Despite the overall trend in the higher education industry towards the universal education, some colleges manage to maintain their unique identity. Deep Springs College in CA is one of them.
Deep Springs was founded in 1917 by L.L. Nunn, a successful entrepreneur and pioneer in electrical engineering. It is a 2-year regionally accredited liberal arts college located in the 50 attractive square miles in Deep Springs Valley, where the climate ranges from Saharan to Arctic ("Deep Springs College---A Great College and a Best-Kept Secret | The Best Schools"). Deep Springs is one of a few all male traditional non-religious colleges left in the U.S. according to www.ink.niche.com ("Men's Colleges: Only 4 Remain"). The total enrollment of the College is 26 at all times with only 13 students in a class; all of them receive full scholarship. The college enrolls motivated well-spoken intellectual males who are in top 1% of passing ACT. …show more content…
Nunn believed that self-governance teaches the future leaders the limitations and benefits of democracy. There are two rules that have never been changed since the college’s inception: no alcohol/drugs and no leaving the valley during the term. Governance structure of the College consists of elected officials and committees. All committees are comprised of 8 students and 1-2 faculty or staff members and include the Application Committee, responsible for the admission process and recommending the group of new applicants for admission; the Communications Committee, responsible for the relationship with the outside world; the Curriculum Committee, that deals with academic issues and decides on the curriculum (it is worth noting that the College employs only 3 long-time faculty and invites 3 visiting faculty for each term); and the Review and Reinvitation Committee with the functions of the Registrar’s Office. Committees report on their work during the weekly Fridays Student Body