What are the Benefits from Attending a Large Public University?

Applying to College
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<p>Northstarmom recently posed an excellent question: “What are the lifetime advantages of attending top colleges?” Her question generated an informative and lively discussion. Are there similar benefits that accrue from attending a large public university? Here are my thoughts:</p>

<li><p>Cost – The first benefit that comes to mind is cost. Large public universities generally have lower tuition rates than private colleges. Financial aid, loans and scholarships may level the playing field for some but not all. In general, students attending large public universities have access to quality programs but graduate with less debt made possible by the economies of scale associated with large institutions.</p></li>
<li><p>Diversity – Large public universities offer a broad range of students, faculty, and programs. Students at large public universities will be exposed to a variety of ideas, opinions, abilities, cultures, and lifestyles. In addition, large public universities offer other non-academic benefits such as strong community and regional ties and camaraderie from supporting sports and other competitions as students and after graduation.</p></li>
<li><p>Resources – Large public universities often have significant resources, including extensive buildings, classrooms, labs, performing arts centers, and student activity facilities, as well as numerous faculty and support staff. Most universities receive public funds as well as revenue from other sources. Some have substantial endowments. In addition, large public universities generally receive significant support from individuals and businesses in the region, not only from alumni but also from community supporters. They also typically have the largest numbers of living alumni.</p></li>
<li><p>Choice – The larger the college, the greater the choice in majors, courses, teachers, and classes. A college with 40,000 students has more choices than one with 4,000 students. There also may be more selection in the way education is delivered, such as the possibility of distance and continuing education, night classes, and summer school. This flexibility makes it easier to work and attend college or to schedule individualized internships, study abroad, and travel. Further, many large public universities offer specialized programs (such as honors programs) that permit motivated students to learn in smaller groups from the best professors.</p></li>
<li><p>Individual initiative – To excel at large public colleges, students must typically demonstrate individual initiative and academic excellence. The competitive nature of large public universities rewards students who persevere and demonstrate tangible abilities. Students must also learn personal accountability – how to study, to keep up with the assigned materials, and to attend class. Students who don’t learn these lessons may get a second chance but won’t get a third or a fourth chance. These lessons and qualities will benefit them in their adult lives.</p></li>
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<p>Clearly, some of these benefits can be found at small public and private colleges. I believe there are advantages and disadvantages to all colleges – public and private, large and small, top tier or lower tier. The point is to find the best fit for the student. I hope this discussion will help students decide if a large public university would be a good fit for them.</p>

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<p>Somne of the above is just not true. I think you find far less diversity at large publics than you will at many small privates. First of all, the vast majority of students at large publics come from the same state. Second, the vast majority will be middle class or below, making for little economic diversity. As for resources, most large publics have a fraction of the endowment per student that the better private schools have.</p>

<p>That said, several of the points are valid. I especially think number 5 is important. I have sibs at ivies and at a large public. The one at the public school works hard to get into classes, endures a tough curve and doesn’t have a fraction of the resources. He’s prepared for the real world.</p>

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<p>Glad cost is the first covered; it is a huge factor for many of us. Private financial aid sways some, but not most.</p>

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<p>The alumni network at these large schools is often extensive, which can translate into better opportunities for jobs and internships.</p>

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<p>You forgot the second most important point (after cost) - quality of education recieved!!!</p>

<p>If the student makes the most out of his or her education (this is a crucial point), an education recieved from the top publics (Berkeley, Michigan, UNC, UVa, UGA Honors), is just as good an education that one would recieve at an Ivy. </p>

<p>And suze, you are completely wrong about the “vast majority will be middle class or below” at state universities. Yes, of course it could just be UGA (although this highly doubtful), but at least at the University of Georgia, the vast majority of students are middle class OR ABOVE.</p>

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<p>I don’t believe that having a large number of students from the same state equates to no diversity at big state schools. The emphasis is on big here. If a school has 30,000 students, there will be so many different types of people that it won’t matter where they came from. Thats one of the great things about a big school. Just the huge variety of majors will naturally draw people of varying interests and ideas. And allows you a lot of majors to choose from in case your own ideas change!
I went from a small rural town to a big in-state school and majored in nursing. My randomly assigned roommate for freshman year was a drama major from a city in our state that I had never even driven through. We could not have been more different in outlooks, ideas and backgrounds. Diversity comes in many forms and a lot can be found at a large public university.</p>

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<p>One setback can be the large classes. I’m considering Berkeley, but one thing I don’t really like are the huge classes (300-500)</p>

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<p>How many classes you actually take will be that big?? Maybe 10 out of 40 or so at most.</p>

