A College That Will Change Your Life

What makes Kalamazoo College unique?

This is the question higher education expert Loren Pope answers in his essay on Kalamazoo College in the book Colleges That Change Lives. According to Pope, Kalamazoo College is distinctive due to the way it combines liberal arts coursework, career exploration, service learning, study abroad, and a capstone senior individualized project. Kalamazoo College invented that particular combination a half century ago and christened it the K-Plan. And though it’s been often imitated since its creation, those imitations are pale clones.

The K-Plan, writes Pope, attracts students with hungry minds and adventurous spirits who seek to develop these characteristics further. The combination of elements that compose the K-Plan offers students a chance to identify, explore, and pursue a passion. Perhaps central to the experience is study abroad (though what is central will vary according to each student’s K-Plan). For many students, the K-Plan provides the high intensity dissonance vital to significant leaps in the ability to think critically, reason analytically, solve problems, and write with eloquence.

Visit Colleges That Change Lives online