Some commenters have mentioned that Cheney should merge with WCU as they are only a few miles apart. Cheney grad rates and enrollment are really down.
@Portercat …I am only looking at the financials…check out slide #35. It appears Millersville is a good bet as well.
Lock Haven positioned it self nicely as they have not taken on crazy dept like Edinboro, Clarion and CALU. The enclosed document and particularly slide #35 tell you where this is going.
http://www.passhe.edu/PACT/Documents/PPT_Financial%20Dashboard.pdf
Lock Haven seems to hold its own as well.
I was impressed by that reporting. At least someone is trying to bring light to the situation.
The entire PSU thing is annoying. The state should ask itself why is it funding all of those branch campus’s. In fact, I believe the reporter made an error. The original reason all of the PSU branch campus’s were made was for commuters. The PASSHE schools were never designed for commuters. Many of the statements in the report were spot-on but not the reason for the PASSHE schools. She should have directed that comment to the PSU branch system.
For a lot of students in our area, the PSU branch is the only (affordable) college option…and only because they can commute. Making the cost more like $14,000 than $20,000
Yes…Very good point. You could make the case that PSU branches are very expensive community colleges that do allow you the honor of attending the state related main campus for two years for the cost of over $32,000/per year if the branch does not have a 4 year option. The PASSHE were at one time were the affordable live on campus option that PA students had. That is no longer the case.
Yes, I concur @bester1 about the PSU branches. Oldest DD went there and I considered it an expensive community college. She hated every minute of it. Mostly older students, and she said everybody just went their separate ways. She worked and we supplied the car, so with the fed & state grants and loans, it was just manageable. Next problem was not being able to afford transferring to main campus. She quit after first year.
She was our first one through and we also didn’t realize the costs of college until senior year. Most of her HS friends went away to school and she ended up hooking up with a bad crowd. I wish we could have sent her away to school to get her away from this area. It is one reason why I am working so hard to find somewhere for our youngest.
@laralei …Thank you so, so much for sharing your situation and your honesty. We are all in the same boat, trying to do the best we can. That is why the entire PA state resident situation is so frustrating. Are state schools are so very underfunded and it is not getting any better. The state related system is ridiculously expensive and act as privates while all of the branches suck up funds that should be going to PASSHE. Thank you for your thoughts/suggestions.
@laralei thank you for your story. If I may ask, did your daughter finish school?
She is attending another school, commuting, with a 50 min drive. Gas and wear and tear on the car has been a killer. But she has this last semester left and we are ever hopeful as she seems committed to finishing. It will have taken her 4 years to get an associates degree and it has been a LONG 4 years. She is in counseling, though I don’t find it very effective. As parents of a young adult, you can only do so much.
There was no on site housing for DD at Penn State branch campus. I believe there are some campuses that do have it. I think you could save some money, but still a huge cost.
Also, did any one here look into community college to one of the Penn State branches for the last 2 years? When looking at this recently an article popped up about Northampton Community College having an articulation agreement with 14 Penn State campuses. That community college is not a commutable distance for us, but if anyone is in that area, I could see where there could be some savings that route.
NCC, ironically, is just down the road from D19’s school. It’s 90 minutes away from us. (Yes, she commutes that far to HS.) We would like for her to NOT have that distance to travel when she’s driving herself (she has a bus now).
NCC, to its credit, actually has dorms. It’s definitely something we’re considering, if everything else falls through.
I’m not aware of other CCs that offer dorm living. More info on NCC here.
Tuition & fees: https://www.northampton.edu/admissions/tuition–financial-aid-scholarships/tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees-breakdown.htm
Housing: https://www.northampton.edu/admissions/tuition–financial-aid-scholarships/housing-and-meal-plans.htm
One thing that’s really caught my eye is this:
“Challenge Exams Fee for challenge exams (to receive academic credit by examination) is 50% of the in-county tuition rate (tuition only - no fees), regardless of the student’s residency. If the student passes the exam, they will receive academic credit for the course; if the student fails the exam, they will receive a refund equal to 50% of the exam fee paid.”
When I was in college in the Stone Age I had a scholarship that let me do this: challenge the course during registration week and take the final right then and there. If I passed, I got the credit and didn’t have to take the course. I loaded up on courses by doing this - averaged around 24 hours a semester - and graduated in two years, by also going to summer full-time and taking intensive winter break courses. I don’t recommend it, as I ended up a college graduate way too young for my own good and no clear idea of what I was doing. But it did save me a ton of money.
TC3 is another CC with dorms and good transfer agreements. It may even be cheaper OOS than some PA colleges. The downside is what happens after the 2 years - if the student’s got excellent grades in the Honors Program, then they can attend Cornell, which meets need. Otherwise, I’m not sure.
Our PSU branch (Abington) has dorms opening fall 2017, but they are new “apartment style” and about 10 minutes away from the actual campus. In my mind they are just like renting a regular apartment at that point, except that there are routine shuttles back and forth. I couldn’t figure out how much they would cost.
They look very nice, but it certainly looks like this is new version of our state school (even though it is not a “real” state school). PSU for all PA residents! Resistance is futile, lol.
Many millennial HS students have never shared a room, let alone a bathroom, and demand “modern” “apartment-style” housing. Colleges are only too happy to comply since they can easily form a public/private partnership for the dorms and make good money off them.
An advantage compared to a regular apartment is that everything is included, so the student doesn’t have to handle multiple bills (with the risk of forgetting one), and leases are individual, so no risk of a roommate leaving you with his/her bill to pay. Another advantage is that colleges typically include community entertainment + some form of security and transportation, but many collegiate off campus residences do that too nowadays.
Not just millennials - I never had either when I went to college.
When I say 10 minutes away, that is by car/bus/shuttle. We are in the midst of the Philadelphia suburbs, so you can’t reasonably walk from those dorms to the campus.
@Portercat I have seen those Abington dorms going up and they look very nice. The PSU Berks campus has dorms too, that’s probably the next closest.