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<p>S just finished freshman yr. at big state u. Of his 30 credit hours he earned for the year only 7 of those hours were in really large classes.
(intro. science classes…chemistry and botany)</p>

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<p>Good post DRJ4 and should get the traction the lifetime advantage post is receiving in the Parents Forum. My D just completed her freshman year at big state u and had a similar experience as PackMom’s son, only one really large class out of nine. Regarding diversity, in my D’s eyes it was sorely lacking at some of the small LAC and state LAC-type colleges we visited, and abundant at her state u.</p>

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<p>kevster, you have misconceptions about Berkeley’s class sizes. Check out the data on the matter:</p>

<p>74% of classes at Cal have 30 or fewer students
only 7% of classes at Cal have more than 100 students.</p>

<p>Suze, you’re way off on socio-economic diversity. At Michigan or Virgina, only about 10% of the student body comes from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Furthermore, at Cal and UCLA, about 1/3 is upper-middle to upper, 1/3 middle class and 1/3 lower-middle. That IMHO is not a problem, to the contrary, it’s a great advantage. Personally, although I came from a pretty affluent community, I really don’t think it’s good to go to college in an environment from which the majority of people are shut out, as is the case at nearly all the top private schools and many of the better public schools.</p>

<p>I actually think it’s pretty cool that in my Berkeley dorm, we had the future king of Norway living next door to the son of a custodian from Salinas, CA. </p>

<p>As well, speaking of Berkeley, there is a tremendous amount of diversity within the State itself. The majority of my closest friends from Cal who were CA residents at the time of immatriculation were originally from overseas or other states.</p>

<p>DRJ4: great post!</p>

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<p>Thanks for your interesting responses. I’m glad this resonated with some here at CC.</p>

<p>CalX: Berkeley obviously isn’t your average public university. In my opinion it sets the gold standard for large public universities in academic quality, racial and ethnic diversity, and in the variety of student socioeconomic backgrounds. </p>

<p>Other large public universities offer a broad range of honors programs or multi-disciplinary core curriculum programs. An excellent honors/core curriculum program with which I’m familiar is the Plan II Honors program at the University of Texas-Austin. I’m sure there are others, and I hope people will use this thread to educate us about other quality public university programs.</p>

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<p>Diversity will be found at many of the top private schools today, it’s not something unique to large state schools.
Also, the resources can be just as high if not higher for smaller schools. A small student body and a private ownership lead to high endowments per student.</p>

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<p>Hi MisterMe,</p>

<p>I agree that private colleges can be excellent but there are limits to what they can provide, even great private colleges like Rice University. For instance, Rice has 6 undergraduate departments (8, if you count continuing and interdisciplinary studies) - architecture, engineering, humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and music - and a total of 39 programs within those schools. (Link here: <a href=“http://www.students.rice.edu/students/Departments.asp#academic)%5B/url%5D”>http://www.students.rice.edu/students/Departments.asp#academic)</a>. </p>

<p>Contrast that with the University of Texas -Austin, which has 13 undergraduate colleges offering over 130 programs. (Link here: <a href=“http://www.utexas.edu/student/admissions/ugdegrees.html)%5B/url%5D”>http://www.utexas.edu/student/admissions/ugdegrees.html)</a>.</p>

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<p>It isnt exactly fair to compare Rice (4000 students) with UTA (45,000 students).</p>

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<p>Why not? The point of the search process is to compare colleges and decide which is the best fit.</p>

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<p>[In regards to the comment that at most state universities the “vast majority will be middle class or below” @ <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=2415854&postcount=5[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=2415854&postcount=5&lt;/a&gt; ]</p>

<p>I don’t find it particularly beneficial to be surrounded by students who are better off economically than my parents and myself. In fact, its rather difficult to deal with this difference. I feel that many students around me are satisfied with their lot in life and thus fail to take full advantage of the education they recieve at the university. More significantly, I wouldn’t be surprised if these students have taken this attitude because they know they can lean back on their parents’ success if they can’t “make the cut” through their own hard work.</p>

<p>When I think on this and realized that many of the people I know are like this, I find it very discouraging. Poo. </p>

<p>So, theres one point added to “CONS” list of attending an expensive private university. I’d really much rather be surrounded a generally economically conscientious student body.</p>

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<p>my school has roughly 46,000 students and its growing rapidly every year…</p>

<p>There’s ups and downs…</p>

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<p>Ucffffffffffffffffffffffff :)</p>

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<p>I think you can often add Division I athletics to the list. I am at a Div III school and on occasion wish I had the experience of going to a DI school, going to the big stadium and rooting for the team playing the big game on ESPN.</p>