I’ve read the majority of posts here and must say that there’s an recurring theme that the schools in the eastern half of the state are somehow superior to the western side. I suppose the folks posting are looking for some ‘snob appeal’. I graduated from Clarion U.
In my four years, I’ve had five roommates. One is a dentist. One is a federal judge. One is a controller at a major oil company. Another is an award winning poet. So, before you write off a school and make snide remarks about it, perhaps you should reconsider your motives.
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Hmmmm. I see as much Pitt on this board as any school and a lot of CMU.
I’ve seen Duquesne, Gannon, Wash & Jeff, Allegheny.
I see be careful at Temple and St Joes is great bang for the buck. Penn is Penn and yes you have many great LACs in the east plus Lehigh. I think that’s the thing you are witnessing and nothing else.
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I think it may have more to do with geography? There are a lot of east coast posters on CC. We’re from NJ, and my daughter looked at Kutztown, West Chester, Shippensburg, and Bloomsburg, and Millersville when she was first building her list because they were all within 3 hours or so of home.
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The OP is talking about PASSHE schools, not PA schools in general.
I’m not sure the purpose of making an account and adding the original post. Seems to be a little bit of baiting.
As to stats, WCU has a lower acceptance rate than most of the state Us so I think that leads to the assumption that it is more “prestigious”
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ahhhh - on a national level, no one would know of any. I’m a fan of Millersville though.
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It does feel like bait, and a weird one at that, but the poster’s name is “axe to grind” which may mean this is his/her very niche pet peeve. 
If you want a more popular-appeal bait, Sheetz vs. Wawa 
Fact is, no “snob” looks at ANY PASSHE. These are the anti-snob campuses
That’s part&package with their history - back when the Normal Schools were transformed into public (PASSHE) colleges, these universities had over 80% budget from the state thus low tuition+proximity to many towns, being well spread out throughout the Commonwealth. As a result, in the 80s&90s, they became a great stepping stone for smart, ambitious working class kids who didn’t want/couldn’t afford to attend Penn State. (If there’s any rivalry, it’s not between the different and now consolidated PASSHE campuses but between these and the PSU branches, which unfairly poached on their grounds in a major expansion throughout the 90s.)
In the 21st century the PASSHE schools were defunded, especially after 2008, so tuition skyrocketed, to the point some presented tuition for 12 credits a semester despite it not being sufficient for graduating in 4 years. Some also pursued a mind boggling policy of building expensive dorms, officially to meet or create demand and attract OOS students (who, as mentioned above, rarely know they exist). There was a lot of mismanagement, political appointees who didn’t understand the universities etc. At some point it was less expensive for a working class Western PA resident with good academics to attend YSU over in OH than to attend a PASSHE.
The new-ish governor went back to their original mission: to serve working/middle class Pennsylvanians. As a result, better funding and need-based scholarships for residents (+considerable restructuring) made PASSHE affordable stepping stones to a better life again. They’re not out of the woods yet of course.
Personal hope, this fairer competition should challenge Pitt and PSU to up their game in terms of FA and scholarships (because right now neither is acting like they’re PA’s flagships -* - in terms of financial accessibility.)
*yes I know technically they’re not, they’re like NYS contract colleges in that respect or “state-related” not public, but for all practical purpose that’s what they are and it really annoys me PA residents just “get a discount” rather than decent FA or merit aid.
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