<p>Kiplinger’s names Penn State among Best Values in Public Colleges
Thursday, December 27, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Kiplinger’s Personal Finance named Penn State as one of the 100 Best Values in Public Colleges, recognizing the University among four-year schools that combine outstanding education with economic value.
For 2012-13, the magazine ranked Penn State as No. 48 in the annual listing, released Dec. 27. The ranking reflects schools’ value for in-state students; for 2011-12 Kiplinger’s ranked Penn State No. 51. Kiplinger’s also compiles out-of-state value rankings, with Penn State ranked 31st on that list, an improvement from the 47th spot in 2011-12.</p>
<p>Interesting that PSU is so ranked as it is one of the highest cost universities in the country for its own state residents. It’s not a matter of pride, IMO that Pennsylvania residents have the top price tag for their in state schools including PSU, Pitt and Temple.</p>
<p>It sounds like Penn State is only giving out the merit aid to out of state students who haven’t put down a deposit? </p>
<p>Have any in-state students gotten merit aid (other than through Scheyer)?</p>
<p>By the way, Penn State is the only public university that I know of that does not give any admissions preference to in-state students. That is why State College is now 1/3 out of state. They also give no discount on tuition to in-state law school students, even though the state pumped tens of millions into the law school over the last decade.</p>
<p>I’m wondering where the money is suddenly coming from for these merit scholarships. For years, Schreyer Honors scholarships were about the only merit awards offered. Now, many kids are getting these offers for “good” stats, but don’t seem to even be in the top 25% of the school. </p>
<p>Is the school that worried that it’s going to take some kind of enrollment hit this year? </p>
<p>I wonder if this will back-fire a bit as those who deposited early learn that others (with similar or lesser stats) got these offers?</p>
<p>I’ve heard of schools giving additional enticements to students who hadn’t deposited yet but never as big as the scholarships from Penn (if that is what they are doing). Sounds totally unfair for those who sent in their early deposits; they should consider everyone for these awards!</p>
<p>Merit awards, the way most colleges use them are very unfair. They are used to entice the students that the admissions office most wants to come. It doesn’t mean those with the highest stats or the best grades. Some schools don’t consider ED students for merit awards given at the end fo the process because they already know those students are nearly certain to come. The awards are enticements.</p>
<p>I think the problem with this PSU merit award is that it’s new so those who deposited early wouldn’t have known that if was possible to get. At other schools, those who do ED or whatever, know that they’re giving up their likely chance at awards.</p>
<p>In the past, PSU’s only merit was essentially the Honors College award. You got that no matter when you deposited if you were accepted to SHC. </p>
<p>Yes, other schools do award merit for those that they want, but usually the “want” is rather obvious…URM, special talent, from a region of the country that sends few students, high SAT/ACT, etc. In this case, students with lower stats from the same high school with no other desirable quality have been given merit over the student who deposited early. </p>
<p>I don’t know how housing works at PSU, but if it’s a case where those who deposited early have a better chance at housing, then “punishing” those who deposited early by not giving them merit is really kind of nasty.</p>
<p>it sounds like this new merit program was created quickly after Penn State had a huge drop in applications (over 10%). The news reports said the money was pulled out of general revenues, and is not a long-term commitment by U. </p>
<p>My daughter was accepted to Penn State UP and several other PA. private colleges. With merit aid, the privates are ALL cheaper than Penn State, which is in-state sticker price for my daughter. The price comparison is even worse for her because the current in-state tuition rate for the last 2 years of nursing goes up to $20K a year at Penn State. All but one of those private colleges made their merit aid offers to her in their offer of admission or within one month afterwards. The privates also are offering classes for freshman students with 40 students instead of 500. </p>
<p>Also, many of the privates provide the option of large amounts of on-campus housing after the freshman year, which Penn State does not. On-campus housing is usually cheaper, because you are only paying for 9 months, not getting charged separately for utilities and you get furnished units.</p>
<p>I would disagree that on-campus housing is usually cheaper. You are paying for a huge infrastructure, multiple dining options, a lot of waste, union employees with good benefits. My son lived off campus in three different situations; it was always cheaper, even though the houses/apartments sat empty during the summer.</p>
<p>mom2, I believe housing is guaranteed for freshman though the likelihood of getting one’s first choice in housing drops throughout the spring.</p>
<p>Penn State Tops Recruiter Rankings
Companies Favor Big State Schools With One-Stop Shopping for Graduates With Necessary Skills</p>
<p>[Job</a> Recruiters Prefer State Universities Over Ivy League Colleges - WSJ.com](<a href=“Job Recruiters Prefer State Universities Over Ivy League Colleges - WSJ”>Job Recruiters Prefer State Universities Over Ivy League Colleges - WSJ)</p>
