From Bottom to Top Tier in a Decade

From Bottom to Top Tier in a Decade: Th eWagner College Turnaround Years is a memoirrecounting one of the most remarkableturnaround stories in American highereducation as recalled by the president wholed a fourteen-year campaign bringingthis fi nancially troubled under-enrolledbottom-ranked college from disrepair andimpending closure to wide regard as one ofthe top small residential private colleges inthe east.By the time Norman Smith departed in2002 the college was ranked top tier wasfull to capacity and was cited as one ofAmerica’s most beautiful college campuses.Located on a hilltop overlooking Manhattanthat had once been Vanderbilt and Cunardestates Wagner College should never havegotten into trouble. Th is recounting isnot only an engaging human story of themany trustees benefactors faculty and staffwho were key to the turnaround but alsorepresents a case study template of whatmust happen for any college to survive andultimately fl ourish in these competitivetimes for private higher education.