Meet the Colleges That Change Lives

In 1998, native Washingtonian and long-time New York Times reporter Loren Pope had the brilliant idea to promote a lesser-known group of schools he aptly labeled the “Colleges that Change Lives” (CTCL) through an annual book tour. Reaching out to large audiences of enthusiastic high school students and their families, Pope’s tour has evolved into a much-anticipated event featuring all forty CTCL institutions.

This year, the Colleges That Change Lives will visit 25 cities. Students from Maryland, Virginia, and DC are invited to attend the CTCL event taking place on Sunday, May 23, at the Marriott Bethesda Hotel and Conference Center. The next nearest location would be Philadelphia, on Monday, May 24.

Organized as a college fair, each CTCL program begins with a 30-minute panel presentation on completing a college search. CTCL deans and directors share information on campus characteristics and learning components that lead to the most successful college experience. They also challenge students to view college rankings as just one measure of quality among many and encourage a more well-informed college search process—one that could be life changing.

After the panel presentation, the college fair will open. This is your opportunity to pick up information and meet with admission representatives from each of the CTCL colleges and universities. These events tend to be very well attended, so try to set priorities and come prepared with labels (your name, address, phone number, year of graduation, high school, and email address) you can affix to information request cards.

The CTCL events are free and open to the public, and pre-registration is not required. For more information and the complete tour schedule, visit the CTCL website.