<p>A few things that a large University provides that smaller, cheaper colleges cannot</p>
<p>[Penn</a> State Science is Among the Best Programs in the United States, New National Research Council Study Shows — Eberly College of Science](<a href=“http://science.psu.edu/news-and-events/video-and-audio/sciencecast/national-research-council-rankings-video-2011]Penn”>http://science.psu.edu/news-and-events/video-and-audio/sciencecast/national-research-council-rankings-video-2011)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.smeal.psu.edu/about/rankings.html[/url]”>http://www.smeal.psu.edu/about/rankings.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://www.engr.psu.edu/AboutCOE/rankings.aspx[/url]”>http://www.engr.psu.edu/AboutCOE/rankings.aspx</a></p>
<p>PS. In the spirit of full disclosure, yes, I work here. rankings are rankings though</p>
<p>mom2, our HS GC, in-state BTW, told us in our first meeting with rising junior parents that if you are relatively sure that PSU UP was you first choice that you should send your deposit in pronto for housing preferences. I sincerely doubt that she was the only GC in Pennsylvania giving this advice to parents. I think it was good advice too, PSU UP had never offered non-honors merit money. If applicants who did commit aren’t considered for the Provost’s Award, I think it is extremely short-sighted on their part. Parents have long memories.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>That’s what I suspected. </p>
<p>This isn’t a good PR move on PSU’s part.</p>
<p>Congrats, on lots of merit bucks, Charlieschm. We didn’t get any from the PA privates, and it would have taken a good $20K to compare with the OOS cost of PSU had we gotten any which is a sizeable award. For instate, that means about a $30K award, which few students will be getting. For now, PSU is a good deal for OOS when one compares the price with other OOS publics like UNC, UMich, UTAustin. I’m hoping the cost doesn’t sky rocket suddenly as it did at a number of OOS publics.</p>
<p>We have not yet committed to PSU but my son is at the top of class, is a national merit commended scholar and has significant involvement in ECs and community service. I don’t think having committed or not is what’s at issue. In my very limited gathering of information, the families I know who have received the award have high achieving children and are from families with 3 or more kids. I know four families in this situation. I also know four families whose children who have the same or better qualifications with two or less kids in the family. This seems to fit the mission of this award, to entice high achievers who may not be able to afford PSU UP. I called PSU and was told that this not a strict merit award and that other factors are considered. Given the posts on this forum, clearly, merit is only one of several considerations. However, I can’t imagine what info PSU has when they so obviously make their admission decisions based only on grades and test scores. How would they know which families may consider other options because they can’t afford PSU?</p>
<p>I doubt that PSU is using affordability since these awards were made before FAFSA was submitted. </p>
<p>If PSU has experienced a 10% drop in apps, then that seems to be the motivator.</p>
<p>Yes, it does appear that something other than stats i the consideration since some who’ve posted here had stats below the top 25%. However, it does seem that the offers are going to those who are in the upper 50% of the school. I can understand a school wanting to make sure that the top 50% enroll. Another consideration may be choice of major. The school may be concerned that they won’t have the right mix of majors to keep all the various profs’ classes full.</p>
<p>[Drop</a> in Penn State applications might not have anything to do with Sandusky scandal | PennLive.com](<a href=“http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/12/penn_state_admission.html]Drop”>Drop in Penn State applications might not have anything to do with Sandusky scandal - pennlive.com)</p>
<p>This article in the Harrisburg newspaper was written in late December.</p>
<p>The number of applicants (79k last year) on that link must refer to the number of applicants for the entire PSU system…including the regional school. </p>
<p>According to Collegeboard for PSU UP</p>
<p>Regular Applicants
Total applicants 44,502
Admitted 23,855
Enrolled 7,366</p>
<p>For what it is worth:</p>
<p>My daughter received the two year $6000 per year award. She did not send in a deposit. Her class rank is a top ten out of 500. SAT’s 2000+. She is in state. Undeclared major.
Two of her classmates received the four year award. One is significantly smarter and ranked number 1. The other is ranked below her but is declared Engineering. </p>
<p>From what I read there does not seem to be any clear criteria on the award process. There does seem to be a correlation on the lack of award and early deposit.</p>
<p>I received the Provost award amounting to 24k over 4 years about 2 weeks after my admissions decision was mailed. My intended major is chemical engineering. Rank is 5/240ish, 4.0+ weighted gpa and 1300 SAT (CR+M), and in-state. I only know of one other person who received this scholarship, intending to major in bioengineering but his other stats are a bit lower than mine (sat and rank). I’m interested to know what the driving factors are behind this award and if major played a role.</p>