Something special happens to people involved with small colleges. Alumni loyalty is fierce. Homecomings are important, contact throughout one's lifetime is common, annual giving levels are high. Parents together with students become engaged in the institution's life. A disproportionate share of alumni sons and daughters attend alma mater.
Faculty maintain a commitment to the college first rather than to department or discipline.
That small colleges are of value to students is clear. The answer, quite simply, is yes. From family businesses to doctors and from engineers to the highest officers of the land, graduates of small colleges succeed. Quite obviously, small colleges serve well the nation - and their communities. In doing so for two centuries, they have survived world wars, domestic strife, economic depression, and other crises.