduate (had no problem with that), but had to wait an extra day to register for classes. So I ended up taking TWO Friday morning classes in the same semester. And after I finished the pre-reqs for my school/major, ALL of my classes were core requirements. My Associate's fulfilled the Gen Ed requirements so no easy electives like Dance Appreciation. Was it difficult? Of course. But I wanted to do it, and it was worth it. I just walked at my convocation and commencement in May after receiving my degree in January. I will definitely donate, but I have to pay off these student loans and save up first lol.

Ask your friends if their kid used the schedule planner tool and spoke with an advisor before scheduling. My advisor gave me a curriculum with the pre-reqs in the middle of my first semester so I could easily plan out my schedule for the rest of my time in school. He can check ahead of time when certain courses are being taught and how many sections are available. Then he can pre-schedule the courses so when it comes time to register for them, he register for every course at once with the push of a button, instead of having to individually select his schedule and race against the clock. The tool also notifies you when a section you want has closed so you can adjust your schedule ahead of registration day/time. If he didn't do it, he should start immediately because I've heard of students getting locked out of classes they want, but there's always another class available that they need to take (a core elective, a class that fulfills a Gen Ed requirement). Their schedule may not be ideal (i.e. can't go out on Thursdays, have to wake up early) but they do it.

 

[Scarlet Pride]

FWIW, the President of the Rutgers University Foundation thinks the campus buses, the administrative red tape and customer service issues are issues that impact alumni donations.

"There are explanations for the relative lack of alumni participation. Although most former students will say they got a first-rate education at Rutgers, they will also point out that the student experience wasn’t so great. For many students who graduated from one of the schools at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, for instance, it might have been dealing with the buses, or the chronic entanglement in administrative red tape, or the general sense of a lack of customer service. These negatives have been addressed. “As students graduate with a great education and a great experience, it will be easier for Rutgers to invite them to make gifts,” says Kessler, pointing out that the foundation and the Department of Alumni Relations have teamed up to begin a student philanthropy and engagement program to raise awareness early in students’ academic careers to help them understand the value of giving and its role in funding Rutgers."

http://magazine.rutgers.edu/features/playing-the-percentages

Yes of course they are issues that impact donations and student satisfaction but they are not unique to Rutgers. The point being that this not some Rutgers specific problem.

 

[JerseyShoreKnight]

I used to give money every year, usually $200-$300 (not a fortune I know). Then, when my son applied to the school they made it so adamant that he will not get special privilege even though both his parents graduated from there. On the tour someone from the school told him to his face that he would not get any treatment and on the online application big alerts would flash on the screen saying he would not get treated differently but wanted his parents information for alumni fundraising only. I did not expect him to get special treatment and would not have respected the school if he had, but it was a slap in the face the way they handled it. There were other schools that we had family connections to - they said the same thing but not nearly as "in-your-face" and disrespectful about it. Really turned me off. Just my 2 cents.

Can you elaborate on this? Do you mean he wouldn't get special treatment for housing and class registration or was it more about the admissions process. I don't know anyone that had every received special treatment WHILE they were at school, but if their parents were alums and/or donors they were be considered for admission over a student with similar grades/test scores without any family connections. Maybe they were just trying warn him so he didn't get an unfortunate surprise?

 

[Beancounter88]

Can you elaborate on this? Do you mean he wouldn't get special treatment for housing and class registration or was it more about the admissions process. I don't know anyone that had every received special treatment WHILE they were at school, but if their parents were alums and/or donors they were be considered for admission over a student with similar grades/test scores without any family connections. Maybe they were just trying warn him so he didn't get an unfortunate surprise?

After we took the bus tour, we went to a big room at the recruiting center on Busch. The speaker asked the students if any had parents that graduated from Rutgers. My son raised his hand and said both. The woman came right over to us and said to his face "you will receive no special consideration since your parents attended here. All we need are scores and grades - we know every high school in the state." Same thing happened while filling out the online application. None of us expected special treatment since it is a state school, but it was pretty harsh how they did it. We knew he'd get in because of his grades and scores regardless - and he did. Then, of course, I get non-stop calls to my house starting the following week asking for money saying how much they appreciate the alumni.

 

[srru86]

While RU is more diverse, PSU does not fair as badly.

You're not using whole system numbers are you? Even if those are just UP there is still quite a disparity.
Diversity is a rough short hand for affluence. Student family income not easy to track. But having 75% of your students from the most historically advantaged group might have an impact over a place with less than 50% when talking about giving.

 

[Phi_1055]

Yes of course they are issues that impact donations and student satisfaction but they are not unique to Rutgers. The point being that this not some Rutgers specific problem.

The president of the RUF is quoted in Rutgers Magazine citing these as reasons for low donation rates and I think we can believe he has access to research and data, not merely opinion, that support his claim. Whether or not they are unique to RU is irrelevant.

 

[JerseyShoreKnight]

After we took the bus tour, we went to a big room at the recruiting center on Busch. The speaker asked the students if any had parents that graduated from Rutgers. My son raised his hand and said both. The woman came right over to us and said to his face "you will receive no special consideration since your parents attended here. All we need are scores and grades - we know every high school in the state." Same thing happened while filling out the online application. None of us expected special treatment since it is a state school, but it was pretty harsh how they did it. We knew he'd get in because of his grades and scores regardless - and he did. Then, of course, I get non-stop calls to my house starting the following week asking for money saying how much they appreciate the alumni.

Okay, now I understand. That's really messed up. That would piss me off as well.

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

You're not using whole system numbers are you? Even if those are just UP there is still quite a disparity.
Diversity is a rough short hand for affluence. Student family income not easy to track. But having 75% of your students from the most historically advantaged group might have an impact over a place with less than 50% when talking about giving.

Asians are not disadvantage. So it is 73% not less than 50%