Ferris was ranked fifth best in Michigan for the “Best Bang for your Buck,” and staff and students have found things that they wish the university could do better, but have also found things that they love about attending Ferris. The university was ranked by the Washington Monthly, who in addition to ranking Ferris in Michigan, also rated Ferris 40th for the Midwest. Students and staff have several different reasons for choosing Ferris as their college.
Secondary education mathematics freshman, Vivian Cash explained that she chose Ferris for its small-town feel.
“I love that everything I needed was on one strip of road,” Cash said. “I also love how beautiful the campus is.”
Automotive engineering freshman Anna Xander also shared her biggest interest that Ferris had to offer.
“I choose to come to Ferris because of the small class sizes,” Xander said. “Instead of sitting in a big lecture hall with a professor who you don’t know, here at Ferris I know who my professors are which makes it a much better learning environment.”
According to Fremont University, a class size of twenty students results in professors having more time for individual attention, increased class participation, and better communication between the instructor and the students. Furthermore, in the same study from Fremont the article stated that it is proven that students perform better and learn faster in a smaller class size.
Despite ranking fifth for the most things to do with the tuition price, there are still some things that students have not been fans of on campus.
“One thing that I dislike about Ferris is that the class is less hands on than I expected,” Xander said. “I took a couple classes at a community college last year in the automotive program and it was a lot more hands on than here at Ferris.”
Cash also stated that the food offered on campus was repetitive and felt that the meal plan was “a waste of money.”
While it seems that a big draw for students to Ferris would be the pleasing aesthetic of the campus, professors at Ferris may have different reasons for choosing to work for Ferris. Dr. David White is an associate professor in the school of criminal justice. He chose to come teach at Ferris because his family was originally from Michigan, however there are some more personal reasons for staying at Ferris.
“It was great to settle into a department where most of my colleagues also had careers in the field before we all started to teach,” White said. “Together, we are able to share those experiences and bridge the gap between theory and practice in a way that I think helps our students. Ferris was built on a foundation of preparing students to get jobs and it is because of the experience that our teachers bring to the program that our students become highly sought after they graduate.”
Overall, Ferris has been chosen by staff and students for the features that it has to offer that allow some students to continue to go to Ferris despite finding somethings they don’t like about it.