Ah, but new colleges and universities are being “built,” albeit somewhat under the radar, and within the aegis of existing institutions. Looking at the top of the pyramid, in the past 20 years:
– The University of Chicago has expanded its class size from 1,000 to 1,700 and built three new dorms and counting
– Princeton has expanded its class size from 1,000 to 1,300 and built a new residential college
– Yale has expanded its class size from 1,250 to 1,500 and built two new residential colleges
– Brown’s class size has recently crept up from 1,500 to 1,650 (I don’t know where it was 20 years ago)
– UC Berkeley’s undergraduate enrollment has increased from 22,500 to 30,000
That’s the equivalent of building a whole new private college the size of Yale (now) or Brown (then), plus an even larger elite public college. And my list isn’t comprehensive at all, just things of which I was aware.
Then consider:
– University of California Merced opened 13 years ago, has 6,800 undergraduates
–Liberty University’s on-campus class size has grown from 200 to 3,000, plus another 12,000 on-line graduates/year. (plus major expansion of other evangelical colleges)
– The massive expansion of for-profit education businesses like the University of Phoenix and Strayer University
– Expansion of community colleges
@UCBUSCalum I don’t know about that. I decided in high school, for quality of life and to give me more time to work as a theatre tech with local companies that if I could get at least a “B” and never do homework then that was what I would do lol. I still got into UC Berkeley and every college I applied to. I can’t say I’d make a different choice today and just opt for a less competitive college for myself. It was worth it! Cal doesn’t have room for kids like that now. Maybe we were all just shlubs back in the day lol.
I did better by my kids in making sure they were in appropriate schooling situations along the way but I still am amazed at how much more devoted to school they are and how that doesn’t translate to getting into any school they want these days.
Most of the time, when a new college is built, it starts lower on the prestige scale, so it is less noticed by those who aim for more selective colleges. A parent who attended a UC decades ago may think that his/her kid attending UCM is a step “down”, even if UCM may be as selective now as the parent’s UC was when the parent attended.
I think UCM 's step down is in location. At least in our neck of the woods, suburban SF, when someone suggests that a kid go to Merced, “but would you want to live in Merced?” The university as it ages may overcome this, because I’m not sure I’d want to live in Davis or Riverside either, as a native, but at least Davis is well regarded for the things it does well. UCM will probably overcome that in time. I think, though Merced is generally a better school than the best CSU, at least that’s the perception.
Decades ago, there were hardly any differences in prestige (and perhaps rankings) between UCD, UCSC, UCI, UCSB and UCR. UCSD was always a tad ahead of those 5 UC’s and next group, UCB > UCLA > UCSD. Today, UCD, UCI and UCSB have become more highly regarded, harder to get into (due to high demand for UC’s) and are higher ranked than UCSC and UCR. UCSC, UCR and UCM are considered good schools.
I didn’t realize the Poly’s were considered CSU’s and not their own system (son didn’t apply, though looked at Pomona and didn’t like). Then yeah, I’d put both of them in UC range and over some of the UCs in prestige.
@JHS Didn’t know that. That is great schools are expanding. Just doesn’t seem like fast enough. I know many are constrained by geography. There is one school I have heard of called Olin. It’s for engineers. It started out tuition free. Someone correct me if I am wrong. Now it accepts tuition. Apparently they have gotten a lot of great engineering students and it is really competitive to get in. I have heard great things. That’s more like what I mean. Why not create awesome really academic schools based on a couple of majors. Give kid the opportunity to work alongside others like them rather than settle due to size constraints for all. It’s just too competitive and there are many who excel so make the pie bigger.
CPSLO is probably about as selective as the middle-selectivity UCs, while the other more selective CSUs (SDSU, CPP, SJSU) are probably about as selective overall as UCR or UCM, but there can be significant variation in selectivity by major. The CSUs are also non-holistic in admission, using just a formula of GPA and SAT or ACT score (plus a few other criteria for CPSLO).
Most CSU students are in pre-professional majors, while most UC students are in liberal arts majors.
Olin is a really interesting concept and experiment, but over a decade into the process its class size is still under 100. It’s not educating a lot of people.
It’s interesting to me that in the second half of the 19th Century, so many rich people decided to preserve their legacies by creating major universities – something you clearly could do if you were an ultra-wealthy person then, although often with a good deal of public support. Cornell, Duke (a “takeover” of a small existing college), Vanderbilt, Stanford, Chicago, USC, Clark, WUStL (really, its expansion), Carnegie-Mellon (separately, at first), Brandeis (a little later), and all of the Seven Sisters. All of that happened at the same time most of the public land grant universities were being established. For the most part, they really did create amazing institutions. But I guess I can see how today’s ultra rich are content to drop a few score millions to get their names on residential colleges at their alma maters, and they don’t really think the U.S. is so lacking in universities that it would be worth the $15-20 billion it would probably take to start a new major one. But how about Africa? Asia?
Olin is small by design, but part of their mission is to spread their innovative approach to engineering and education (and even education in general) to other institutions. Educators are always visiting Olin. And check out the collaboratory: http://www.olin.edu/collaborate/collaboratory
I would still get accepted. But …my alma mater is considered a “regional” school and while it does provide a good education, it is not particularly prestigious.
I grew up in Illinois and took only the ACT , but my score was quite high, even by today’s standards. Classmates with similar scores ( yes we shared info back in the day), attended Northwestern, Norte Dame, Cornell. Pretty sure they would need a higher score now.
I just cannot figure out why no new colleges and universities are being built.
Running a college is RIDICULOUSLY expensive. I am blown away by the cost to run the very small school where I work. Our staff is overworked and underpaid. The costs to deal with mental health, federal compliance, technology upgrades, etc are phenomenal. The tuition-driven model does not work in today’s world. You’d need a TON of cash, real estate, and endowment money.
You’d have to have money to burn/lose to give it a try, IMHO.
I was a lazy student who thought it wasn’t worth doing the homework if I could not do it and still make a B. I graduated 24th in my class of 221, so just outside of top 10%. High SAT score, maybe a 1400, which was good for 1980. Somehow, I got into every school I applied to. Ended up at Mount Holyoke. I might get in there today, but if I were applying today, I imagine I would have worked a lot harder in high school. The competition is a lot more intense, and students feel it at a much earlier age. We didn’t even discuss college until junior year, when they made us take the PSAT.
My husband’s SAT score was a little lower than mine, but he was salutatorian and ended up at Stanford. He would definitely have been rejected today!
The small LAC I went to as an undergraduate may have more of a problem with a D- in Algebra 2 now than they did in 1982. I wouldn’t want to go there anyway; I have a problem with compulsory attendance at chapel services. I’m guessing I could get into the PhD program at UTK, where I got my Masters. I’m too old for that, though.