Originally posted by Fightingscot82
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When I attended IUP in the late 70's/early 80's IUP was in a league of its own among the PA state schools. It was the biggest and the most competitive with the most academic programs. There was no comparison. IUP was unique in PA.
So, yeah, as someone who loves IUP, I am a little jealous of WCU. I admit it. I know WCU, to a certain extent. I formerly lived just outside of the borough and I used to use the WCU Library to do research.
What I disagree with in this article is that WCU administration and faculty had a lot to do with the surge they've experienced. From what I can see, they more or less just fell into the success. In the same way as the demise of the western and northern schools, it is primarily the result of demographics. In the case of WCU, it's demographics and cost. The folks there at WCU are just the lucky beneficiaries. Frankly, I don't think WCU institutionally did anything to produce the results. Their academic development has always been behind most of the other state schools. Not implementing a "residential revival" is being cited as a genius move now but I'll bet 10-15 years ago somebody at WCU was saying ' Hey, we have to keep up with these other schools that are building these fancy residences for students.' The housing movement was seen as progressive but WCU chose the status quo. That, apparently, keeps the costs down and plays a role in their recent growth. But I think the administration there was just lucky.
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