PROFILE - MAY 2019

When Osmar Cruz heard about Arrupe College through his high school teacher, he knew he had to apply immediately. Arrupe would be the world's first Jesuit community college and the school would give him the opportunity to earn a degree.

Four years later, Cruz is a senior at Loyola University Chicago and is graduating in a few weeks.

"It feels unrealistic," Cruz said. "I've been working for this for my entire life and it's coming up so soon. I just don't know how to feel about it sometimes."

Before transferring to Loyola his junior year, Cruz spent two years at Arrupe College working towards his associate's degree. Although many Loyola students might not be familiar with the program, Arrupe is a force to be reckoned with - the school is challenging what it means to be a community college.

Arrupe opened in 2015 and was named after a Spanish Jesuit priest who made it his mission to help others in the community. The two-year college has three associate degree programs and according to the school’s website, offers “a rigorous liberal arts education to a diverse population, many of whom are the first in their family to pursue higher education.” Arrupe also helps students enroll in bachelor's programs to further continue their education. It's located at Loyola's Water Tower Campus next to Corboy Law Center and in front of Schreiber Center, blocks from Magnificent Mile.

The school costs roughly $13,000 for the academic year. However, due to generous donations, grants, and scholarships, graduates will leave Arrupe with little to no debt. All students commute to class and usually take public transportation to get downtown, which eliminates room and board fees.

According to a 2016 article from CNN, Arrupe's inaugural class was 68% Latino, 21% African American and 4% White. The average class size at Arrupe is 23 people and all students have access to counselors, social workers, and tutors. As far as academics, students can pick from three different study concentrations: business, social/behavioral sciences, or arts/humanities.

Cruz was one of the first students to attend Arrupe when it opened in 2015. He says this his class was "experimental" and that Loyola was still trying to figure out what worked and didn't work for students.

"We took two classes for eight weeks, and then we took two weeks off, and we did that for about an entire year and a half, and that was pretty cool," Cruz said. "In the beginning, I had never sat through a three-hour class so that was kind of challenging, but over time I got used to it."

Cruz was very involved during his time in the program and even became president of the Arrupe College student government. He helped advocate for new clubs on Arrupe's campus and feels like the experience has made him a better leader. After two years, he graduated, and then transferred to Loyola to study psychology and management.

Mikaela Labar, a Loyola senior graduating with degrees in political science and communication, also went to Arrupe and is friends with Cruz. "I liked Arrupe because it provided another avenue to get an associate's degree without having to take out student loans," Labar said.

Cruz says that he's hopeful that Arrupe will continue to grow and expand in Chicago and to other cities like Los Angeles. For future Arrupe students, he says he would tell them to always be open-minded and to be excited about the future.

"Just be open to new friendships, new relationships," Cruz said. "I know we might come from backgrounds that are not so inclusive of everyone or not the best so try to become a better person every day."