January 26, 2026

This fall, St. John’s College asked alumni to reflect on the college’s place in the world today, via a survey entitled “St John’s Place in a Changing World.” After living in the world with a St. John’s education—through career changes and family life, through national and cultural upheaval— the survey aimed to understand what feels most valuable now to our alumni.

More than 1,000 alumni responded. Rather than focusing narrowly on their careers or professional outcomes, alumni tended to emphasize how the St. John’s Program prepared them for something more enduring. Again and again, alumni returned to the Program’s most distinctive value: formation for a good life.

Many described the education as timeless: a rigorous conversation-drive experience that forms thoughtful, free, and engaged human beings, precisely because it stands apart from the dominant social pressures of the moment. In a culture that prizes speed and uncertainty, the Program’s contemplation feels countercultural. As one alum wrote, “In a world where everyone wants quick answers, St. John’s gave me patience—with texts, with people, and with myself.”

Alumni also saw the Program as providing a kind of inoculation from the worst impulses and forces of our era: intrusive technology, polarizing discourse, and misinformation. As one alum put it, “St. John’s taught me not what to think, but how to think—and I carry that into every part of my life.”

What Endures After Graduation

The survey’s open-ended response section pointed to alumni who are both confident and circumspect in their thoughts, and to an appreciation for having developed enduring habits of mind while at the college—not mastery of a single discipline, but the capacity to approach unfamiliar questions without panic, to move slowly through complexity, to test ideas in conversation, and to remain intellectually free even when our world rewards speed, sloganeering, and tribal loyalties. When alumni were asked which aspects of their St. John’s education they most value today, the clearest answer was the one the College has always hoped the Program would yield: a durable capacity to think. The most-selected value—by a wide margin—was “growth in critical thinking, communication, and perspective-taking." Alumni also strongly valued seminar and the Great Books, as well as the intellectual freedom and curiosity that the Program developed in them.

In open-ended responses, many alumni exhibit pride—but not as prestige; as an inner steadiness formed through careful reading, honest speaking, and the discipline of listening. One respondent captured this transformation succinctly: “St. John’s didn’t just educate me. It rearranged the furniture of my mind.”

A College for the Current Moment

The survey also asked alumni to look outward: what does St. John’s offer a society under strain? In overwhelming numbers, alumni expressed a belief that the Great Books and our Program of Study feel more relevant today than ever—like a set of instruments for meeting the duress of modern life, not retreating from it. As one alum put it, “When everything feels unstable, the books remind me that humans have faced upheaval before—and left us wisdom for navigating it.”

When alumni were asked to select which values they believe St. John’s most contributes to American civic life, a clear pattern emerged in which alumni see the Program as answering a number of crises: of meaning, of polarized discourse, of truth-seeking, of literacy, and, perhaps most popular, of the decline of higher education and the humanities.

Alumni also expressed a belief that there were two main ways that the St. John’s Program can address current challenges in our civic life: through independent thinking and resistance to ideological conformity, and through an ability to engage in civil discourse and conversation across differences. This pairing—intellectual independence and conversation—may be the Program’s most urgent civic promise: the ability to reason for oneself without losing the ability to engage others and speak across differences.

Technology, AI, and the Question of the Human

When alumni were also asked whether their St. John’s education has shaped their ability to navigate a world increasingly shaped by technology, AI, and social media, a majority answered yes.

The open-ended responses to these issues often read less like tech commentary and more like human commentary, reflecting concerns about attention, language, and the difficulty of thinking slowly in systems built for speed. Alumni frequently framed the Program as providing a counter-formation: the ability to read closely, detect weak arguments, and remember that the most consequential questions can’t be outsourced to an algorithm.

One alum reflected, “The world is being trained to skim. St. John’s trained me to stay.”

What Alumni Worry About

When asked to share what gives them the most concern, alumni frequently expressed the hope that the College would at last reach a place of financial strength. Others described concerns about cultural pressures from multiple directions: fear that serious liberal learning is being diminished in society, and that the Great Books can be misunderstood, politicized, or co-opted. Some alumni also raised concerns about belonging and trust—asking whether the College has fully lived up to its highest ideals when it comes to how students from different backgrounds and orientations experience community and belonging.

Taken together, these responses reflect deep commitment and care: alumni sharing their lived experience, expressing a continued belief in the enduring power of the Program and a desire for it to thrive into the future. As one respondent wrote, “I worry about St. John’s because it changed my life. I want it to be there for the next generation.”

The College wishes to thank all of the alumni who took the time to complete the survey. To support the college, alumni can get involved at sjc.edu/alumni, donate at sjc.edu/give and refer students who may thrive at St. John’s at sjc.edu/refer.