Evergreen State College is a small public liberal arts school located in Olympia, Washington. Evergreen is an institution that is revolutionizing the college experience. It’s innovative academic structure cultivates free thinkers. Evergreen is fostering creativity and teaching life skills needed to thrive and adapt in a rapidly changing world.

Evergreen Academics

Amidst a uniform landscape, Evergreen offers a unique and autonomous curriculum structure, encouraging students to “forge your own pathway” through four years at the college.

What is particularly unique about the curriculum structure is well… everything!

1. The academic calendar is divided into four quarters based on the four seasons. Students complete 16 credits per quarter.
2. Students often enroll in one multidisciplinary 12-16 credit “program” that will be their primary academic focus for the entire quarter. This program may also carry over for multiple quarters or for a full year of study at Evergreen State College. Students supplement their curriculum with other small credit courses as well.
3. Students select an area of emphasis, not a major. This area of emphasis reflects the entire scope of the courses they have taken. This enables students to choose their course-load liberally, without a mandatory and rigid structure.
4. Instead of a standard transcript with a grade-point average, Evergreen provides detailed evaluations of student work and current progress. Additionally, students create their own “Academic Statement”, which is revised yearly based on changes in their studies and included in their final transcript.

2017 Controversy

In 2017, riots broke out in relation to a “Day of Absence” that went wrong. Prior to 2017, the “Day of Absence” was a voluntary initiative where Evergreen community members of color did not attend campus activities; a way to highlight the positive impact that they create.

However, for 2017’s Day of Absence, organizers of the event changed the narrative of the exercise into a mandatory banishment of white community members for a day. This caused an uproar when evolutionary biologist and former Evergreen professor Bret Weinstein refused to leave campus. What followed was a chain of riots and protests leading to a national news story. It was further escalated by interviews of Weinstein on Fox News, the Joe Rogan Experience, and his op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. These events unsurprisingly left the integrity of Evergreen questioned.

Bret Weinstein and his wife Heather Heying (also an Evergreen professor) both left the college after a legal settlement. They now have international followings on social media and are unofficial members of the “Intellectual Dark Web”: a group of intelligent thinkers who have garnered international fame debating the more complex issues of our age through free online platforms.

Despite the apparent damage to the college’s image, Evergreen’s formula is still one to be celebrated. After all, the incident occurred as a result of freedom of speech censorship, an issue plaguing colleges across the country. President Obama addressed the wave of student protesting sweeping the nation by emphasizing the importance of free speech and affirming that students should not be “coddled”. (Source)

Praise for Evergreen

Although Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying did leave the college, they still have a great respect for the institution’s academics. Weinstein specifically champions the learning format of a single program format, and the flexibility of course creation. On The Armchair Expert (a podcast with host Dax Shepard), Weinstein talks about how Evergreen enabled him to co-teach a course with Heather. The course included extended trips to Ecuador to research the rich bio-diverse wildlife. He also remarked on how over the course of a full school year, he truly got to know his students. Due to small class size, and a full year course format, he was able to cater his teaching methods to the specific learning style of each individual student. True education at its finest!

The Problem With College

Current high school students are entering a new frontier of education. Technology has brought many different options for higher learning (I recently completed an online MBA at Smartly Institute). Another major concern for high school students (and their parents) are the consistently rising costs of higher learning institutions.

According to a recent Forbes article states that U.S. student loan debt accounts for the “largest chunk of the U.S. non-housing debt”, over credit cards and auto loans. Additionally, while the cost of college tuition from 1989 to 2016 has increased 2.6%, wages have increased a mere 0.3%.

Experts argue that the current college education model is failing, particularly due to the mounting student loan debt. Other models have been proposed, including free education, along with developments in education technology. 2020 Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang weighs in on this issue…

So how does a soon to be high school graduate plan their next educational venture? A rapidly changing economic landscape combined with impending college loans creates a major deterrent to the traditional 4-year university model.

Evergreen – A Model for the Future?

Two major factors are vital to a successful educational experience after college. Creative Space and Career Capital.

Creative Space

Many students – myself included – argue that the most valuable part of their collegiate experience was the time and space to develop their identity. College is often the first experience “on our own” where we can define ourselves and what we want in life. It is important that a college or university aids in this creative ‘soul-searching’ phase of our lives. Simply continuing to have us memorize data and/or facts is not the proper blueprint for future success.

So much is wrong with the world’s education system. At the core of these issues is valuing conformity over creativity. (Sources: BBN Times,NYTimes ) I believe Evergreen State College has found a real solution to the traditional educational model. Evergreen isn’t churning out degrees with large class sizes, they are creating an environment for students to thrive and emerge with a true education that will be valuable to them regardless of their future pursuits.

Career Capital

There are a lot of deterrents from a college education, mostly revolving around its exorbitant prices. However, Evergreen State offers tuition prices of $6,810 in-state and 25,326 out-of-state, which are drastically below the norm.

But how does Evergreen State College prepare students for an uncertain future? Many existing jobs are being phased out in favor of automation. However, Evergreen is consistently awarded various accolades including a recent distinction as the #1 ranked school in the category “Most Innovative Schools: Regional Universities West”. Additionally, Evergreen boasts its recognition for conservation efforts and green initiatives, service to society, academic excellence, and more (Source).

In a time of uncertainty surrounding the higher education space, Evergreen State College offers a unique and affordable learning experience, with assurance that you will graduate with a valuable set of life and career skills. Furthermore, Evergreen will challenge you to step out of your comfort zone and truly learn to be yourself.

I have never been to Evergreen, but I have heard so many great things about it. I have visited Olympia National Park which is located nearby and it is absolutely gorgeous. Evergreen’s campus also has 1,000 acres of land including forest, an organic farm, shoreline on Puget Sound, etc. Check out their website. Thanks for listening!

Featured image source:https://evergreen.edu/file/22621