<p>Not true. In fact the Pittsburgh Port Authority is implementing a new system where Pitt IDs are swiped through a card reader when you board.</p>
<p>wgmcp101 - It came up in the debate about the state education budget as something that Pitt would cut if the state followed through on the reduced budget, but I’m sure that the students at Pitt and CMU would rise up en masse to object if Student Advantage was pulled.</p>
<p>Eliminating the program as a reaction to the university’s potential state budget cuts has never come up as part of any published discussion at Pitt. In fact, Pitt’s administration has refused to identify, or even speculate on potential cuts that might be brought about by state cuts, as per their policy, even when the administration testified before the state house. Anything else is simply speculation by other entities. In any case, the Port Authority transportation contract is not funded by the state subsidies to the University, and is largely funded from student security and transportation fee, with the remainder coming from Parking & Transportation’s auxiliary fund. Now what has happened is the Port Authority has been cutting routes because it itself is having its own state funding cut. The slashing of transportation funding by the state to PAT has gotten a lot of attention within the university because of the route cuts, and that is probably what your kid is referring to. In addition, with the new smart card system installed, there will be a more accurate count of ridership. With this, the University may seek to renegotiate the contract to potentially reduce its payments because of service cuts and ridership counts. The five year contract with PAT, signed in 2007, expires July 31, 2012, so the program will absolutely remain in place until then, but there are a lot of negotiations to take place prior to renewal. Nonetheless, it is an important program for the university, as they place a high priority and reducing traffic and parking coming into Oakland, and will likely remain in some fashion regardless of what the state does to Pitt’s budget (which is mostly a proposed halving of in-state tuition subsidies).</p>
<p>FYI: The PA. House Republicans have proposed an alternative budget that would cut state university and state-related university funding by about 25% instead of 50%. There are similar attitudes among many state senators.</p>
<p>I dug deeper, making both my Pitt and Duq students explain where they read about the potential elimination of the passes. You are correct that it came from the Port Authority. Seems like the Port Authority threatens to eliminate the discounted passes every few years as part of its own budget shortfalls. I agree with you that it’s very important to the Pitt and CMU students. My Duq student is very unhappy that it isn’t offered by her school.</p>
<p>
Actually Magee and Shadyside are both UPMC hospitals. Instead of UPMC I think you mean Presby. Also the VA Hospital is within walking distance and I think Mercy (another UPMC) may be closer than Shadyside although I would not walk to either.</p>
<p>
As the parent of a Pitt nursing student I would agree with the above. Also, sometimes in our quest to find the “best” nursing program we forget that as the admissions competitiveness of the program increases, so does the competition within the program. Pitt, Michigan & Penn all take about 120 new freshman each year and these students tend to be VERY smart and serious about their grades. Fortunately my daughter has been successful but she was amazed (impressed) with the competition. </p>
<p>Good luck at UDel…I’ve heard it’s a great school.</p>
<p>I would like to second the comment from aglages about UD being a great nursing school. Similar to Penn, Pitt, and Mich, UD’s freshman nursing class is also very small (about 130 students). UD’s nursing students are also Very smart, serious about their grades, and are highly competitive. Nursing, along with chemical engineering, are the two most competitive majors for admission to UD (per UD admission staff). My D, a UD nursing graduate in 2010, was also amazed (and impressed) by the competition in her class. Certainly one measure of the quality of an undergraduate nursing program is the ability of graduates to obtain quality nursing positions post graduation. As I noted in a post on another thread my D landed a highly competitive position (nearly a thousand applications for only about 10 positions) at New York Presbyterian/Cornell Medical Center in NYC on Cornell’s Neurological ICU following her graduation from UD. Other new nursing graduates hired along with her included a second UD graduate and graduates from Penn, BC, NYU, UVA, TCNJ, and UConn-not bad company to be felt to be on a par with (from an undergraduate training perspective). Of course, no matter where you go to school, you have to apply yourself to do well. Again, best of luck to you (crider) at UD. I suspect you will get to know the small cafe in the library well during your years at UD (when not at a clinical site).</p>