PASSHE Institutions Merging

[Fightingscot82]

Rumors swirling that PASSHE is predicting roughly 1,600 total true freshmen for Penn West in Fall 2023. Total. Between the three campuses. To put this into perspective, in 2013 Edinboro's freshmen class was 1,191. In 2019, the last pre-covid freshman class, Edinboro had 699 - so even that x3 would be 2100. Again, its not a spending problem that can be remedied by cuts & consolidations. They're not able to find & convince new students to attend (or stay). Plus they're still recruiting kids who were in high school during Covid and remembered how terrible online learning is - so why the hell would they attend a school where 75% of your freshmen classes are online?

[Fightingscot82]

Correct. Why not? I think the reason is that there were so many PA state schools.

Because of Pennsylvania giving bankrupt privates Pitt and Temple lifelong bailouts created a second tier of "state" comprehensives, similar to the model of what Ohio did when it took on Akron, Cincinnati, Toledo, and Youngstown in the 60s and 70s (although Akron & Toledo were owned/operated by their cities). I don't think the public would support it either, because to get back on that track IUP would have to retool and reinvest in some things its had to draw down over the last few decades. If Pennsylvania hadn't taken on Pitt & Temple (or jettisoned them once they were back on sure footing), yes, I think it could have been possible. Some former state regionals have been late the the small research university game like Georgia Southern and North Texas and some of the California State University campuses like San Diego. California and Texas are also states with competing state university systems - but they're also states with significantly more higher ed funding.

[iupgroundhog]

Right. But I don't think there was a path for IUP to end up like the Ohio or Michigan regionals.

Correct. Why not? I think the reason is that there were so many PA state schools.

[Fightingscot82]

That's a lot of "if's." The comprehensive university was a national trend and it worked until about 2010. Of course, prior to PASSHE, there was only 1 "comprehensive" university in the system.

Right. But I don't think there was a path for IUP to end up like the Ohio or Michigan regionals.

[Bart]

IUP had internships.

CO-OP should be the standard.

58 Million is the total earned annually by RIT students on co‑op. Co-ops are full time paid employment and internships can be full or part time with or without pay.

It's obviously easier to find full time employment at Drexel in Phila or as my son did with IBM and Kodak in Rochester.

[IUPNation]

That's a lot of "if's." The comprehensive university was a national trend and it worked until about 2010. Of course, prior to PASSHE, there was only 1 "comprehensive" university in the system.

...and it should have stayed that way.

[iupgroundhog]

Great question. But they can't even get the schools to require a capstone experience (internship or research thesis) for each program so students graduate with experience in using that degree.

To be honest, its probably because after PASSHE everyone tried developing themselves into comprehensive regional universities similar to what you see in Ohio. Problem is that PA already had Penn State then took on Pitt and Temple 15-20 years before. The schools lost their connection to their founding philosophy and infused WAY too much liberal arts. When I was a student 50% of the courses were liberal arts gen eds. Its good for the "college is about expanding your mind" crowd and helps create superficial demand for courses that people generally don't look at Kutztown or Clarion to study like philosophy or economics. We were founded as what is for lack of a better term, a trade school, for teaching. The education at the beginning was extremely hands-on and a better mix of lecture (they had mandatory chapel led by the president) and cooperative learning (hence the on campus lab schools). They should have developed into teaching-focused universities not trying to be a mini research university - or if you teach in the humanities a public liberal arts college. At the very least schools should have been driven to specialize beyond teacher education. But that doesn't fly if the president or provost are from backgrounds that don't align with that direction. There's no convincing a president or provost who has a PhD in Literature that Shippensburg should be the engineering school.

That's a lot of "if's." The comprehensive university was a national trend and it worked until about 2010. Of course, prior to PASSHE, there was only 1 "comprehensive" university in the system.

[IUPNation]

[

Why don't our schools go the co-op route? I have a son who went to RIT with a co-op at Kodack at the time. He has moved around to several large companies like GE, Garmin, CarMax, and Amazon. I credit RIT and his choice of study for giving him the option to retire in his thirties.

