Loren Pope, author of "Colleges That Change Lives" and other influential college guides, was selected by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) to receive its 2007 Award for Advocacy of Independent Higher Education. The award was presented Feb. 6 by NAICU President David L. Warren during a luncheon at the NAICU annual meeting at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. McDaniel President Joan Develin Coley introduced Pope and thanked him on behalf of the 400 independent college and university presidents in attendance at the NAICU conference.

The NAICU Advocacy Award was established in 1993 to recognize individuals outside of academe who have championed the cause of independent nonprofit higher education.  No single contribution makes one eligible to receive the award.  Instead, it recognizes a lifetime of service, initiative, and determination.

Pope, a former New York Times education editor, is best known today for his books Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College, and Looking Beyond the Ivy League, Finding the College That’s Right for You.  Both are lauded for helping countless students and families over the past decade make thoughtful choices about college. McDaniel College was chosen by Pope for inclusion among the 40 schools that he advocates make a real difference in the lives of their students. Colleges like McDaniel, Pope claims, are known for their ability to serve students with a wide range of abilities and produce top-notch scientists and scholars. “They exhibit a strong sense of community and focus on collaborative learning both in and outside the classroom setting.”

“In an era of quantification, ranking, and oversimplification, a clarion voice continues to call out to students choosing a college,” said NAICU President David L. Warren.  “For his commitment to seeking a more informed approach to assessing colleges, fostering an enlightened approach to higher education, and his dedication to looking at substance rather than style in assessing colleges, we are honored to present the 2007 Award for the Advocacy of Independent Higher Education to Loren Pope.”

Pope became concerned about the lack of useful consumer information on institutions as a father, when his children started to reach college age.  Pope, who had been a Washington Evening Star editor, returned to the news business in 1952, starting an education column for the Gannett Newspapers. 

That followed with his being named the New York Times’ education editor. 

In the mid-1960s, he founded the College Placement Service, one of the nation’s first independent college counseling services.

Pope published his first book, The Right College: How to Get In, Stay In, Get Back In, in 1970.  It was followed by several magazine articles and the nationally-syndicated Twenty Myths That Can Jinx Your College Choice, published in both the Washington Post Magazine and Readers’ Digest. 

The third edition of Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College was published in summer 2006.  The book features 40 institutions that actively engage students in their education through discussion classes, the opportunity for independent study, international education, service learning, and a culture that fosters significant relationships with teaching faculty and mentors.  Thirty-eight of the 40 life-changing institutions are private colleges and universities. 

Colleges That Change Lives, Inc., a nonprofit, charitable organization, is an outgrowth of Pope’s work, and an effort to continue to promote his philosophy on a national and international level. Martha O’Connell, former McDaniel vice president for Enrollment Management, now serves as CTCL’s director.

NAICU serves as the unified national voice of independent higher education.  With nearly 1,000 member institutions and associations nationwide, NAICU reflects the diversity of private, nonprofit higher education in the United States.  NAICU members enroll 85 percent of all students attending private institutions.  They include traditional liberal arts colleges, major research universities, church- and faith-related institutions, historically black colleges, Hispanic-serving institutions, single-sex colleges, art institutions, two-year colleges, and schools of law, medicine, engineering, business, and other professions.