@laralei My daughter didn’t apply to West Chester’s honors college, as she didn’t qualify (see the requirements on the website). The program is small (40 students per year) and admission is competitive for those who do meet the requirements. I think the Ohio schools try to give extra aid to PA students to make up, at least in part, for the loss of the full PHEAA grants. I don’t know about the quality of education of Ohio vs. PA “directionals”. I know West Chester has a significantly higher 6-year graduation rate than Cleveland or Youngstown State or the University of Toledo, but there may be other factors than educational quality responsible for this fact.
There are many factors. Youngstown and Cleveland have been often used as commuter schools and that has been changing for sometime now. That makes for longer graduation rates and many students still hold down full time jobs or raise families. Although the passe schools rank in the region…the Ohio schools rank nationally so that is a tricky one as well. For example…Youngstown or Cleveland are both ranked in the top national schools in us news and world report but I UP is the only PASSHE school even considered a national University. I would suggest researching as these are not apples to apples by any means. Do your own research…or better yet…I recommend a visit and talk to students, find out which programs are accredited. Both Youngstown and Cleveland are ABET for engineering. I do not think PASSHE offers one true ABET 4 year program. In our case, my kid wanted the experience of working/internship at Cleveland clinic(who knows what she will think in a year?). That was a huge calling card for her as well as city, new dorms, DI athetics, out of state but only 2 hours away…it will be interesting to see how it turns out. I think PASSHE is a great option…I would like to see more support from the PA legislature.
Thanks @bester1. Cleveland state is listed as a national university, but this has Youngstown State as a Regional University Midwest:
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/youngstown-state-3145
As you mentioned, nothing beats reaching out on an individual basis to see what they have to offer. For those of us on the eastern side of PA, visiting Ohio is a trek. WVU is closer.
WVU ended up in my kids top 3. She really came down to her final 3 in this order…Cleveland, WVU, Bloomsburg. I would have gone WVU, Bloomsburg and Cleveland. LOL. Cleveland was the least expensive by far, WVU and Bloomsburg we just about the same COA after merit and scholarships.
@bester1 Do you have other kids who have attended or will be attending college in the future? Just curious if you will be going through this process again.
@Portercat …yes…I have one that will be a high school sophomore in the fall. She has learned so much from the process. She has learned that college will be more about the effort put forward than the name of the university, she has seen enough schools to get an understanding of the type of schools she likes(She likes a campus setting that is more rural), She understands the importance of fewer loans means more freedom for after college life and she knows that she would like a small graduation party as opposed to one with 150 people…yea! She also understands that maintaining a 3.5 gpa and the importance of at least a 25 ACT score without parents applying pressure…so…hopefully…we will be better off.
BTW, she wants to look at schools at the end of her sophomore year. Her sister waited til Junior year. She liked Bloomsburg a lot.
@laralei, I looked a the honors college at IUP with my D15. Cooks honors. They live in their own residence hall and even have some of their classes there. It seems like a nice community. From my understanding the COA is several thousand less than living in other IUP dorms and they give merit too for honors.
They gave us a nice tour. I thought if my D went there, it would be nice to be living with other honors students.
You could give them a call and set up a tour.
As far as Youngstown, Cleveland, Kent State compared to PASSHE, I am sure they are all fine and comparable academically. But we would also be giving up the state grant (although I think YSU matches it).
Also if my S wants to teach in PA I am not sure how that works and if it wouldn’t be better if he went to school here.
I also am looking at distance. YSU would not be too far, but several PASSHE schools are closer.
Review is on track, data under review: (“System Review on-track; data analysis now underway”)
Lawmakers call for study of every public college, university in Pennsylvania…
http://www.lockhaven.com/news/local-news/2017/06/lawmakers-call-for-study-of-every-public-college-university-in-pennsylvania/
This is about time!!! Study the PSU branches, PSU University Park and the ongoing scandals, Pitt, Temple, the CC’s…This is great news. Stop picking on PASSHE!
