PASSHE Institutions Merging

[Fightingscot82]

And, how many of those 1,600 are athletes? I'd guess a nice percentage.

I'd surely think when these kids (athletes and non-athletes) are visiting other schools, said schools are using the 'triad' against them.

I haven't been to Edinboro in a long time. Cal and Clarion have both made tremendous campus improvements. However, it obviously appears not to be paying off. It does make one wonder why Clarion just did that $80m (roughly) renovation to Tippin Gymnasium with the school in such financial crisis. If Clarion closes, that's going to be the nicest YMCA gym in Pennsylvania.

Tippin was $50M and 100% paid for by the state. Edinboro has had lots of facility improvements and is probably the nicest piece of land of the three. All three campuses have been described to me as Pittsburgh Mills. So dead you have no idea how its operating. Its bad. They can't even fake vibrancy.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Tippin was $50M and 100% paid for by the state. Edinboro has had lots of facility improvements and is probably the nicest piece of land of the three. All three campuses have been described to me as Pittsburgh Mills. So dead you have no idea how its operating. Its bad. They can't even fake vibrancy.

When IUP played at Clarion this winter in hoops I walked the campus before the game. Total ghost town. That used to be a wild little town.

My buddy is a Slum Lord there. Four of his five properties have been empty the past 3 years. I always personally liked Clarion but I like the mountain vibe.

If only these kids knew how good the fishing is in the Clarion River. Lol

[Fightingscot82]

When IUP played at Clarion this winter in hoops I walked the campus before the game. Total ghost town. That used to be a wild little town.

My buddy is a Slum Lord there. Four of his five properties have been empty the past 3 years. I always personally liked Clarion but I like the mountain vibe.

If only these kids knew how good the fishing is in the Clarion River. Lol

Edinboro's town is doing alright. They're a small town suburb for Erie plus they have the vacation homes on the lake that in the summer make it like a mini Conneaut Lake.

Unfortunately unless there's some employee accountability (and nobody in the system is set up for that) I don't see this experiment lasting another 5 years. Commonwealth is probably another 5 years beyond that. I don't think the system can afford to have 50% of the campuses under the Cheyney subsidization model.

[Ship69]

And, how many of those 1,600 are athletes? I'd guess a nice percentage.

I'd surely think when these kids (athletes and non-athletes) are visiting other schools, said schools are using the 'triad' against them.

I haven't been to Edinboro in a long time. Cal and Clarion have both made tremendous campus improvements. However, it obviously appears not to be paying off. It does make one wonder why Clarion just did that $80m (roughly) renovation to Tippin Gymnasium with the school in such financial crisis. If Clarion closes, that's going to be the nicest YMCA gym in Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile Penn State Harrisburg announced not long ago that it is greatly expanding its sports program, adding more than a dozen sports for a full range. "Branch" campus indeed.

[Fightingscot82]

Meanwhile Penn State Harrisburg announced not long ago that it is greatly expanding its sports program, adding more than a dozen sports for a full range. "Branch" campus indeed.

Harrisburg was upgraded to the same level of pseudo-autonomy as Behrend. Basically a 4-year residential university with Penn State branding. They started Greek Life about 10 years ago - only Altoona, Behrend, and Harrisburg are allowed to have Greek Life per the mothership. Still no permission for football anywhere.

[ctrabs74]

Harrisburg was upgraded to the same level of pseudo-autonomy as Behrend. Basically a 4-year residential university with Penn State branding. They started Greek Life about 10 years ago - only Altoona, Behrend, and Harrisburg are allowed to have Greek Life per the mothership. Still no permission for football anywhere.

Nor, for that matter, to offer athletic scholarships (ie. they're staying in D3 or USCAA unless State College says otherwise).

[Fightingscot82]

Nor, for that matter, to offer athletic scholarships (ie. they're staying in D3 or USCAA unless State College says otherwise).

Yes. The directive from the UP mothership is either D3 sports or you join the Penn State operated junior college conference. They literally run an athletic conference of nothing but Penn State outlet store teams. Most functions at UP also have a position that focuses primarily on branch campus oversight.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Meanwhile Penn State Harrisburg announced not long ago that it is greatly expanding its sports program, adding more than a dozen sports for a full range. "Branch" campus indeed.

Years ago PSU-Altoona was on the verge of adding football. A notorious name from the past was said to spearhead it.

