Big vs. small: Campus size matters

Many students have deliberated whether to attend a big campus
like UCLA or to seek enrollment at a small college that may have as
few as 2,000 students. What advantages does one system ““ big
or small ““ have over the other? And what might motivate a
student to choose one style rather than the other?

Some small colleges are among the most distinguished in the
nation ““ Occidental, Pomona, Haverford, Vassar, Reed and
others. But for more than four decades I have taught at UCLA
““ a sprawling urban campus with more than 33,000
students.

It’s obvious that adventurous students, who see themselves
as independent and able to achieve personal goals even within the
challenging waves of competition, may choose UCLA instead of a
small college. Rather than feeling swamped within classes that can
often reach 300 to 400, these students revel in the opportunities
to meet new companions. They see the inexhaustible facilities of
UCLA: Our libraries equal to the best anywhere, our athletic
equipment, the exciting urban environment. During the academic
year, students can attend some kind of lecture, conference, or
theatrical event almost every day or evening.

The faculty has teaching loads that are lighter than those at
small colleges, but they are also expected to advance their field
of knowledge through research and scientific publication. Those who
fail to do so must be asked to leave. Students sometimes howl in
protest at the loss of a popular teacher, but this duty is clearly
set forth before appointment to a UCLA or a Berkeley.

Personally, I believe this system is right. If there was no new
research done, progress in medicine, science and humanities would
stagnate.

So what of the small college? Here is where the less confident
student may find more support. The faculty may be one instructor
for every 10 students instead of one for every 100.

Classes in the more popular subjects ““ history,
anthropology, English, chemistry ““ are going to be much
smaller. The instructor can perceive when students are having
trouble, because he or she will grade papers and examinations
personally, while at UCLA graduate students usually take on this
task.

Such careful attention can often lead to more focused teaching.
Relations between professors may be more intimate and cordial, but
when tensions arise they can be harder to smooth away. An angry,
difficult colleague in a small department can poison the air and is
not likely to obtain a permanent appointment.

My own department, history, happens to have the largest faculty
size of any department in America. And we are aware of the
often-heard complaint, “Students never see a full
professor.” This reproach, however, is exaggerated by the
press.

We, and other departments as well, have traditionally
“spent more money” on our big introductory courses, by
staffing them with tenured associate or full professors. Yes,
History 1 is taught by both a professor and several teaching
assistants, but these are graduate students on their way to Ph.D.
degrees and careers of their own. They are chosen because they are
perceived as the most talented, disciplined students in the
department.

And they are getting practice in the art of teaching. The
lecturer, talking to 300 to 400 students, cannot get to know many
of them personally, so the counseling must be passed on to the
assistants. But even in such a large department, there are
opportunities for small classes in the form of undergraduate
colloquia with enrollment limited to 15.

Some departments, classics, linguistics, near eastern studies
and others often have the kinds of small classes that the bigger
departments cannot provide. Perhaps a student in one of the big
departments would benefit from selecting such a department for a
few courses. Such a choice would offer an experience like those
available at the elite private colleges.

Both systems then, have their merits and difficulties. I admit I
prefer the power and variety of the large campus. More visiting
lecturers blow through, things and people change, the humming
atmosphere never grows stale. But one fact remains: A student who
is determined to learn, who will not be denied, and who will not
let the system overwhelm them, can learn anywhere.