There are small but strong universities in the world. Despite their small number of students and tiny campuses, they are not overwhelmed and they take the lead with their specificities. The book ‘Small But Strong Universities’ introduces those universities.
  The book introduces Cooper Union located in New York State. There are only 900 students in total, composed of 150 students in the College of Architecture, 500 students in the College of Engineering, and 250 students in the College of Arts. There are a couple of buildings, but there is neither a canteen nor enough space in the school library. Cooper Union, therefore, made an agreement with nearby schools, such as New York University and Parsons New School for Design, to share their libraries. Nevertheless, Cooper Union is such a prestigious university that it is harder than MIT for students to gain admission.
  The reason a number of elites go to that school is that it provides 4-year scholarship to every enrolled student. Another distinct feature of Cooper Union is its lavish investment on academic facilities. It has high-level equipments in laboratories, which most other graduate schools usually do not own.
  Carleten College in Minnesota, where Barrie M. Osborne, the producer of The Lord of the Rings, graduated, got a favorable assessment from the New York Times. The journal said, “It is a College of Liberal Arts with a high level of education among well-known universities in New England, and it gives students freedom.” In the Carleten College, parties around bonfires are held every Wednesday on Mai-fete Island with all students and professors drinking beer amicably. On Fridays, about 500 students and professors gather together and take lectures from specialists, and this event has been held for more than 10 years.
  A culture of debating is one of the features of this school. Major policies of the school are chosen by student debates. There was the abolishment of vending machines in the school after 3 hours of debates when the unjust employment of Coca Cola was unveiled. Strengthening basic studies, such as Humanities and Natural Sciences, is one of its notable forms of education. Freshmen don’t choose their majors for 2 years and should take classes in Politics, History, Philosophy, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and others. Then, they can choose their major if they submit 3 different essays and a 30-pages thesis and pass.
  Beside the schools mentioned in this book, there is also a small but strong university in Korea, too. Postech(Pohang University of Science and Technology) limits the number of Freshmen to 320. Postech utilizes education of a select few, and it also focuses on research as well as education. One student from Postech said, “Since my school is tiny, I can be familiar with my colleagues like in a middle or high school. Therefore, I can feel a sense of belonging and help others. The thing I like the most in my school is that we have friendly relationships with professors. My professors can call all of our names and 4 of us have an advisor who helps us throughout our studies and career.”

By Shin So-hyeon
sh36@cbnu.ac.kr
By Lee Sang-yi
sy36@cbnu.ac.kr