State-supported universities (USA)

Factual Questions
1

[DISCLAIMER] I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes with this question, by slighting the university they went to, but I’m speaking from from California, where the premise I’m about to establish is usually regarded as given [/DISCLAIMER]

So in California we have the University of California (Hail, UCSD!) with its system of nine campuses, and then we have the California State University (CSU), with its twenty or more campuses throughout the state. In CA, the UC system is more selective than CSU, the latter being regarded by many as their “safety” school when selecting colleges to apply to, (i.e., the one they’ll attend if they don’t get accepted elsewhere). In addition, the UC programs tend to be more academic, while the CSU programs tend to be more practical. At the same time there is a great deal of crossover; for example UCLA doesn’t have a specific undergraduate teaching program while CSU Northridge does. CSUN doesn’t have schools of law or medicine while UCLA does. On the other hand, you can study engineering at either campus.

So my question is, is this pretty much the same in the other 49 states? Are there always both a “University of X” system and an “X State University”, whose reputations and emphasis correspond with those of UC and CSU?

2

Not all states have the same structure for their institutions of public higher education. Virginia, for example, does not have a “system,” just independent schools. I’m not sure how New York’s system is structured, but the SUNY - (city name here) certainly is a clue. In Maryland, all but two public schools are in the University of Maryland System, with College Park being the flagship campus. I think PA is the same way. I don’t know if some of these other states actually have two systems, as you’ve described in CA.

That said, there certainly is a pecking order–in VA, it’s clearly William and Mary, then UVA (a few misguided souls might reverse the order of those two), then Tech, with James Madison and George Mason generally being regarded as fallbacks for those (though may depend on the program), and a number of other public schools being fallbacks for those two…

3

In New York, there are the SUNY schools (State University of New York). Those are the only state-run schools I am aware of. There is also the CUNY system, run by New York City. Most counties in New York have their own community colleges; Westchester Community College, for instance.

4

Indiana checking in here. We’ve got both state run schools and the other universities. Neither are really all that selective in getting into. I got accepted to both a state run and a non state run school. Actually the state run school I go to is in the top 10 in the nation in at least 5 different categories I do believe. Although our non state ones are pretty good also.

5

In New York, Cornell University has several schools that get state subsidies such as the School of Agriculture (which also includes business, communications, and pre-med), Industrial Labor Relations, which serves almost as the pre-law school. Other schools, like the Hotel School and arts and sciences, I guess, are not.

6

In both Connecticut and New Jersey, they have a similar system to California. There are several state schools, and then there’s a major state university, which may have several campuses. For Connecticut, it’s UConn as the university, plus Western Conn. State, Eastern Conn. State, Southern Conn. State, etc. For New Jersey, it’s Rutgers, plus a bunch of various state schools (Montclair State, Monmouth State, etc.).

So I guess it’s a fairly common setup.

7

In Texas, it’s not nearly as clearly defined as it is in California.

The University of Texas System contains campuses and institutions all over the state (9 “academic institutions” and 6 “health institutions”), with the flagship campus being UT Austin. According to the history provided on the system website, the Austin campus was founded in 1881 as the “Main University”, and the Medical Branch was simultaneously founded in Galveston.

One point that occasionally caused some confusion: “UTA” when I lived there was always understood to be referring to the Arlington campus - not the Austin one. UT Austin was always simply referred to as “UT”.

Or, as “t.u.” by affiliates of the Texas A&M University System. :slight_smile: The TAMU System contains nine universities. The most prominent one of these is the one in College Station, officially named simply Texas A&M University. The College Station campus was founded in 1876, although the TAMU System was not identified as such until 1948 (after it had already gained several other schools).

Some of the campuses in the TAMU System are relatively new additions. TAMU Commerce joined the system in 1996, and at that time changed its name from East Texas State University. Similarly, West Texas State University joined the system in 1993 and was renamed West Texas A&M University.

While I’m sure you’ll find some who passionately disagree one way or the other, my impression is that the UT and TAMU systems are generally held to be on approximately “equal footing” with respect to clout and prestige within the state.

We certainly can’t forget the Texas Tech University System. This “system” seems quite small, consisting almost entirely of the (fairly large) TTU campus in Lubbock and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center with sites in Lubbock, Amarillo, Odessa and El Paso.

There are also lots of what I believe are essentially independent state-run schools in Texas - for example, Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches is a state-run school that’s not part of any larger “system” (at least, not that I’ve been able to determine).

There are also some quasi-local state systems, such as the University of Houston System, which maintains four UH campuses in and around greater Houston.

