<p>Another factor that one might at least give some consideration to when considering attending a State University is the impact that the poor economic times have had on many of these fine schools. A number of State Universities, due to stagnant or reduced State funding, have had to reduce/cease faculty hiring, have decreased program/majors, and have decreased the number/availability of courses. One result of these problems is that a number of students have found it difficult to be able to complete all the courses they need to finish a major in 4 years. Being from NJ I know this has been true at Rutgers and it looks like with the major budget problems in PA that PSU will also be very negatively impacted in the years ahead.</p>
<p>While UD has certainly also been impacted by the tough economic times it appears that the extent is significantly less than that at many other State Universities for many reasons, not the least of which is that UD has one of the largest endowment funds (over a billion dollars) of all major State Universities in the nation. UD is currently hiring additional faculty members, has been increasing majors/Graduate Programs/Research activities, and has initiated a major building program in the science/engineering areas that, once completed in several years, will be the envy of many other State Universities. All of these things are part of a plan called “Path to Prominence” which has been spearheaded by UD’s relatively new President (3 years), the former Dean of the Wharton School at Penn. UD was identified by USN&WR as #8 in its list of up and coming schools ( SUNY-Binghamton was #11 and UMD-College Park was #20).</p>
<p>As I said in my previous post there are many factors a student needs to consider when looking at State Universities. I believe this issue is one that is often overlooked (especially in these tough economic times that may take some time to resolve). Just my perspective.</p>