PASSHE Institutions Merging

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I'm looking for facts. Sometimes it's tough to find them here...

Facts and message boards often don't go together. May want to look elsewhere.

[WarriorVoice]

You could read the previous 216 pages of this thread. It's perhaps the most in-depth discussion of the two mergers anywhere.

I'm looking for facts. Sometimes it's tough to find them here...

[Fightingscot82]

I have heard that the two different triads had completely different rollouts for their "merge". Apparently the Western triad did their transition earlier than here in the East. Apparently it was much "smoother" than here, but that's a relative term...I wonder why both triads weren't using the same processes. Anyone else hearing anything of this?

Its been a mess. Both triads doing the same thing from a high level but nothing from the start has been the same. They even used different marketing firms to assist with naming and branding. The Western group was much quicker to get their things rolling because academically the schools aligned very well. Then they rolled out the name and branding and it the crap hit the fan. The Central group saw this and tried saying that they're keeping the branding of each campus as XX University - but all PASSHE reporting says Commonwealth - Mansfield etc. Administratively they also delayed the start of their integration work. I wonder if the Lock Haven fight was a factor. Since then both schools have had a ton of management turnover. Commonwealth had some issues with union CBA and combining jobs that require traveling to multiple campuses.

My wife is going back to school and her program is through one of the merged schools. Its a GD mess.

[iupgroundhog]

I have heard that the two different triads had completely different rollouts for their "merge". Apparently the Western triad did their transition earlier than here in the East. Apparently it was much "smoother" than here, but that's a relative term...I wonder why both triads weren't using the same processes. Anyone else hearing anything of this?

You could read the previous 216 pages of this thread. It's perhaps the most in-depth discussion of the two mergers anywhere.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I have heard that the two different triads had completely different rollouts for their "merge". Apparently the Western triad did their transition earlier than here in the East. Apparently it was much "smoother" than here, but that's a relative term...I wonder why both triads weren't using the same processes. Anyone else hearing anything of this?

Haven't heard about the merging practices. I have heard the Western triad is expecting a massive decline in enrollment this fall.

On a funny note, Clarion's best women's basketball player transferred to Cal. I guess it's all in the family.

[WarriorVoice]

I have heard that the two different triads had completely different rollouts for their "merge". Apparently the Western triad did their transition earlier than here in the East. Apparently it was much "smoother" than here, but that's a relative term...I wonder why both triads weren't using the same processes. Anyone else hearing anything of this?

[Ship69]

Great summation of how colleges got to this point.

That article is a little dated. With a new president at the helm, Ship is making some progress at steadying the numbers in recent months.

[iupgroundhog]

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

Great summation of how colleges got to this point.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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

[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.

[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).

[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.