That is rare but someone has probably complained or the postings between people have become contentious. This thread is generally supportive. As an IUP and Pitt grad, I have enjoyed the thread and have enjoyed learning more about the other PASSHE schools.
I don’t understand, we talk about PASSHE schools here, which ones we like, what they offer, and how to afford college for our kids.
I’m sorry we sidetracked to Pitt and other schools, but only in response to questions from other posters.
The reality for us and many other (PA) parents is that even the PASSHE schools are only affordable with scholarships and state grant.
My S has a 3.7 GPA and a 1100 SAT. He applied early and got his acceptance in September, and a $2,000 scholarship.
With two in college we qualify for a state grant of around $3,000 I think.
That is still a lot of gap for an EFC of $6,000
But it is the most affordable option for his major.
He will need to try and win some local scholarships and work in the summer.
As a music education major he is going to have 10 classes a semester and large and small ensemble rehearsals, so I don’t think he will be able to do an on campus job.
Most of the kids at our HS school commute to the local PSU branch and live at home. With grants, loan and a job that is usually enough.
They offer some bachelor’s degrees and some 2 year programs.
Some that have some parent support and can get merit go to St Francis, Seton Hill, Allegheny, Lycoming, and other small LACs.
Some start at community college.
I came to this thread because, as a PA resident, I wanted to get some insight regarding the PASSHE schools. Because, as @laralei pointed out, finances and affordability are the priority for us. And the PASSHE schools are the most affordable four-year options without any variables factored in.
Will S19 get merit at Susquehanna? I have no idea. What I do know is that we can’t afford sticker price at Susquehanna and we can afford the PASSHE schools. So, determining what is the “best or worst” fit for S19 within PASSHE is a priority for us. And thanks to all of you here, I have learned so much.
It is also important to me that S19 feels GOOD about his PASSHE options and not that he would be settling in any way. I take this thread very seriously for that reason. 
The title of the thread is" Best and worst PASSHE school?"…all contributions are great but try and keep it on track…I think that is what is being asked. Many times in PA, our system is challenging as if both parents are working, or if you have a decent family income…any type of need assistance is limited to none. Now, if you have a child that is a decent student (3.4, 20-25 ACT, athlete, band etc…), you are left with PASSHE, PSU/Pitt Branches, CC or a private like Westminster. Keeping the COA in the $20 - $25,000 range.
So, having said that the origin of the thread was to help each of us learn about the PASSHE options (good and not so good) as that is about the limit that many of us can afford without buying into a two year PSU ransom with the hope that you will get to PSU UP for two years at $30 - $35,000/year.
Again, all input can be helpful(my daughter is a freshy at Cleveland State) but I think some of us hope for more enlightenment regarding the Kutztowns, East Stroudsburgs, CALU of PA, Millersville and others of the system(seems like we all know WCU, SRU and Bloom are the shining stars). I hope for one that my D16 picks Bloom…however, her HS lunch table is hating on the PASSHE system already…
Although very exciting to hear/learn about kids getting full rides, major scholarships(and so on), that just isn’t the norm. Most of us are just looking for ways to get our middle class kids an education without ridiculous debt and hopefully get a decent ROI. So it is awesome to hear about those getting money…we also want to hear from thos that don’t and that they are having a good or not so good experience.
In the end, we are all just trying to deal with a state that has made decisions in regards to higher education that have come home to roost.
Everyone in this thread has been fantastic.
No reason to close this thread.
Its an uphill battle fighting teen perceptions. I was at a college counseling coffee this morning at my S20’s private school & the counselor spoke about how competitive some of the PASSHE schools (as well as Pitt, PSU & Temple) have become in the past few - students that were accepted 3 years ago would not be accepted today. I graduated from Millersville & had many Ivy league graduates as my law school classmates. So you would think the perceptions would be better.
I wish the PASSHE schools would do a little better marketing to potential students. These seem to be the only schools we don’t receive marketing materials from.
