By Faith Gonia
Known for their creative thinking, endless inquiry, and community participation, Reedies—of Reed College—have quite a reputation. The private liberal arts college is located in Portland, Oregon, and received a ranking of #19 in most innovative schools.
Two famous Reedies exemplify Reed’s contemporary ideals. First, Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, attended Reed in 1972. While the famous inventor did drop out for personal and monetary reasons (read more about Reed’s above-average tuition below), Jobs illustrates the epitome of Reed culture: free-thinking. Revolutionizing the technological world, Jobs challenged the bounds of the telephone. Second, for those who chose Nickel and Dimed as their summer reading book in Bryce Hadley’s English II Honors class, talented author Barbara Ehrenreich also identified as a Reedie, graduating from the school in 1963.
About Reed’s tuition: refusing merit-based scholarships, the institution asks for a grand 66,710 dollars per year, not including room and board. Although the cost is steep, the college promises to “meet 100 percent of the demonstrated needs of all admitted students.” Nonetheless, their tuition is nearly 20,000 dollars greater than the nationwide average. Despite their lack of application fee, Reed’s tuition makes their school highly inaccessible for the average high school student.
Reed’s costly tuition marks it similar to many other small liberal arts colleges. With an undergraduate class of around 1500 and a selective acceptance rate of 44 percent, Reed’s resources are abundant; their students, high-achieving.
Furthermore, the campus harbors Tudor-Gothic style architecture surrounded by rich nature. Taking advantage of the area’s nature is easily accessible for students; for example, the Reed Outing Club offers an opportunity for students to attend and plan their own outdoor trips. However, the community at Reed extends far beyond the campus’s plentiful trees. Academically, Reed grants students a unique opportunity to share their individual passions and interests. Paideia, Reed’s annual “Weeklong Festival of Learning,” celebrates the notion of simply learning. Students and faculty can attend and teach courses on, well, simply anything. From a class on Lightsaber Fighting, which my interviewer noted as their favorite, to “Intro to Synthetic Psychology,” the opportunities are endless.
To be a Reedie is to be original. The college’s unofficial motto speaks for itself: “Communism, Atheism, Free Love.”