Harvard newspaper doesn't want a 4th sorority

[SWTXBelle]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

SWT was a member of the Texas State University system before it switched. I think there would be a firestorm if the rest of the universities in that system followed TxState's lead.

I find it weird that, with all the directional back-and-forth, University of Houston and University of North Texas seem to be thriving. UH was bumped up to Tier 1 status recently (joining UT, A+M, and Rice), and UNT is trying to move itself up as well.

Most Texans don't even know that Texas State has two campuses - Texas State - San Marcos and Texas State - Round Rock.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

Most Texans don't even know that Texas State has two campuses - Texas State - San Marcos and Texas State - Round Rock.

Count me as one of those Texans. How long has the RR campus been around?

[SWTXBelle]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

Count me as one of those Texans. How long has the RR campus been around?

I stand corrected - apparently all the yelling worked and it is now not being called TX State - Round Rock (which was what they were calling it about 2 yrs. ago) but the "Round Rock Higher Education Center - Texas State - San Marcos". Note that it is still "TX State - San Marcos".

It's all silly.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

I stand corrected - apparently all the yelling worked and it is now not being called TX State - Round Rock (which was what they were calling it about 2 yrs. ago) but the "Round Rock Higher Education Center - Texas State - San Marcos". Note that it is still "TX State - San Marcos".

It's all silly.

Interesting.

UTA has a similar setup with its Fort Worth campuses.

I wish the systems would focus more on getting more of our schools to Tier 1 status than worrying about "OMG THE NAME IS PODUNK"

[Munchkin03]

Does every school have to be Tier 1, though?

We might have different definitions of what it means to be "Tier 1," so our mileages may vary, but when I think of top-tier schools in large states like Texas, I think of UT-Austin and A&M-College Station (or, in California, the UC system). Those schools have basically every major you can think of, and are major research universities. As a result, their admissions standards are very stringent.

Not every college has to be a Tier 1 Research University, or even Tier 1 in terms of US News's rankings. Especially in terms of public education in a state that's trying to keep its students in-state after graduation, a mix is best--some schools should focus specifically on the education of undergraduates with maybe a few Masters programs thrown in. Some schools should focus on commuters and non-traditional students. In fact, that very emphasis on undergraduate education and/or non-traditional students can preclude a university from ranking "high" on a national list.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Does every school have to be Tier 1, though?

We might have different definitions of what it means to be "Tier 1," so our mileages may vary, but when I think of top-tier schools in large states like Texas, I think of UT-Austin and A&M-College Station (or, in California, the UC system). Those schools have basically every major you can think of, and are major research universities. As a result, their admissions standards are very stringent.

Not every college has to be a Tier 1 Research University, or even Tier 1 in terms of US News's rankings. Especially in terms of public education in a state that's trying to keep its students in-state after graduation, a mix is best--some schools should focus specifically on the education of undergraduates with maybe a few Masters programs thrown in. Some schools should focus on commuters and non-traditional students. In fact, that very emphasis on undergraduate education and/or non-traditional students can preclude a university from ranking "high" on a national list.

There are a LOT of universities in Texas, so there's something for everyone. The issue with putting all the focus on UT and A+M is that 1) they're overcrowded and 2) they're getting a huge chunk of money designated for education in the state. UT and A+M are both amazing schools, but so are UTD and Texas Tech (for example). They shouldn't be thrown to the side just because they're not the superpower universities in the state.

I think it's also necessary to have at least one Tier 1 university in each of the large Texas metros (we have 1 in Austin and now 1 in Houston. There are 3 candidates in the D/FW area and 1 in San Antonio). We lose a lot of students to Oklahoma, Arizona, Arkansas, and Louisiana schools because of this.

I can't find the original TX for Tier One website, but here's the FB group (there are some updates with interesting info): link

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

We lose a lot of students to Oklahoma, Arizona, Arkansas, and Louisiana schools because of this.

Is that why, exactly?

I'm not being difficult--I ask because Florida is a state with a similar situation, but the people I know who chose to go to schools in surrounding states did so not because the Florida schools didn't offer what they needed or they couldn't get into UF or FSU. They just didn't want to go to school in Florida. The same thing applies to the (granted, much smaller number of) people I know from TX who chose to go to school in Oklahoma--either they didn't want to go to school in Texas or everyone in their family went to UT or A&M and they wanted to try something new.