Most of those schools (Millersville, Kutztown, ESU) are 3 or more hours from us. We only visited SRU and IUP. Both have good facilities. But IUP has a bigger music department and offers more of what he wants.
@bester1 Bingo, you nailed my sentiments on the subject
@Cookies510 I do believe a couple of the PASSHE schools have become more competitive but there are some things that don’t completely add up (mentioned before). HS grads in PA especially, and to some degree in the nation overall are declining. PASSHE enrollment overall has been declining with the exception of some upticks at some schools in the past year (maybe due to lower admission standards), hence the formation of the commission last year.
So, the increased competition may only be at 1 or 2 PASSHE schools. Many PASSHE schools are struggling for enrollment, and struggling for applications. This is why, back to @bester1’s comment, it would be good to know where the other PASSHE schools like Kutztown, CalU, ESU, Lock Haven, etc. are headed.
@bester1 , @Portercat What are you feeling is not on track by posting news of scholarships gained from PASSHE schools? Those scholarships are out there and some people posting here still have kids in high school . And might like that info. Some have posted about getting scholarships at OOS schools, and that was not considered off track, but news about PASSHE money is? Most posts are still related to PASSHE and affording college. I’m not really seeing the issue here. What do you consider off limits and what are things you consider to be not staying on track?
There is no issue.
I think after so many pages, the winners of the “best” PASSHE schools would probably be WCU, Bloom, SRU, IUP ?& maybe Millersville? Second tier would be Shippensburg, Kutztown, East Stroudsburg, & CALU? Back of the pack would be Lock Haven, Edinboro, Clarion, Mansfield and Cheyney?
At least that is how they ended up ranking to me. I have posted anything I know regarding them when possible, but it is limited.
I still feel some of them should be closed and funds directed to the others. I have worked for a few small companies where they failed long before they actually closed. In an attempt to keep them afloat and hoping for a recovery, quality suffered, moral suffered, reputation tanked, and even more money was lost. And the end result was the same, they closed. That is the sense I am getting from quite a few of the less discussed schools above, continually throwing money at them hoping for a turn around that isn’t going to happen.
@Cookies510 We actually got a lot of marketing materials from CALU, which looked like a beautiful campus, but that was probably because D18 had them listed on the raiseme site. As posted up thread, they have since rescinded any scholarships offered and now direct you to their website. That alone would concern me as one that wouldn’t be worth pursuing, no matter how nice I thought their catalog.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Neither do I. 
If a thread is inactive, with no posts for several months, the thread is systemically closed. In most other cases (an in all cases when I am the mod), when the thread is closed, the mod posts the reason, which as indicated above is usually a result of continued ToS violations.
If there is a thread that one feels should not have been closed, one can PM the mod who closed it, or flag the last post to request it being reopened. We will generally reopen threads with ongoing topics that were closed for inactivity, but probably not reopen threads closed for ToS violations.
@laralei …I agree with your remarks but I think the PSUPitt Branches should be closed long before the PASSHE schools that give the middlele class average kid a true 4 year college experience. They were serving the residents long before the branches and provide more value overall than all of the branches with maybe the exception of PSU Erie. Also accept more in state students at the main campus.
Glad the thread will stay open.
@bester1 I’ve been thinking a lot about this as well. We live within commuting distance of PSU Hburg, PSU York, and Millersville.
Tuition at PSU York is $13k for fresh/soph and $14k for jr/sr.
Tuition at PSU Hburg is $14 for fresh/soph and $15 for jr/sr.
Tuition at Millersville is $11k for all years
For comparison, my kids could also commute to York College of PA which is $19k per year.
When I look at the numbers, I come to the same conclusion as you. I would much prefer to see the PASSHE schools strengthened and supported as opposed to consolidated. PSU does not offer true affordability to all. As a state-related school, it doesn’t have to. PA residents deserve to have a strong, truly public system of higher education.
