FROM BOISE TO...ANYWHERE THEY WANT

COLLEGES ATTENDED

Sometimes, people make claims about the quality of this program or that in preparing students for college, as if the unique program (International Baccalaureate, for example) does a better job of preparing students to access "elite" colleges than the opportunities offered in the Boise District.

The fact is that Boise District students who have achieved excellent grades and taken their share of music, art, and Advanced Placement coursework can attend college anywhere they choose. Many are restricted, obviously, by cost and perhaps by proximity.

Most students from the Boise School District who have earned a Bachelor's degree attended Boise State University or the University of Idaho. Here's a compilation of the 30 colleges from which Boise District students in the classes of 2008-11 received 10 or more Bachelor's degrees.

As you can see, each of the 30 colleges is in the west, and 2/3 are public colleges and universities. It's interesting to note the popularity of the University of Utah and the University of Oregon, and of Gonzaga University in Spokane. 

However, over 350 Boise students have attended and graduated from some of the other most respected out-of-state colleges and universities in the country. Here's a sampling of those colleges.

California - Santa Clara University, University of San Francisco, University of San Diego, Pepperdine University, Stanford University, USC, UCLA, Harvey Mudd College, Pomona College

Colorado - Colorado College, Colorado School of Mines, University of Denver

Connecticut - Wesleyan University, Yale University

District of Columbia - Georgetown University, George Washington University

Georgia - Emory University

Illinois - DePaul University, Northwestern University

Indiana - Purdue University

Massachusetts - Tufts University, Brown University, Harvard University, Amherst College, Boston University, Bowdoin College, Wellesley College

Maryland - Johns Hopkins University

Maine - Colby College

Missouri - Washington University, St Louis University

North Carolina - Duke University, Wake Forest University

New Jersey - Princeton University

New York - Cornell University, Vassar College, New York University, Rochester Institute of Technology

Ohio - Case Western Reserve University, Denison University

Oregon - Reed College, Lewis and Clark College, Pacific University, Linfield College

Pennsylvania - University of Pennsylvania, Lehigh University, Swarthmore College, Villanova University

South Carolina - Clemson University

Texas - Rice University, Baylor University

Virginia - Washington and Lee University, College of William and Mary

Washington - Pacific Lutheran University, Seattle University, Seattle Pacific University

Wow! That's quite a list of colleges, each in its own way requiring strong preparation for attendance and graduation.

Next, a look at the undergraduate degrees earned by students in the classes of 2008-11, and at the students from the class of 2008 who are still enrolled in a degree program, 7 years after high school graduation.