Flip side: Over my dead body my daughter would go to...

[HQWest]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

University of Southwestern Fill-in-the-Blank. Those schools tend to play second fiddle to the flagship universities. I still can't get behind UCF--luckily, neither can my rising HS sophomore niece.

(SWTXBelle can follow up on this one.)

It is for just this reason that Southwest Texas State University had an uprising and over the arguments of the faculty changed the name of the school which had grown from a small college to a school of more than 25000 students. (It turns out that the alumni had raised something like $2million to change the name and the state found out that it would only cost about $400K to change the name and then they could re-license everything, so they did.)

Also - U. Central Michigan, Western Michigan and Northern Michigan are all good schools and like Texas State rated as good educational value for the cost schools.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by HQWest

(SWTXBelle can follow up on this one.)

Also - U. Central Michigan, Western Michigan and Northern Michigan are all good schools and like Texas State rated as good educational value for the cost schools.

Those schools are excellent examples of what I was saying...while they might be "good schools" for the people who thrive there, they still play second fiddle to the flagships.

[SWTXBelle]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Those schools are excellent examples of what I was saying...while they might be "good schools" for the people who thrive there, they still play second fiddle to the flagships.

As far as football, yes. As to academic programs - not always. The Texas State Geography Dept., for example - #1 in the country, along with the fantastic Musical Theatre Dept., etc. As an undergraduate you will get a much better educational experience in many disciplines which, let us say, UT has. For example, the UT drama graduate school is very well-regarded. However, that means as an undergraduate you will not get much actual experience at UT. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYBP8qRIDas
All that said, the emphasis on getting to Division I has NOT IMHO been good for the overall educational programs, and I wouldn't currently recommend it.

As to the name change - when I attended Southwest Texas State University in the 80s, we had over 25,000 students. The real story behind the name change - the ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT did not want to have a directional name. They got ASG to support them, but the vast majority of alumni opposed the change. $250,000 in private funds were raised to pay for the change. I pointed out that if, as those who were for the change asserted, they were interested in advancing the academic reputation of the University, that money would be better spent on endowing a chair or bringing in excellent faculty, or even providing more scholarships. Alumni were told we would never be called TSU - which turns out to have been a lie. When I took my daughter to her dorm her freshman year, there on her dorm door was a bobcat paw with "TSU". Recently on the facebook page, they've referred to "TSU" - they have taken it down when I pointed out they were lying liars who tell lies. I am very torn. I received a top-flight education, but even my beloved English department has, to my way of thinking, gone down in quality. It pains me more than I can say - my parents went there, I was named for the 1962 homecoming queen who is my godmother, I have been able to share San Marcos and some of the best aspects of my college years with my daughter - but it is slipping away. Yes, they will be bigger, but will they better? No.

[ComradesTrue]

I would string my daughter up by her toenails if she declared that she was staying in our town to go to college. The main reason being, I think that you should have to 'get away' some to truly experience living on your own and experiencing new environments. (I say that as someone who only travelled 30 minutes "away" to school).

My current city has several private high schools that can run upwards of $20K per year. The academics are truly outstanding, so I can see where it could be somewhat of an investment. Graduates of those schools consistently go on to succeed at the nation's highest rated universities.

However, I am shocked at how many families pay that tuition, only to have their children stay in town and attend the local branch of the state's university system. While the state flagship university isn't exactly on par with UVA, Michigan or Texas, it is still much better than the branch one here, which is consistently rated the lowest university in the system. I absolutely do not get the mentality behind that, but then again, I live in a town where when someone asks "Where did you go to school?" they don't mean college.