how do you define public flagship university?

College Confidential Community
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<p>it seems to me there is a lot of disagreement about what it means to be a state's flagship public university. There have been a number of discussions on this board about individual states and this topic, but I don't think I've seen one dealing with the question in the aggregate.</p>

<p>i think there was a time, certainly pre-1950, when each state was seen as having only one public flagship university, sticking to the literal meaning of "flagship". That school was usually the oldest one in the state, centered around the liberal arts and the grad schools (law, medicine, etc.) and the only one with true state-wide presence. </p>

<p>but with the explosion of university enrollments following WWII, the picture became cloudier. The literal meaning, taken from "one" just doesnt hold up anymore and doesn't offer true meaning. And some states (Texas, California, Florida, etc.) are just too big for a singular flagship. in a number of states, the second public university, almost always a land-grant school, grew in size and stature and began to take rolls outside the traditional ones such as technology and agriculture and become complete universities that had the same role as the flagship. in essence, many became their states "second flagship".</p>

<p>Indeed, many states themselves now officially recognize more than one school as their flagships (Texas does that with UT/Austn and TAMU and Florida does with UF and FSU). These are actual state designations so it would be hard to argue with them since the state itself has defined the number of flagships it has.</p>

<p>Indeed, it seems to me, flagship now extends past the idea of a singular institution, carrying the banner for the state and now comes to mean something more akin to a certain type of university: state wide, broad range of curricula, heavy research component, higher admission standards, large endowments, heavy presence of out-of-state and international students, major athletic programs, major impact on their communities, national presence and are looked at more in the aggregate than looking at each state to determine which school is #1 and thus the flagship.</p>

<p>It doesn't even matter if one of the two schools in question is academically better; it is more how they function. If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and looks like a duck, it is a duck. same would be true of flagships. In a state like Michigan, U-M and MSU have attributes that make them akin to each other in a way they do not share with other in-state universities. It doesn't matter that academically U-M has the edge. MSU still fits the descriptor and actually would be the #1 flagship in more than half of our states if transported there. U-M and MSU both hold public ivy status.</p>

<p>in some states, the original university is also the land-grant institution. in others a land-grant has joined the original university and both are flagships.</p>

<p>I'm sticking to a "functional" definiton of flagship and I see the following states as some with only one flagship:</p>

<p>Illinois (UIUC), Wisconsin (UW-Madison), Minnesota (U of M-TC), Missouri (Mizzou), Nebraska (UNL), Arkansas (UArk), Maryland (UMD), Connecticut (UConn)</p>

<p>I would consider the following some states with two flagships:</p>

<p>Michigan (U-M, MSU), Indiana (IU, Purdue), Alabama (Bama, Auburn), Iowa (Iowa, ISU), South Carolina (USC, Clemson), Mississippi (Ole Miss, Miss St), California (Cal, UCLA), Arizona (UA, ASU)</p>

<p>that's how would define things. how about you?</p>

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<p>I would add Pennsylvania to that second list. (Pitt and Penn State)</p>

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<p>Wow. I was wondering what flagship universities meant. Thank you for the informative post.</p>

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<p>For me, flagship universities ensure the quality of the students. Despite their rankings, they should be good enough. There’s no way that flagship universities are bad schools.</p>

<p>For some programs, these schools tend to do much better than private schools. For instance, I just learned that LSU (Louisiana’s flagship university) has a better ranking in its engineering program than Tulane (a great private school in the same state).</p>

<p>

I don’t get it. Can you explain it to me?</p>

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<p>Actually, California probably should have four flagship U’s (Cal, UCLA, UCB, USC)</p>

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<p>Cal=UCB. USC is a private school.</p>

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<p>The University of Tennessee – Knoxville is definitely the “flagship” university in my state. However, it is located in East Tennessee. There was also a land grant university established in West Tennessee – University of Tennessee at Martin, but it is extremely small and remote compared to UTK. There are several other public universities that are even larger in enrollment that UT (Middle Tennessee State and maybe University of Memphis), but they can’t compare to the broad appeal of UT.<br>
So, I think you could safely add Tennessee to your list of states with one flagship.<br>
Oh, and probably West Virginia, too.<br>
Great thread, BTW.</p>

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<p>Oklahoma (OU and OSU) belongs on the second list.</p>

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<p>Any opinion on UGA and Georgia tech ? Tech seems too prestigious to not be a flagship, and yet it doesn’t have the course offerings and many other attributes that a flagship normally has.</p>

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<p>Just an opinion from Tennessee – but I don’t think of Georgia Tech as a flagship school. UGA definitely. I am just kind of going on the “walk like a duck” philosophy when I say that. So, I would probably put Georgia in the first list if I were making it.</p>

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<p>From a Californian who goes to school in Georgia’s perspective: Georgia is another state which has two flagships. Within the state, Georgia Tech is more prestigious, but UGA is also well respected. The two schools have different missions. UGA seems to be more responsible for churning out the future teachers, journalists, farmers, doctors, etc, while Georgia Tech’s undergrad focus is on the future engineers, scientists (some fields anyways), and other “technical” disciplines. Both schools have good b-schools and are well connected with companies located in the state.</p>

<p>Georgia’s situation is the reverse of Mississippi, Virginia, Oregon, North Carolina, Montana, and probably a few other states that I’m forgetting. In those states, there’s a prestigious flagship, but one that’s decidedly lacking in STEM fields. The states make up for it with a land grant institution that specializes in the STEM subjects but offers plenty of other majors, though they’re underfunded. In Georgia, the STEM school is the “better” school, but the less prestigious institution is pretty great for most other majors.</p>