Manhattan called key to students’ success

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In 1968, Bob Crocco was a student in one of the last graduating classes of Manhattan Prep High School, which was then located on the campus of Manhattan College. Like some of his classmates, he went on to attend Manhattan College and graduated in 1972, but in the decades that followed, eventually lost contact with his high-school pals. The high school had no alumni organization, so its 1968 graduates recently decided to reconnect through a Facebook page. They learned that 15 of their former classmates had died, but they managed to locate 40 others from among the 75 class members. That was when Mr. Crocco suggested holding a reunion and reached out to Manhattan College for help.

The reunion was “amazing,” Mr. Crocco said, and the amount of support the college offered for graduates of a high school that had closed decades earlier was stunning.

“There was no need for them to do this,” he said. “We weren’t a big donating organization for the alumni.”
This month, Money magazine ranked Manhattan College, a Catholic school located in Riverdale, third on its list of 50 colleges that add the most value – or help its graduates succeed beyond what might be expected.

“It’s not surprising that elite schools report high graduation rates, or alumni success,” the magazine said. “What’s impressive is when a college helps students do far better than would be expected from their academic and economic backgrounds (something we measure with what we call a comparative-value grade).”
For Mr. Crocco and other graduates, Manhattan College’s willingness to assist alumni long after graduation and the strong rapport between professors and students make the school an enriching experience.

Mr. Crocco spoke of his friendship with then chairman of Manhattan College’s Engineering Department: “He gave excellent mentoring. He was a friend. After school, we would sit around and talk about what I was learning, what I needed and how I was getting along.”
Subsequent generations of Manhattan graduates talk of the same rapport.

“I didn’t have any classes with more than about 25 people and I have a couple with as little as three people. So you got to know your professors. You knew the administration,” said Tommy Reynolds, a 1991 graduate.

Personal leadership

Adam Cook, who graduated in 2005, recalled a similar experience. During their student years, Mr. Cook and his six apartment mates invited Manhattan College’s Brother Robert Berger, an associate professor of religious studies, for dinner.

“The eight of us sat down and enjoyed a great meal, full of fellowship, food,” Mr. Cook told The Press in an email. “It’s a small thing – but it is an example of how the leadership personalized my college experience and it’s something you’d be hard-pressed to get anywhere else.”

Graduates, such as Mr. Crocco, attribute their career success to the alma mater.

“They placed me, right out of school,” Mr. Crocco said. “They sent me down for an interview with Westinghouse International. That opened the door to a 44-year career in international sales and I never looked back. They played a big role in what I’m doing now.”

The school’s career development office assists alumni free of charge – and at any time in their lives.
“The good thing about Manhattan College is the fact that you can come back for the rest of your life free of cost,” said Rachel Cirelli, the head of the career development center.

Beside a job and internship database, the school runs a LinkedIn group, and an alumni and student mentorship program. It can also help with a business suit to nail that job interview: Students who cannot afford a business suit can borrow one free of cost, paying only the dry-cleaning charge.

Easy job search

“One of the reasons I chose [Manhattan College] was because I knew that it would be easy to go the city and start looking for jobs when I was a junior and I graduated,” said Mr. Reynolds, whose father and uncle also graduated from Manhattan College. “And there are a lot of alumni in New York City, so there is a very strong alumni network that you can always reach out to,”
Mr. Reynolds, who majored in finance, currently works as a senior fund administrator at Grassi & Co. He has just written his first book, The Game: Baseball and America, Growing Up Together.

Mr. Cook is now the chief financial officer of LDJ Productions. The company provides creative and production services for New York Fashion Week and other events in the beauty, technology and financial industries.

A total of 89 percent of 2015 graduates are employed or attend graduate school, according to Manhattan College figures. Top fields of employment include engineering, business and accounting, and communications.
According to the College’s figures, five years after graduation, alumni earn an average salary of $58,000, which is 32 percent higher than the average salary of recent graduates from similar schools around the country, and $7,500 higher than the average salary of graduates from nearby schools, such as New York University and Fordham University.

The estimated full cost of a Manhattan College education for the 2016-2017 year is $56,300, and 92 percent of students receive financial aid. The estimated price for financial aid recipients is $37,300, and the average price for low-income students is $22,740, according to Money magazine. The average student debt is $25,500, and the graduation rate is 75 percent.

“We hope to keep our graduates leaving with the sense that they gained a lot from us,” said Ms. Cirelli. “I think, from a student perspective, you just get a lot when you are here. There’s really this focus on student development and how they are developing as moral, academic professionals. I think that’s the big thing that we do.”

Mr. Crocco and his high-school classmates held their reunion on June 21. They are now planning their 50th anniversary celebration, which will take place in 2018.

Editor’s Note: Anthony Capote, who contributed reporting to this story, is a student at Manhattan College.

Manhattan College, Bob Crocco, Tommy Reynolds, Adam Cook, Rachel Cirelli, Lisa Herndon, Anthony Capote

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