Colleges That Change Lives began as a college educational guide first published by Loren Pope in 1996, that went through three editions prior to his death in 2008. The fourth and final edition, revised by Hilary Masell Oswald, was released in 2012.
The current non-profit, 501(c)(3), Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL) which was founded in 1998, is based on Pope's books.
Background
CTCL: The book Colleges That Change Lives began as a book that served as a guide to Pope's categorization of specific colleges in the United States. It was first published in 1996, with a second edition in 2000, and a third edition in 2006. The final fourth edition (2013-2014) was published in 2012 after Pope's death, and was revised by Hilary Masell Oswald. The fourth edition profiles 40 choices for colleges and universities that, "have one primary mission: educate the undergraduate. Each appeals to a slightly different type of teenager, but they all share a mission to raise students' trajectories and develop thinkers, leaders, and moral citizens. The little-known truth is that these colleges have been on the cutting edge of higher education for decades. Many of them have outperformed most of the ranking sweethearts in the percentages of graduates who become America's scientists and scholars."Pope, Loren. Revised by Hillary Masell Oswald. Colleges That Change Lives, 2013-2014 edition, 2012, p. 3.
CTCL: The non-profit Colleges That Change Lives, Inc. (CTCL) was founded in 1998 as an expansion of Pope's books. It was established two years after the first edition and "independent of Mr. Pope (although with his blessing) and his publisher." It is recognized as a non-profit, 501(c)(3). According to the CTCL website: Colleges that Change Lives Inc. (CTCL) was established to "as a way to keep Loren Pope's message alive." It is governed by a voluntary board of college counseling professionals. After the publication of the first edition of the book, the colleges "began working together as a group of like-minded schools." A few years later, the non-profit was founded with Pope's approval. Then in 2012, Pope's family "hired Hilary Masell Oswald to revise the book again. She identified four more schools, and the organization invited them to join CTCL."
List of currently active schools from the 2013-2014 edition Northeast Allegheny College — Meadville, Pennsylvania Clark University — Worcester, Massachusetts Juniata College — Huntingdon, Pennsylvania Ursinus College — Collegeville, Pennsylvania
Mid-Atlantic Emory and Henry University — Emory, Virginia (previously Emory and Henry College) Goucher College — Towson, Maryland University of Lynchburg — Lynchburg, Virginia (previously Lynchburg College) McDaniel College — Westminster, Maryland St. John's College — Annapolis, Maryland
South Agnes Scott College — Decatur, Georgia Centre College — Danville, Kentucky Eckerd College — St. Petersburg, Florida Guilford College — Greensboro, North Carolina Hendrix College — Conway, Arkansas Millsaps College — Jackson, Mississippi Rhodes College — Memphis, Tennessee
Midwest Beloit College — Beloit, Wisconsin Cornell College — Mount Vernon, Iowa Denison University — Granville, Ohio Earlham College — Richmond, Indiana Hillsdale College — Hillsdale, Michigan Hiram College — Hiram, Ohio Hope College — Holland, Michigan Kalamazoo College — Kalamazoo, Michigan Knox College — Galesburg, Illinois Lawrence University — Appleton, Wisconsin Ohio Wesleyan University — Delaware, Ohio St. Olaf College — Northfield, Minnesota Wabash College — Crawfordsville, Indiana Wheaton College — Wheaton, Illinois The College of Wooster — Wooster, Ohio
Southwest Austin College — Sherman, Texas St. John's College — Santa Fe, New Mexico Southwestern University — Georgetown, Texas
West/Northwest University of Puget Sound — Tacoma, Washington Reed College — Portland, Oregon Saint Mary's College of California — Moraga, California Whitman College — Walla Walla, Washington Willamette University — Salem, Oregon
Current list of CTCL schools The current CTCL list contains most, but not all, of the colleges from the 2013 edition, and places both branches of St. John's College under one listing. In addition, it restored The Evergreen State College and Antioch College which were included in earlier editions of the book, and Bard College, which was in the 1996 edition.
CTCL has also added colleges that were not included in the original books: DePauw UniversityDePauw University Joins Prestigious Colleges That Change Lives Organization and Oberlin College and ConservatoryOberlin Joins Colleges that Change Lives in 2024, and University of Redlands in 2025.University of Redlands joins Colleges That Change Lives
Northwest The Evergreen State College — Olympia, Washington
Northeast Bard College — Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
Midwest Antioch College — Yellow Springs, Ohio DePauw University — Greencastle, Indiana Oberlin College and Conservatory — Oberlin, Ohio
Southwest University of Redlands — Redlands, California (includes Woodbury University)
Delisted or closed/closing These colleges appeared in one or more of the original books, but are now either closed, in the process of closing, or are no longer a part of CTCL. Birmingham-Southern College — Birmingham, Alabama (now closed) Hampshire College — Amherst, Massachusetts (will permanently close at the end of Fall 2026, no longer accepting students)Hampshire College to close after years of financial struggles Marlboro College — Marlboro, Vermont (now closed) New College of Florida — Sarasota, Florida (no longer part of the CTCL schools)
Four editions
See also List of alternative colleges and universities Narrative evaluation
Notes
External links