We live in PA and I have a rising senior who is getting all the college advertising mail. We just got one for PennWest University, which is the merger of the PASSHE schools Clarion, Edinboro, and California. It advertises 3 distinct campuses and 3 distinct athletic programs. How does this merger work if they’re still maintaining separate campuses and programs? I just fail to see how this is an actual merger.
For what it’s worth, my kid isn’t considering any PASSHE school. My kid really wants engineering and a large state flagship and will most likely end up at Penn State or an SEC school. This is just to satisfy my own curiosity, but I do have a younger kid too, so understanding our instate schools is probably a good idea! I just don’t understand how these mergers are supposed to work.
I’ve read articles for the past two years and I’m no further along with understanding the path forward. Lots of talk, light on details. My guess is kicking the can down the road as far as they can. Ultimately it has to mean loss of jobs.
FYI. Pitt has direct admission for engineering. Penn State isn’t direct admit. Temple was a no go for both sons. Do your own research. WVU is always an option that people seem to forget.
NC State was one of our favorites. Also like Auburn. S20 at Georgia Tech and S21 at FSU. Love FSU but not necessarily for engineering. Good luck.
I live in PA and work for a community college, and I have all the same questions about the PASSHE mergers. Some feedback I have heard from parents with kids at the (formerly known) Lock Haven, is that services are limited and hard to contact, and there are more online courses than they would like. They are likely sharing faculty and admin between merged schools. But how much can they really save by keeping all these campuses open?
I don’t think anyone knows TBH. I don’t have any more kids to put thru college, but I would discourage one from looking at some of those “merged” schools if I did. Too many other choices that aren’t as uncertain IMHO. We have a wonderful PASSHE school in West Chester that would be a great choice.
While I was hoping someone had an answer, I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who doesn’t understand this, so I guess it’s not just me being obtuse! I guess they do save some with merged admin and faculty, but it sounds like the overall experience is lessened with online classes and less services, which won’t be great for enrollment numbers, which won’t help their finances.
West Chester is really nice and I know a lot of kids that go there and like it. I have a rising college sophomore who is OOS, a rising HS senior who wants a giant state school, and a rising HS sophomore who has plenty of time and hasn’t given college much thought. Neither of my two oldest kids considered WCU because it is way too close to home and it doesn’t have kid 2’s desired major. We haven’t looked closely at any of the PASSHE schools because they’re not what my kids have wanted so far, but since I do live in PA, I feel like I should understand how this merger thing is supposed to work.