I’d sum it up this way:[ul][]Two very large state university systems centered with many campuses (UT and TAMU)[]Several mostly local “systems” based around large schools (e.g., UH and Texas Tech)[]Many independent state-run universities, most of which are moderate in size and draw their enrollment mostly from the local population (e.g., Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton State)[]A few schools like the University of North Texas, which is pretty big but seems to be stand-alone in nature.[/ul]Yeesh…

8

Wisconsin is pretty simple. There are 13 four year and 13 two year universities all under the banner of the University of Wisconsin System (http://www.wisconsin.edu/index.htm). The biggest, oldest, and most selective school is UW-Madison. Years ago the non-Madison campuses were organized under a “Wisconsin State Universities” grouping, and as far I know, they were “state schools” but funded separately from Madison. Then in the early 70s Madison and other schools merged into the current system. The system gets funded with one big pot of state money and is run by a governor appointed Board of Regents located on the UW-Madison campus.

Speaking as a completely impartial graduate of UW-Madison, the rest of the UW schools were only for those unfortunates who couldn’t get into Madison, or didn’t want to move far away from home for school. :wink: I’m sure they’ll all fine schools to one degree or another but why would you not want to spend four to six (…or more) of the best years of your life in the best city in the Midwest?

About the only remaining remainder of the old Wisconsin State system is the Wisconsin State University Conference (http://www.uwsa.edu/wiac/history.htm), a sports conference which most of the smaller UW’s still belong to.

9

small state very very far removed from any other state so we only have 1, University of Hawaii which has two campuses UH @ Manoa is the bigger and richer campus whereas UH @ Hilo is smaller. Although we do have some 20 or so community colleges, all of which are part of the same system. They’re all pretty much safety schools. Although presumably if you’re rich and have great grades you could go to HPU but most kids who don’t want to go to UH go to the mainland for your great schools.

ALthough I believe we have a deal with Alaska by which students from each state can attend the other states Universities as a resident.

10

Missouri doesn’t seem to have the system that California has. I would also guess that most of the midwest won’t have any system like that.

Missouri has 4 state universities: University of Missouri-Columbia (where I will be next year), University of Missouri-Rolla, University of Missouri-St. Louis, and University of Missouri-Kansas City. UMC is the major university in the state which is where the amazing Tigers play at. You can get a wide variety of degrees. UMR is considered the engineering school. It offers mainly degrees in engineering and is considered one of the best in the nation for engineering. UM-SL and UM-KC I don’t know as much about. UM-KC has a good fine arts program and pre-med school.

Missouri also has several non-state related schools: Southeast Missouri State, Truman State (which is supposed to be one of the better liberal arts schools), and Southwest Missouri State. Degrees vary depending upon the school.

11

I’m familiar with the public university systems in three states, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Each of these states have at least two levels of state colleges and universities, the major research institutions, and the smaller colleges and universities which generally began their existence as teachers colleges.

New York

There is one major system of public universities in New York, the State University of New York (SUNY). The SUNY system is divided into two levels of institutions, four University Centers at Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, and Stony Brook, and other State University Colleges around the state, including Plattsburgh, Geneseo, Purchase, Brockport, etc. The University Centers are the major research institutions and are generally more difficult to get into. The smaller colleges generally began their existence as teachers colleges, before being swept into the SUNY system and expanded.

SUNY also sponsors some, but not all, of the schools at Cornell University, including the vet school, the agriculture school, etc. Other Cornell schools are private.

There is also the City University of New York (CUNY) system, which is, I believe, financed half and half between the City of New York and SUNY. CUNY has the graduate center, which sponsors most doctoral and advanced research, and a number of undergraduate colleges, including City College of New York, Baruch College, Hunter College, Brooklyn College, Queens College, John Jay Coillege of Criminal Justice, the College of Staten Island, etc. There are also CUNY community colleges, such as Manhattan Community College, Queensboro, etc., though I believe that those are financed entirely by the City.

New Jersey

As mentioned above, New Jersey has Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, with its main campus in New Brunswick, but with other campuses in Newark and Camden. New Jersey also has a system of smaller state colleges and universities, including Montclair State, Ramapo State, Rowan University (formerly Glassboro State), the College of New Jersey (formerly Trenton State), etc., which generally began as teachers colleges as well.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has three major state-supported universities and the State System of Higher Education, a system of about a dozen smaller colleges and universities. The Pennsylvania State University, with its main campus in State College and a few branch campuses, Temple University in Philadelphia and the University of Pittsburgh are the major universities, though I think that the type of organization and level of support are different for Penn State on the one hand and Temple and Pitt on the other. The smaller universities include East Stroudsburg University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, California University of Pennsylvania, Slippery Rock State, Shippensburg State, Cheney State, Clarion State, etc., most of which began as teachers colleges, I believe.

12

New Hampshire has a lot of schools for such a small state. There are four schools that are part of the UNH system, the main campus in Durham (where I went,) a smaller campus in Manchester, Plymouth State College and Keene State College. There are also about two dozen other private colleges(including Dartmouth) and community colleges http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/Higher_Education/Colleges_and_Universities/By_Region/U_S__States/New_Hampshire/Complete_List/

The best thing is, since NH is 50th in state funding, and a pitiful amount goes towards funding post secondary schools, I have the distinction of having graduated from the most expensive state school in the country. We’re #1! We’re #1!
I’m going to be paying off my student loans for the rest of my life.

