Why only three public four-year universities in Arizona? (Phoenix, Glendale: hotel, public schools)

[CodyW]

Originally Posted by new2colo

Alaska has the same number of four year public institutions (3) as Arizona and it has about 1/9th of the population.

So what? Alaska has more universities because they NEED them. Their population is very decentralized and extremely isolated. Not because they have a better education system, or better universities.

[gemstone1]

"We don't need another public university in Yuma or Kingman because the population doesn't call for it (Well if I lived in Yuma and college age I would go to college in San Diego anyway). You get the point though...."

Better do some more fact checking Bub, Yuma has a NAU branch, and Arizona Western College...while AZ Western may not be classed with Universities, it is still a good place to get started in a quest for higher education, and still qualify for in state tuition. Yuma population count warrants the location of these 2 facilities....or they would not have set up shop there.

AWC FACTS
Number of students: 13,000 annually, over 4,300 Full Time Student Equivalents

Student ages: Under 24 = 39%, 25-49 = 41%, 50+ = 20%

Average faculty/student ratio: 1:20

Average student age: 30

Gender ratio: 60% female, 40% male

AWC certificate, degree, and transfer programs: 85+

Number of NAU in Yuma bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and certification/endorsement programs: 46 on-site, 29 on-line

Number of U of A in Yuma degrees: 1 on-site

Residence halls on campus: 3

2006-2007 graduates: 1026 AWC degrees and certificates; 237 NAU in Yuma bachelor's and master's degrees; 5 U of A in Yuma bachelor's degrees

Newest programs: Construction Trades and Paralegal Studies

Employees: 350 full-time and 657 part-time and student workers

Annual district-wide economic impact: $103 million Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association.

Regards
Gemstone1

[observer53]

Originally Posted by new2colo

Public puke? It's too bad nobody outside of Arizona has heard of these other "universities" you listed. Thunderbird School of Global Management? Phoenix School of Law? Must be in the same league as the South Harmon Institute of Technology. Arizona's lack of established institutions for higher education (public or private) speaks volumes about how little the state values education. Alaska has the same number of four year public institutions (3) as Arizona and it has about 1/9th of the population.

Actually, Thunderbird (the name has changed at times over the years) is quite famous, with an excellent reputation. The fact that you hadn't heard of it doesn't change that. Let's tone down the rhetoric in this thread, please.

[Bummer]

Very possibly, Pink Jazz . . . the QUALITY vs QUANTITY rule applies here.

[visitor21]

Originally Posted by new2colo

Public puke? It's too bad nobody outside of Arizona has heard of these other "universities" you listed. Thunderbird School of Global Management? Phoenix School of Law? Must be in the same league as the South Harmon Institute of Technology. Arizona's lack of established institutions for higher education (public or private) speaks volumes about how little the state values education. Alaska has the same number of four year public institutions (3) as Arizona and it has about 1/9th of the population.

Thunderbird School of Global Management, although not as famous as Harvard Business School, is an elite school

U of A , is famous in astronomy and heavily involved with NASA. ASU, despite it's reputation as a party school, still managed to produce 2 Nobel Laureates . ASU is the largest public university by enrollment in the U.S. That said, I agree with you, Arizona should create more public universities . Classroom size are just too big.

[shiphead]

Originally Posted by new2colo

Public puke? It's too bad nobody outside of Arizona has heard of these other "universities" you listed. Thunderbird School of Global Management? Phoenix School of Law? Must be in the same league as the South Harmon Institute of Technology. Arizona's lack of established institutions for higher education (public or private) speaks volumes about how little the state values education. Alaska has the same number of four year public institutions (3) as Arizona and it has about 1/9th of the population.

[mod cut-- see above instruction] Look at a population map and you'll understand why we only have three universities. Most of east Arizona is undeveloped

[Java Jolt]

Originally Posted by Pink Jazz

I was wondering, is there any particular reason why there are only three public four year universities in Arizona - ASU, UA, and NAU?

For comparison, New Mexico has several public four-year universities but has a much lower population than Arizona. Why would Arizona only have three?

Very well-written, and I have poised the same question before.

I always wondered why Arizona has just three major public universities and I could never seem to come up with a good answer.

Until now.

My belief is the educational priorities in Arizona are on the low side compared to other states. For one thing our ultraconservative legislature has sought ways to cut education funding whenever possible.

Our elected officials would rather spend tax money on sports stadiums and keeping a poorly-attended NHL team in Glendale than put it toward public education.

But on the positive side ASU has some major campusses throughout the metropolitan Phoenix area that help ease the burden on the main campus in Tempe. I suppose that could count as additional public universities.

[Finger Laker]

Education definitely is a low priority in the state and also amongst it's population.

That is not to say you can't get a good education here.

There are some really excellent options that are limited in scope (Thunderbird, Embry Riddle).

There are also a lot of small, private schools. Some only focus on a couple programs some are more broad spectrum. The narrow focused ones tend to be more respected than the broad focused ones.

As mentioned, the 3 major universities do have extension programs and our geography would lead to clustering of education centers. We really don't even have the rural escapes that are dotted by small towns like you have in the north east or the wide number of seperated small cities.

My main issue with the universities here are two fold. A lack of strong private options and the lack of quality amongst the public universities. I don't care that there are only 3 of them. I do care that not a single one can crack the top 100 in the national rankings.

There are good programs within the universities, some very well respected. You can get a good education there. However, on the whole we deserve better from a flagship. It's telling that our community college network is fantastic while the public universities are average. It's also telling that there are not only more universities in a place like Philadelphia compared to the state of AZ, but there are better universities as well - let alone looking at the entire state of PA.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by Finger Laker

Education definitely is a low priority in the state and also amongst it's population.

That is not to say you can't get a good education here.

There are some really excellent options that are limited in scope (Thunderbird, Embry Riddle).

There are also a lot of small, private schools. Some only focus on a couple programs some are more broad spectrum. The narrow focused ones tend to be more respected than the broad focused ones.

As mentioned, the 3 major universities do have extension programs and our geography would lead to clustering of education centers. We really don't even have the rural escapes that are dotted by small towns like you have in the north east or the wide number of seperated small cities.

My main issue with the universities here are two fold. A lack of strong private options and the lack of quality amongst the public universities. I don't care that there are only 3 of them. I do care that not a single one can crack the top 100 in the national rankings.

There are good programs within the universities, some very well respected. You can get a good education there. However, on the whole we deserve better from a flagship. It's telling that our community college network is fantastic while the public universities are average. It's also telling that there are not only more universities in a place like Philadelphia compared to the state of AZ, but there are better universities as well - let alone looking at the entire state of PA.

I believe that many of the departments at our universities DO "crack the top 100". And that's what counts-- if someone is looking for a particular degree, and the college within a university IS highly ranked and well respected in the academic and outside community, that's what a student is looking for.

[Finger Laker]

some do, but those programs obviously aren't enough to pull up the entire university ... on the whole, the quality of the academics is relatively weak compared to it's peer group .... the national reputation for the universities is not strong which does have an impact

some good strides have been made recently and I would expect more to continue as the population dynamics of the region change .... still a long way to go though