@mommdc the nice thing about YSU is the online calculator. They really provide detailed information. It looks like DD would provide a comparable state grant bringing our costs down to around $4K per year, which is what we could afford.
However, DD, like your son, is considering education, so another level to look into for accreditation, best to stick w/ PA? If applying for TEACH grant, there is the 4 year commitment to teach in a low income school district as well, which we are currently in, but she would never get a job here.
I am also finding I an done with traveling. With so many of our HS grads going to nearest state school and PS branch, DD doesn’t want that, and I don’t blame her. But I am not willing to travel more that a couple of hours drive anymore after that 16 hour drive to Bama! Just writing that, I think Ohio is off the table. So guess that means we have committed to one of our state schools. 
Have you found that one state school is better than another with regards to the education major? DD is just about done w/ HS for the year, so we are going to have to get into the finer details.
@bester1 I see where your younger DD really liked Bloomsburg, and I liked it as well when we toured w/ oldest. Rural setting, yet nice little town, and a nice sized student population.
Bloomsburg is a great choice. College town atmosphere, solid academic reputation. Only negative is “Block Party”. For a weekend every spring, the town turns into a drunken tourist destination. Google Bloomsburg Block Party and you will see. Same at IUP for IUPatty’s Day.
I felt like Bloomsburg was a mini WVU. Very nice people, well managed and many academic and athletic opportunities. It is 4 hours from my home however and the merit isn’t so good. I would have been happy with that choice.
@laralei, I really don’t know. We are planning on looking at the closest PASSHE schools with good music education programs, we will visit and go from there. From what I understand, the PASSHE schools started as teacher colleges?
So I would expect most of them to be fine for education. For the teach grant I think you mentioned how each school administers it differently, or limits the education majors it applies to.
@laralei My son will be in the Honors Program at Bloomsburg. He had to be invited to apply and then do a phone interview. We were able to go and tour the Honors dorms and he was also able to sit in on an honors class. The perks from what I can tell are Honors housing, they get to move in a day early and he gets to schedule his classes earlier. He has to do an honors project within his 4 years there. He also has to do a certain amount of community service and take certain honors classes.
I thought this article hit a few of our ongoing discussion issues right on the head…
“Yet the federal graduation rate remains a relic of the past, only reporting on the success of students who started college as full-time students and never transferred. Astonishingly, it counts full-time transfer students as dropouts and entirely omits the 37 percent of students who attend school part-time.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/our-college-students-are-changing-why-arent-our-higher-education-policies/2017/06/06/1fc0e37c-3678-11e7-b412-62beef8121f7_story.html?utm_term=.35d9732f9ce5
Connecticut experiencing a crisis…
" If our nation relies on a higher graduation rate and those with the lowest rate are the poorest, this problem will never be solved by higher-end colleges and universities. Affordable, public higher education is the only answer."
“Our true crisis is the risk that even public higher education – the last and greatest opportunity for an increasing proportion of college-going people – may soon elude their financial grasp.”
https://ctviewpoints.org/2017/06/08/the-true-crisis-in-connecticut-higher-education/
For those that have asked…some Youngstown state News…
http://www.vindy.com/news/2017/jun/08/ysu-sets-a-goal-of-an-enrollment-of-/?mobile
Comprehensive look at all of the Public and related colleges/universities…I am happy that this is picking up momentum. Did not make sense to look at only PASSHE when there are so many other schools facing challenges.
http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/conklin-hanna-call-for-comprehensive-higher-education-study,1472598/
Call me cynical, but this bill probably isn’t going anywhere, @bester1
…
I love the PSU quote at the end:
We are committed to working with the legislature to keep a world class Penn State education within reach for all qualified Pennsylvanians."
qualified means qualified to make payment…
Firm to release review of state higher education soon…
http://www.dailyitem.com/news/state/firm-to-release-review-of-state-higher-education-soon/article_fb23f92c-3d05-5dbf-b790-c084f210582a.html
Seems like a rushed process. I believe the study will be flawed until they do a comprehensive study on all the public schools(PSU/Pitt and Temple with branches and all the CC’s).