13

Massachusetts is pretty similar to California, it seems.

There are four “University of Massachusetts” campi*: Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, and Lowell. (I think there might be a sub-campus in Worcester, too.)

There are various state colleges: Bridgewater, Framingham, Fitchburg, Salem… (probably more I can’t recall).

There are, of course, community colleges as well – these are almost purely vo-tech, I believe.

I don’t know how much connection there is between the state universities, and between the state colleges, and between the community colleges. But I’d guess they’re three somewhat-connected systems, as oppose to 45 (or however many) distinct organizations.

[sub]*That’s the plural of “campus”, right?[/sub]

14

Iowa has what looks like a pretty unwieldy system that is not, contrary to appearances, designed to make sure that no one knows what is going on. It just grew like that. There are three state universities, one a land grant university and one that is the outgrowth of the teachers college. Each of these is an independent institution with its own administration and legislative appropriation, but all under the general supervision of the state’s board of regents. The Regents also supervise the schools for the deaf and for the blind, which are really high schools.

There are also a whole bunch of independent community colleges that give out two-year degrees and run technical education programs. Each has its own administration but gets its state money through an appropriation to the state’s department of education. The community colleges have nothing to do with the three state funded universities. The Department of Education supervises the community colleges (technical schools) the same way it supervises the public schools, that is to say, not much. Local control of education is nearly a religion out here.

To complicate the whole thing, you can hardly throw a rock without hitting a private four year college, some excellent some pretty pathetic.

15

In Ohio, there’s the State University system, headed by Ohio State U. in Columbus. There’s also Cleveland State, Kent State, etc., and they’re all pretty well-separated: There’s less paperwork to transfer from one to another, but a person wouldn’t be taking classes from two different State Universities at once. There’s also Ohio University, in Athens, which is completely separate from the State Universities.

In Montana, there’s the Montana University System, which encompasses the University of Montana, in Missoula, Montana State University, and a handfull of smaller schools. MSU, in term, has about five different campuses (yes, it’s Latin, but I’m pretty sure it’s irregular, and I don’t remember the proper plural) spread across the state. The main campus is in Bozeman, and the others are little more than community colleges. Again, there’s very little connection between them, but this is probably mostly geographic: The several campuses of the MUS are at least several hours’ drive apart.

16

Not here (Washington State).

There are (as I would count them) 6 state 4 year schools - no systems at all. The two biggest of the schools have sattelite campuses that offer upper division courses, certificate courses, and grad degrees but it isn’t quite the same as the UC or CSU systems.

I know how I would rank five of them as far as reputation for academics in general (of course, program by program there is a difference)- and I’m guessing that most people would rank them similarly… and then of course, there’s the school that defies ranking - and you geoducks know who you are.

17

To elaborate on brad_d’s excellent post, the two university systems in Texas were established ca. 1880 to address the two types of higher education needed in an overwhelmingly agricultural state. As the name says, Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University produced engineers and farmers (I believe that membership in the military corps was also mandatory, FWIW.) The University of Texas was created to fit the classical university model, with equal focus on the arts and sciences.

I believe that this two school model was used in several midwestern states.

Today, the missions of these two universities overlap. Both have respectable schools of business and engineering (there’s more overlap than this, but these are the degrees that spring to mind.) Still, Aggie veterinarians are at least as well respected in their field as lawyers from UT are in theirs.

18

Not to get bogged down in details, but Tarlton is also part of the TAMU system.

The Texas school systems are:

University of Texas (U mentioned the schools)
Texas A&M (ditto)
University of Houston (ditto)
Texas Tech (Tech itself and a few small campuses)
North Texas (UNT itself, Med. School, future UNT-Dallas (2006)

Texas State System (SW Texas State, Stephen F. Austin, Lamar, Sul Ross, plus several more )

Independant schools: Texas Women’s University, Midwestern State.

UT and TAMU are about the same prestige wise. Houston, Tech, and UNT would be considered by most to be more or less equal.

19

Thanks for the corrections, Studoggie. I slipped up on Tarleton, and until today had never heard of the Texas State University System. (It doesn’t seem to have its own website that I can find, but many member schools have pages - here’s Lamar’s.)

The sites I link to above, though, don’t list Stephen F. Austin as being a member of the TSUS, which surprised me. SFASU, on its website, lists what appears to be its own, specific Board of Regents. It’s not the same list of names as those on this version of the TSUS Board of Regents, which seems to be up-to-date.

This is really picking nits, but it’s looking to me like SFASU is not a member of the TSUS. Might it be independent like TWU and Midwestern State?

Thanks again for the heads-up. I’ve always been mildly curious about the structure of the state’s public higher-education system, and until today I hadn’t realized just how byzantine it is. I’m all for picking nits and sowing discord if we get it all straight eventually. :slight_smile:

20

How does Baylor fit in?