<p>Mantori,
When there are two, large, well respected state U’s, don’t you think that the one with the more demanding admission standards is the one designated the Flagship? </p>
<p>At least that seems to be how it works here in Michigan.</p>
<p>What you’re describing in VA (supposedly) happens here in IL too – that the 4.0’s from the Chicagoland area can get turned down to ensure more representation of the rural kids. I don’t know this personally, though, just through the “they say” chain.</p>
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Mississippi has an unusual university system. Because of past racial issues, ALL state universities MUST have identical admission standards (court mandated). It leads to the admission of weaker students to the big two more rigorous schools (UM and MSU), and low 1st-to-2nd year retention rates and low graduation rates at UM and MSU.</p>
<p>Zapfino’s link is interesting. An expert in the field believes there are at least 2 flagships in TX.</p>
<p>Engineering schools are critical to their state economies and to research funding. UNC and Indiana University lack engineering schools. Therefore, they cannot be considered the only flagship in their states. Some public schools don’t serve the important mission of agricultural support within their state; another public school does that. For states in which people think of 2 (or more) possible flagships, there is generally a good reason for it.</p>
<p>PSU didn’t become state-related all by its own choice. The state wanted to substantially reduce its support of public colleges, which continues to this day. PA has the worst public college support of any state. That is why in-state tuitions at Pitt, PSU, and Temple are so high. CptOfTheHouse points out that the second-tier state-owned schools are more affordable, but they don’t offer all the programs, such as engineering and pharmacy, to name just two. People around here (Pittsburgh) sometimes look down on WV, but WV has a more accessible system and WVU does a much better job of serving its mission to the state. That said, any kid in PA should be looking at both tiers of PA public schools.</p>
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<p>Not in Mississippi, for reasons noted above. It seems to be true in most states, but a few exceptions come to mind. Georgia Tech, Purdue, Clemson, and Auburn can each make a reasonable case for being harder to get into than their respective states’ flagship universities.</p>
<p>I think in some of these states there are two flagships–representing two separate navies who are often at war.</p>
<p>I’m surprised no one has mentioned that Cornell could be considered a flagship for NY, as several schools are land grant schools and state residents get lower tuition.</p>
<p>Suppose that Atlantis resurfaces and the U.S. adopts it as the 51st state. The State of Atlantis will need a university system. They may eventually develop schools that serve specific regions of Atlantis, schools that will focus on tech or agricultural fields, schools that serve one gender or another. But they’ll certainly establish one major, broad-based university to meet the general needs of the citizens of Atlantis. They most likely call that one the “University of Atlantis” because despite their individual excellence, neither Atlantis Tech or Atlantis A&M is intended to serve as “the” university of that state.</p>
<p>The only five states in which the flagship is not called “The University of X” or “X University” are LA, NJ, NY, OH, and PA. LA didn’t have a “Univ. of Louisiana” until just a few years ago. NJ’s flagship was named for a Revolutionary War hero before the school became a state institution. The unusual SUNY system makes it less obvious to identify its flagship. The “U. of Pennsylvania” name was already taken by a private school when Penn State was chartered. And I’m not sure how Ohio State became “THE” Ohio State University, because Ohio U. is older and has the more traditional name.</p>
<p>good point, mantori, in #85; I hadn’t considered the “techs” in my statement.</p>
<p>Interesting thread. Two posts to comment on. Post #33 expresses a low opinion of a state flagship label- likely not a person from a state with a nationally ranked public U. In the midwest one, possibly two (I’ll let those from states with two top U’s argue which is the flagship), public U’s are head and shoulders above the rest of the state’s public U’s and some are in the top percentiles of nationally ranked colleges. Post #71 lists many of those dual schools. One could argue for the more liberal arts school of the two (compared to the one for more technical fields) to be the one flagship- regardless of academic rankings.</p>
<p>NY has no flagship campus. People from other states have no idea which school outranks the others overall or in any field- this state apparently chose to divide instead of concentrate its top research et al programs. </p>
<p>Penn State isn’t totally public??? It seems to be the closest thing that state has to a flagship. U of Penn always confuses- they should never have chosen that name given the rest of the states’ usage of the “U of…” that evolved.</p>
<p>Perhaps the term flagship means different things depending on where you live. In the Midwest it stands for excellence and likely equal to or better than most private schools nationwide. Here it is the institution(s) that is/are in a separate/higher tier than the other public schools. Funding and missions are different from the other schools- no attempt at equalizing opportunities to match the flagship.</p>
<p>On the East coast it may mean the best affordable option for those who can’t pay for a private school. No wonder NY residents can be confused since their system is so different.</p>
<p>The big public school that the state dumps the most money into is usually the flagship.</p>
<p>This has been educational for me. Thanks, all!</p>
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<p>If only someone could go back to 1791 and warn them. :D</p>
<p>And don’t tell me the school was founded in 1740. I know my history. :p</p>
<p>I think another way to tell which school is the flagship in a state with lots of ‘U of __ at <em>__’ type branch campuses is the by looking at which campus can just be called the U of </em> and everyone still knows which campus is being referred to. For example when someone says University of Colorado, it is assumed they are talking about Boulder, not the Denver of Colorado Springs campuses. Much like how UIUC’s website is just illinois.edu, implying that it is THE university of Illinois, it is the flagship.</p>
<p>Hope that helped/</p>
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<p>When people say “Maryland,” it means College Park.</p>
<p>I guess Penn and NYU are the exceptions.</p>
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<p>That’s a recent change in emphasis and in domain name. Back in the early 80s, when Stanley Ikenberry convinced the trustees of the UI system to change the name of the Chicago branch from “University of Illinois Chicago Circle Campus” to “University of Illinois at Chicago” and announced that the diplomas would henceforth say just “University of Illinois,” a lot of noses of UC alumni were put significantly out of joint. The downstate institution then started emphasizing the “UC” in “UIUC” to distinguish it from that second-rate pretender in the big evil city.</p>
<p>any answer to the original question? And of the top NY public schools, which have honors colleges?</p>
<p>@theanaconda - this thread is 3 years old. Start a new one if you need info.</p>