Hidden Gems - Public Colleges

Applying to College
21

University of Oregon is super good for geology! I feel like when I hear about UO on the east coast, it’s only for sports but it’s a beautiful campus and seems to have a good journalism program as well.

22

Thanks, MYOS. Those are really good insights.

23

Good catch. I guess my source was wrong. College Factual and Niche both report even lower 11:1 ratio, but UM themselves reports 15:1.

24

I like the SUNY ESF suggestion. Thanks.

25

This is a really great list. Thank you.

26

And the school will trumpet “90% of our classes have 5 or fewer students!”.

There are certainly hidden gems in terms of specific programs at specific schools. I wouldn’t use student:faculty ratio as a criteria.

And the

27

SUNY Oswego. Excellent for broadcasting. Sits in the shadow of Syracuse’s Newhouse school but Oswego students have the opportunity to get involved in TV & radio broadcasting opportunities as freshmen. Alumni include Steve Levy, Linda Cohn & Al Roker.

Also excellent for a elementary & secondary education. Oswego originally was a teacher’s college.

28

Alfred University is part public, has some really good art programs in the SUNY College of Ceramics, as well as glass engineering and ceramic engineering majors.

Montclair State in NJ offers a strong product design major.

29

This one isn’t public…but its cost is modest and I do think that for the right student, it’s a hidden gem. Flagler College in Florida. Full cost of attendance is modest and merit aid is given.

1 Like
30

@eyemgh Do you second Portland State just for the language program or for additional qualities?

31

I think Portland State is the most underrated campus in the Oregon system. They have a very broad offering of majors, including engineering and architecture, the campus is very pretty with giant trees, and it’s right in Portland, accessible to the city, but it feels like an enclave.

1 Like
32

It sounds like it has much to offer. I had looked at Portland State as a possible safety for my class of 22. My student would love the location, my concern is that my kid would be coming from Southern California and having a good residential life/community is very important.

33

Portland State is a bit different from typical universities: the average age skews older (only about 30% are “traditional age”, ie., 18-22), with 25% having children of their own already.
1/3 students are part time (which is high) and 90% students live off campus.

2 Likes
34

Portland State’s common data set (F1) says that 50% of frosh live in the campus dorms. This suggests that about half of the frosh are residential and the other half are commuter. 9% of all students live in the campus dorms, probably because its transfer intake (which is larger than its frosh intake) skews heavily toward non-traditional and commuter students and because residential students tend to live off-campus after frosh year.

1 Like
35

I think it also depends on the field you’re interested in. In Ohio I would consider U of Toledo a hidden gem for engineering, U of Akron for Chemical Engineering, Kent State for Fashion Design, Shawnee State for Gaming. Ohio University has already been mentioned and it’s also a hidden gem for being a beautiful university with a very classic university feel to it.

5 Likes