Ear to ear might be pushing it, but the students at Grinnell College have reason to be happy. On the 120-acre campus in rural, Iowa, more than 1,600 students choose from courses in social studies, science, and the humanities at this private liberal arts school. The college has an open curriculum, allowing students to design their own academic programs. It also offers general literary studies and has campuses in London and Washington, DC. Grinnell's endowment is about $1.4 billion. The college, which was founded in 1846, is named after abolitionist minister Josiah Bushnell Grinnell.