The "usual suspects" answer is that the students there are elevated in quality relative to other schools.
For a similar concept, I lost a job as a teacher that paid $20k / year after taxes. For a year after that, my job-seeking strategy might be best described thus: http://xkcd.com/874/
Then I got a job (in software development, not teaching) paying low six figures (...before taxes. Watch the magic of accounting render two similar things nearly incomparable to each other). Does that reflect the incredible (in excess of 100% annual return, say) effectiveness of "fuck around" as a way to get jobs?
My college GPA ended up at 3.1. During the last two years, I got into a pattern of signing up for a full-time courseload and then completely ignoring (and failing) one of the classes (if this happens to you, I can only advise formally shifting to part-time status). I can provide some observations on particular things that got me through some classes:
One class I failed because I showed up on the first day, determined accurately that the subject material was quite easy, and stopped going for a while. I showed up again in the fourth week of class, and learned that I had already managed a failing grade for myself -- one component of the course grade was a series of four pop quizzes, of which two had already happened, and to pass the course overall it was necessary to pass each component.
Since that class was required for a CS degree, I had to retake it. Having failed it on a technicality pissed me off, so I showed up regularly and was quite vocal in class, and the professor (not the same one) became very familiar with me. When late in the term I finally flaked on a homework assignment, I felt enough of a connection to him that I spoke to him after class, saying I had been a little busier than usual and hadn't done the assignment (I made no offer to get it in late). He whacked me on the arm with the papers he was holding and said "do you need more time? Take another day!", at which point, obviously, I had to complete the assignment. I never missed another one.
So one lesson is: you will do work for a personal connection that your work ethic would not have motivated you to do. Wounded pride helps too.
I had a class in which I was one of four students. No real problems there either; it would have been too embarrassing.
Lesson: close oversight can keep you working.
In one class, I was already established in a flaking pattern when a girl in the class came to me and asked to be my partner (our university encouraged pair programming). From that point on, I had nothing better to do with my time than work on the class assignments. Impressing a professor didn't register with me, but impressing a girl did.
This one is kind of a special case of the first "lesson", so I'll say it helps if the reason you're working is something you find compelling.
This last point is something I have no personal experience with, but I imagine having friends who thought working on something potentially productive was a fun way to spend time would help me a lot. "Hey, let's take a udacity course together!" "Hey, let's learn rails and set up a website!" That kind of thing. Peer group matters too. :/
For a similar concept, I lost a job as a teacher that paid $20k / year after taxes. For a year after that, my job-seeking strategy might be best described thus: http://xkcd.com/874/
Then I got a job (in software development, not teaching) paying low six figures (...before taxes. Watch the magic of accounting render two similar things nearly incomparable to each other). Does that reflect the incredible (in excess of 100% annual return, say) effectiveness of "fuck around" as a way to get jobs?