Quantitative Literacy at Hamilton — Historical Background

Hamilton College is a small, residential, private liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 1700 undergraduate students, most of whom live on campus. The College is in the process of implementing a new academic curriculum, beginning with the class of 2005. Distribution requirements have been eliminated. Through a strengthened relationship with their advisors, students are encouraged to assume more responsibility for constructing their own course schedule based on their plans, goals, and interests. Apart from completing a concentration, or major, the new curriculum features only a sophomore seminar requirement, three writing-intensive courses, and the quantitative literacy and physical education requirements. The Quantitative Literacy Program at Hamilton consists of two components: the Quantitative Literacy Center and the Quantitative Literacy Requirement.

It was in the late 1970s that concerned faculty members, specifically in the economics department, noticed that some students were deficient in the quantitative skills needed to be successful in their courses. A committee was formed to gather more information from faculty members about their students' quantitative abilities and to seek a grant to study the problem. In 1979, Hamilton College received an IBM grant for a study of quantitative literacy among our students, specifically to investigate possible deficiencies in quantitative skills and to make recommendations about how the College might remedy any such deficiencies. In 1984, the Quantitative Literacy Committee designed a written examination to be given to all incoming students.