As a PSU alum from many years ago I remember always checking the US News rankings and PSU was consistently around 50. Now it’s 77th. Pretty disappointing…especially in the ranking obsessed environment we’re in for college admissions.
Frankly, there isn’t a lot of difference between 50 and 77 considering there are about 3000 colleges.
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Schools that cared more about rigging a specious system passed it by. Don’t lose any sleep. It hasn’t slipped. Rankings just try to make a zero sum game out of something that’s far from it.
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As a general answer, I would agree rankings impose zero-sum logic on a situation that isn’t zero-sum. And I think a lot of US research universities have gotten “better” in the sense of deeper and broader research activities at a globally-significant level, and so Penn State could have both done that itself but is also part of a larger set of research universities also doing that.
I also think more of the most desirable applicants these days are looking for a city or near-city college, particularly as we reach cohorts actually born long after the urban crime wave of the 1980s/early-90s. State College is a very classic college town located strategically in the middle of the state, but in Pennsylvania that means being located far from the major urban centers of the state.
I think that is helping universities like, say, Pitt compete more effectively for students with Penn State these days. At one point, it would have sounded like a joke to say an urban location in Pittsburgh was a competitive advantage. But among the latest cohorts of college applicants, that is not a joke at all anymore.
But again, that doesn’t mean Penn State became less desirable. It more just means Pitt might have become more desirable, at least to some students.
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Net cost after financial aid, social mobility, and %Pell Grants are now factored in, and Penn State does terrible on those criteria.
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This is my feeling. It just doesn’t matter.
On the one hand rankings are very subjective. There are a lot of very good universities (hundreds of them) and when comparing any two universities there will be a huge number of small differences, and maybe some bigger differences. One school might be better for you, a different school might be better for me, and a third school might be better for someone else.
Also, rankings change over time, for reasons that probably mean nothing at all to you or to me.
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You’ll get a different ranking from Forbes, WSJ, TES, and so forth. My old saying is that I like whichever ranking places my kids’ schools the highest.
This is not a problem so don’t worry. PSU has great name recognition.
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Right on! The rankings are silly - should only be looked at for fun. If they give you heartburn, ignore!
What matters for large research universities: The Association of American Universities is the gold standard for high-level research schools. It only has 71 members, and schools are occasionally dropped or added. Penn State is one of them.
They’re fine.
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PSU offers limited financial aid, even for PA residents. They boast about the millions in donations from alumni but that mostly goes to athletics, not student aid.
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Hello @TomSrOfBoston , its been awhile. I’m back on CC for my 4th kid. 
I think PSU is a fantastic state school (sans merit money), and I think the rankings aren’t reliable.
Love the college town/urban point made earlier. Makes sense to me, but some students do prefer rural or college town setting. Wondering if applications to PSU are skyrocketing post Covid like the University of Pittsburgh?
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Let’s look! I didn’t actually know the answer in advance of this . . . .
Back in 2020-21 (oldest CDS PSU makes easily available, but this class at least applied pre-COVID, but the enrolled/yield numbers may be wonky), main campus for both:
PSU 73861 applications, 40031 accepted (54.2%), 8465 enrolled (21.1%)
Pitt 32549 applications, 20791 accepted (63.9%), 4230 enrolled (20.3%)
In the latest (2022-23) CDS:
PSU 85784 applications (+16.1% over 20-21), 47360 accepted (55.2%), 9216 enrolled (19.5%)
Pitt 53072 applications (+63.1% over 20-21), 26079 accepted (49.1%), 4390 enrolled (16.8%)
OK, so that’s interesting. Applications surged way more at Pitt. Pitt’s raw acceptance rate therefore dropped a lot, whereas PSU’s is actually up a bit. But yields are down at both, and indeed Pitt’s yield is down even more.
This is consistent with something I often hear discussed in my circles, namely that Pitt has become a very popular “safety”/“likely” choice, and not just in Pennsylvania. Again, that is tied to it being perceived as an up-and-coming research university (which is not so unique), having an honors college and some merit programs (again not so unique), and it having a central location in a nice, decent-sized city (maybe more of a distinguishing factor).
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Thanks for this @niceunparticularman ! I am a Pitt grad, 3 of 4 kids so far went there, and I’m all over the Pitt threads. This was cool to see.
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Hail to Pitt!
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However, some students cannot afford to attend college residentially (versus as commuter students), and being in a remote rural area reduces the number of students who can commute there, and PSU financial aid generally has a poor reputation and would not be expected to cover residential costs to attend for the majority who are not in commuting range. The two other large CSHE universities (Pitt and Temple) are in the state’s major metro areas, giving lots of students a commute option there.
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