IUP had internships.

CO-OP should be the standard.

[Fightingscot82]

[

Why don't our schools go the co-op route? I have a son who went to RIT with a co-op at Kodack at the time. He has moved around to several large companies like GE, Garmin, CarMax, and Amazon. I credit RIT and his choice of study for giving him the option to retire in his thirties.

Great question. But they can't even get the schools to require a capstone experience (internship or research thesis) for each program so students graduate with experience in using that degree.

To be honest, its probably because after PASSHE everyone tried developing themselves into comprehensive regional universities similar to what you see in Ohio. Problem is that PA already had Penn State then took on Pitt and Temple 15-20 years before. The schools lost their connection to their founding philosophy and infused WAY too much liberal arts. When I was a student 50% of the courses were liberal arts gen eds. Its good for the "college is about expanding your mind" crowd and helps create superficial demand for courses that people generally don't look at Kutztown or Clarion to study like philosophy or economics. We were founded as what is for lack of a better term, a trade school, for teaching. The education at the beginning was extremely hands-on and a better mix of lecture (they had mandatory chapel led by the president) and cooperative learning (hence the on campus lab schools). They should have developed into teaching-focused universities not trying to be a mini research university - or if you teach in the humanities a public liberal arts college. At the very least schools should have been driven to specialize beyond teacher education. But that doesn't fly if the president or provost are from backgrounds that don't align with that direction. There's no convincing a president or provost who has a PhD in Literature that Shippensburg should be the engineering school.

[Fightingscot82]

PASSHE certainly doesn't have the same number of big-money "sugar daddies" putting money into the schools as the more elite private universities do, and combined with the stagnant support from the Pa. legislature that puts our alma maters on the short end.

They weren't even allowed to solicit donations or accept endowed gifts until the 1970s.

[Bart]

[

Yeah. For as expensive as they are, they're thriving. The 90s and early 00s had crazy growth for Drexel. I think I remember reading that their enrollment doubled and endowment quadrupled or something like that. Their law school is named after the same NJ attorney who gave a naming gift to Duquesne law school (also the guy who sued Penn State after the hazing death). Med school is doing very well, too. Of course, the co-op model is increasingly popular for the "college is job training" crowd and at the schools that use it like Kettering, Northeastern, RIT, etc.[/QUOTE]

Why don't our schools go the co-op route? I have a son who went to RIT with a co-op at Kodack at the time. He has moved around to several large companies like GE, Garmin, CarMax, and Amazon. I credit RIT and his choice of study for giving him the option to retire in his thirties.

[Ship69]

The money that has poured into Drexel has no comparison to the PASSHE. Two different universes.

PASSHE certainly doesn't have the same number of big-money "sugar daddies" putting money into the schools as the more elite private universities do, and combined with the stagnant support from the Pa. legislature that puts our alma maters on the short end.

[IUPNation]

The money that has poured into Drexel has no comparison to the PASSHE. Two different universes.

Thry have beautiful glass dorm towers. It offsets all of the orange brick on its older buildings. That’s how you knew you were on their campus…

[iupgroundhog]

Yeah. For as expensive as they are, they're thriving. The 90s and early 00s had crazy growth for Drexel. I think I remember reading that their enrollment doubled and endowment quadrupled or something like that. Their law school is named after the same NJ attorney who gave a naming gift to Duquesne law school (also the guy who sued Penn State after the hazing death). Med school is doing very well, too. Of course, the co-op model is increasingly popular for the "college is job training" crowd and at the schools that use it like Kettering, Northeastern, RIT, etc.

The money that has poured into Drexel has no comparison to the PASSHE. Two different universes.

[IUPNation]

Drexel and Salus (formerly PA College of Optometry) are exploring what sure as heck sounds like a merger: https://drexel.edu/president/message...us-university/

H
Drexel just takes in the distressed…and University City is finally realizing it’s potential between Drexel snd Penn. it’s why Philadelphia will never go Detroit like the
haters have claimed it will for the last three decades.