And I’ll totally admit to not getting the frenzy over PSU. But that’s probably because we moved to PA from MD. Go Terps! 
@InfiniteWaves …Exactly!!! I can’t understand why everyone goes right to the consolidation of the PASSHE schools when that isn’t the real problem. The state completed a a study this year and it did not include the state related schools nor their branches…ridiculous. We subsidize those state related schools and their branches yet they do not go under the microscope the way the PASSHE schools do and we are talking about 24 branches for PSU and many of them are basically overpriced CC’s. They are free to do what they want and still accept state funds…best scam ever!
They are not subjected to “Right To Know”…and we pay the Sandusky bills and the frat lawsuits that cost millions! PSU has poured the cool aid into our tap water and we just accept it.
Penn State, other state-related universities fight right to know proposal…
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/10/penn_state_other_state-related.html
“Lawyers for Penn State, Pitt, Lincoln and Temple said it was not a simple matter of cost, although some argued it would create an administrative burden. They said their institutions are not state agencies and do not have the government’s sovereign immunity protection from lawsuits, warning of unintended consequences from a change.”
We need to support the PASSHE system as it is our true state system. Most of the PSU?Pitt Branches have been created in the past 20 - 25 years! These are the schools that deserve the funding!
Trying to get back to PASSHE and the strengths…I am posting tours(some are harder to find or not recent)…gives anyone a chance to see and take a tour if they like…No perfect choices but should give anyone an idea if they can’t get there in person or if they have any level of interest…PASSHE has some amazing opportunities!
Millersville - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU98rcMcIYE
Shippensburg - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsn95jfrohg
Slippery Rock - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w378E1xOV5k
West Chester - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j3av5tEFdw
Edinboro - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9aRsL5f6Fk
Clarion - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipIHcBGoS2U
CALU - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnHvpvxD7QY
Lock Haven - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBsKUBoZecU
Mansfield - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDpMLFNvL0Y
Bloomsburg - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYbADtTBwBg
IUP - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GesflAX39X0
Cheyney - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8UJHFNICoc
East Stroudsburg - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2YCWlRg8Jk
Kutztown - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GesflAX39X0
@laralei - Congrats on the scholarship. My son was recently accepted to WCU and invited to apply for the board of governors scholarship. Were you atomically awarded or did you have to apply? If you applied how long before you heard back? TIA!
@bester1 Thanks for the you tube links. The IUP one you listed is actually a repeat of the Kutztown one. So, here’s an IUP one https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RWh4TeWESbs One of the founders of You Tube was an IUP grad, Chad Hurley. Go Indians! (I mean, Go Crimson Hawks!) 
Oh…sorry about that!!! I thought I had posted the Inspiration IUP video…here it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWh4TeWESbs
That’s the same one I posted!
I think overall, they all have their place.
Yes, PSU probably doesn’t need branches in areas where there are a lot of other schools, and maybe some of the PASSHE schools can be combined, but for some students there is currently only one affordable choice.
If they are in a rural area of PA, for example.
A friend of mine lives close to a Pitt branch. They do have some 4 yr degrees.
She cannot help pay for school, and the child could afford to commute there with $9,000 in aid (Pell and PHEAA grant), and student loan.
Everywhere else he has to dorm because it’s too far, and that costs at least another $10,000.
Maybe they can move to a model of expanded state grants that can be used at PASSHE schools, and at state related, if major (engineering for example) is not available there.
Won’t the schools compete for PA students then.
I would expect that the PASSHE schools receive more funding from the state than the state related schools.
As far as I know, the state appropriations are helping to support the tuition discount for instate students. And I think they help the med school and vet school.
I saw a breakdown of it on a website somewhere, but can’t find it at the moment.
And while I am not a big PSU fan, if your parents can pay $15,000-$20,000 a year, it could save money to go to a branch (and live at home for 2 years), and then live in an apartment in State College the last two years (parents pay tuition, student pays rent and food with $7,500 loan and work earnings).