The Harrisburg and Altoona campuses could both actually grow (and certainly elevate to D2 if they'd ever wanted to ... similar to Pitt-Johnstown). Unlike most of the branches, they actually 'somewhat' feel like college campuses.

An IUP assistant in men's basketball just left this week for the HC job at PSU-Behrend.

[Ship69]

Years ago PSU-Altoona was on the verge of adding football. A notorious name from the past was said to spearhead it.

The Harrisburg and Altoona campuses could both actually grow (and certainly elevate to D2 if they'd ever wanted to ... similar to Pitt-Johnstown). Unlike most of the branches, they actually 'somewhat' feel like college campuses.

An IUP assistant in men's basketball just left this week for the HC job at PSU-Behrend.

One of my grandsons got an engineering degree from Penn State Harrisburg, unfortunately before Ship had its engineering school up and running. At least he's working on his MBA at Ship.

[Fightingscot82]

Years ago PSU-Altoona was on the verge of adding football. A notorious name from the past was said to spearhead it.

The Harrisburg and Altoona campuses could both actually grow (and certainly elevate to D2 if they'd ever wanted to ... similar to Pitt-Johnstown). Unlike most of the branches, they actually 'somewhat' feel like college campuses.

An IUP assistant in men's basketball just left this week for the HC job at PSU-Behrend.

Behrend 100% feels like its own college campus if you overlook the Penn State branding. Its probably no more than 30% of students attend there in the old 2+2 model. They have housing for 2,000 students, are building a new rec center, and operate an office park on university land that requires cooperation with student internships and employment. It still sits in the middle of nowhere, even though there are now 2 gas stations and the Erie Brewing location (with Johns Wildwood from Edinboro doing food).

[Fightingscot82]

Underscores how difficult the recruiting landscape is for high school kids - private schools now average more than a 50% discount on that sticker price: https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvan...ches-new-high/

If anyone's kid is looking at a private school, just know that they lie about how much it costs to attend, and they charge tuition like a car dealership sells cars. Everyone thinks they're getting a deal but really nobody does. "Scholarships" are automatic if you hit certain benchmarks - but even then they can afford to slice $15k off for rather average qualifications like a 1000 SAT and 3.0 GPA. That gets you jack squat at the schools who must award real dollars for scholarships.

[The P in IUP]

Vox article that talks about Ship and many of the issues PA and other states are facing with enrollment declines that we've talked about here

https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/23...ducation-crash

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Vox article that talks about Ship and many of the issues PA and other states are facing with enrollment declines that we've talked about here

https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/23...ducation-crash

The trickle down is having a horrific effect in many of our small college towns. When you're talking thousands less students that's equals a massive amount of revenue not being spent in our little towns - slum lords, bars, restaurants, coffee shops, etc.

A lot of these towns survived off these kids coming to campus every (late) August. Take a drive through the Clarion's of the world in today's enrollment crisis. It's sad -- especially for those of us who remember what they used to be.

[IUPNation]

The trickle down is having a horrific effect in many of our small college towns. When you're talking thousands less students that's equals a massive amount of revenue not being spent in our little towns - slum lords, bars, restaurants, coffee shops, etc.

A lot of these towns survived off these kids coming to campus every (late) August. Take a drive through the Clarion's of the world in today's enrollment crisis. It's sad -- especially for those of us who remember what they used to be.

West Chester is the opposite. The downtown area wasn’t much of anything 30 years ago and now it’s really nice. If I didn’t love where I live now I’d want to be in Downtown in The WC.

[Fightingscot82]

Vox article that talks about Ship and many of the issues PA and other states are facing with enrollment declines that we've talked about here

https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/23...ducation-crash

I don't think "many universities." Some. Beyond states merging state schools, the ones fully closing are small (under 2k students) private schools 99.9% of us have never heard of with tiny endowments (under $20M) and have run out of ways to borrow to stay open. Its basically the campus version of many PASSHE students: lowest tax brackets family income, little to no expected family contribution, least likely to be academically prepared for college, and most susceptible to economic changes. A lot run out of ways to borrow money or relatives to co-sign on private loans. Generations ago these kids would be working 10-15 hours a week to pay their tuition bill. There was a study done a few years ago that said,

On average, a student would have to work 2,022 hours on minimum wage to afford a year of tuition at a public university. That equates to roughly 39 hours per week.