Penn State Trustees Considering the Cornell Model

Parents Forum
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<p>This is fascinating to me as a PA resident, but not a lifelong resident. Penn State is already state-related, not state-owned. This appears to be a risky path, but they may not have much choice. I can see Penn State (and Pitt) shedding all their branch campuses into the state-owned system, which might then become stronger while still keeping relatively low cost. Right now, I don't think the two-tiered system in PA is working for a lot of people. However, if we can develop the state-owned system into something like SUNY, that would be an advancement.</p>

<p>Penn</a> State open to going private - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</p>

<p>Are there any other state flagships thinking this way?</p>

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<p>Interesting that you think that would be an advancement. Many NY residents feel slighted that they don’t have a flagship U.</p>

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<p>Do they? I’m an NY resident and I’ve never heard anyone say that they felt “slighted” for not having a flagship university. We have plenty of great SUNYs and CUNYs to choose from.</p>

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<p>Native NYer here-- most NY hs students with the exception of the very academic “take it on the chin” and attend SUNY schools b/c the tuition can’t be beat. $18K .</p>

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<p>It just doesn’t feel right if a school named Penn State is not a state school.
Michigan, Cal, Virginia, Wisconsin, etc. I can see.</p>

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<p>U of Penn has always been private- used to think it was the flagship.</p>

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<p>In another decade many flagships might be going down that road too. Uva is closer, then Michigan. Cal has at least mentioned the idea and so has UW. How low does state aid go before you stop being the state university?</p>

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<p>“We have plenty of great SUNYs and CUNYs to choose from.”</p>

<p>Unfortunately have to disagree. GOOD SUNYs/CUNYs. None come close in broad academic quality or campus life opportunities to the likes of a Michigan, Virginia, UNC, Texas, Wisconsin, Berkeley, UCLA, etc. For a state the size, sophistication and wealth of NY it’s actually pretty startling that this is the case. Has much to do with all the centuries old competing private alternatives a short drive from state borders/within state borders.</p>

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<p>I guess my kids are the “very academic” - we never considered any of the SUNYs.</p>

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<p>UVA, W&M, and VTech are all closely looking at various options. State support of UVA is a single digit percentage of operating costs, and support for W&M is not much higher. Not sure what the numbers on VT are.</p>

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<p>While I disagree with Erin’s Dad about NY having no state flagships as the SUNYs and CUNYs have 4 main ones I know of…I think what he really means is none that are equivalents of public flagships like Berkeley, UMich, UVA, UNC, UT-Austin, UWisc-Madison, etc. </p>

<p>Moreover, if you made that statement to my HS classmates and I back when we were HS seniors at a NYC Specialized High School in the mid-'90’s…we’d wonder what were you smoking and/or rolled our eyes…especially if those among us were top 1/3rd or better. </p>

<p>On the SUNYs side, there were only two really “great” SUNYs…Binghamton and Stonybrook…the former for humanities/social science, the latter for pre-med/STEM majors. Buffalo was only “ok/meh”…and Albany was widely regarded as the flagship to go if you’re mainly interested in partying and don’t care too much about academics. Even then, they weren’t remotely comparable to the private colleges kids in the top 70% of my graduating class applied/were admitted…often with full FA/scholarships. </p>

<p>As for the CUNYs…with the exception of elite/respected niche programs like the Sophie-Davis BS-MD program, Brooklyn College Honors, and Baruch for business…the CUNY system was widely regarded as a system of absolute last resort for the very bottom of the class whose grades and/or FA offers weren’t enough to provide better options. </p>

<p>Even the neighborhood kids in my former working-class NYC neighborhood who attended the troubled local zoned high school did their utmost to avoid the CUNYs if they could because of the drastic decline in reputation since the late '60s and the then accurate perception that their lumbering inflexible bureaucracy prioritized remedial/mediocre students over the above-average or better students.* </p>

<p>This was one major factor in why many HS classmates who initially enrolled at one of the CUNY flagships due to factors such as extremely low HS GPAs(Bottom 10-20% of class) opted to transfer out to respectable/elite private LACs/universities after a year or two. Heck, the similar feelings of not feeling academically challenged enough were also reasons why many HS classmates did the same from the SUNYs…including Binghamton.** </p>

<ul>
<li><p>Fortunately, the CUNY system has done a great job in turning this around since the early '00s by creating programs like Macaulay Honors, adding more programs for /being more flexible when dealing with above-average students, and shifting all remedial course instruction to the CUNY 2-year Ccolleges. </p></li>
<li><p>Know of at least two HS classmates who transferred from Binghamton to Columbia(College).</p></li>
</ul>

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<p>[PHILADELPHIA:</a> Penn State says it won’t become private, despite talk | Latest news | CentreDaily.com](<a href=“http://www.centredaily.com/2012/03/15/3127326/penn-st-says-it-wont-become-private.html]PHILADELPHIA:”>http://www.centredaily.com/2012/03/15/3127326/penn-st-says-it-wont-become-private.html)</p>